Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 62 in E flat major, Hob. XVI/52

Rafal Blechacz’s debut album for Deutsche Grammophon, the complete Chopin Preludes, went platinum in Poland within a month of its release. He now follows up this success with a recital devoted to the “Viennese Classics”: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. A compelling overview of the piano sonatas of these three great masters, combining Haydn’s mature E flat major Sonata with Mozart’s lovely D major Sonata K. 311 and Beethoven’s early Sonata op. 2 no. 2, which he dedicated to his teacher Haydn

Rafal has played these sonatas many times in concert and counts them among the works that have shaped his playing.

By juxtaposing the different styles of these three great composers, Rafal displays his stylistic security and balance, both of which have been widely acclaimed in recent concert reviews

“He’s an architect in sonority. Every nuance, however tiny, seems to emerge just as Blechacz intended it . . . Judiciously measured and deeply felt music-making of mature pianistic insight.” (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Early keyboard virtuoso Malcolm Bilson's latest recording features Dussek's revolutionary “Farewell” Sonata, dedicated to Clementi, Haydn's great E-flat sonata, Hob. 52 21: 10, and Johann Baptist Cramer's delightful variations from The Magic Flute, all played on a replica of a 5 ½ octave English Pianoforte by Longman & Clementi, 1798, built by Chris Maene.

London in the 1790s was a bustling industrial, cultural and musical capital. Johann Baptist Cramer, Muzio Clementi, and Jan Ladislas Dussek, all foreigners, were magnetically drawn to this city with its variegated and sophisticated musical possibilities. These are the first genuine piano virtuosos, and their brilliant pianism and compositions would become known as the London Pianoforte School.