Olivier Cavé – Haydn & Beethoven: Piano Sonatas (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:15:30 minutes | 1,12 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alpha Classics
Pianist Olivier Cavé had the wonderful idea of juxtaposing three sonatas from Beethoven’s first period – including two dedicated to Haydn, 1795 Op. 2 – and two of Haydn’s own sonatas, one from 1776 and the other from his great maturity in 1789. Of course the contrast couldn’t be greater, but the filiation is obvious, particularly regarding the freedom of tone, architecture, development and overall conception: usual standards don’t apply to the great Haydn, and seem never to have applied to Beethoven, even in his younger years. This may in fact be the main lesson young Beethoven gleaned from the old master – as we know how tense their relationship was, and started to wane from the end of 1795. Olivier Cavé, a disciple of Nelson Goerner, Maria Tipo and Aldo Ciccolini, gave his first concert in 1991 with the Camerata Lysy led by Yehudi Menuhin; his various recordings earned him several 5 Diapasons and Quatre étoiles Classicaprizes, and his tours saw him perform around the world, from the San Francisco Symphony to the Festival de la Roque d’Anthéron, from New York to Tokyo and many other places in between…
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Haydn & Scarlatti – Chiaro E Scuro – Olivier Cave (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:17:36 minutes | 1,17 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | Digital Booklet | © Aeon/Outhere Music France
Recorded: 4-6/01/2015, Sendesaal, Bremen
An original programme with which the Swiss pianist Olivier Cavé succeeds in summarizing two universes that might, however, a priori appear remote: Domenico Scarlatti vs. Joseph Haydn. In the same album, Olivier Cavé confronts two complementary visions of the keyboard. ‘With this project, I wanted to connect these two composers,’ he tells us, ‘for, when playing Haydn, I always had the feeling that he was familiar with Scarlatti’s music.’ For these two composers, the keyboard is the alphabet of a distinctive language; in a style both playful and mischievous, they composed with a bantering humour, unlimited amusement, unfailing virtuosity and a perfect sense of description. Paradoxically, the two composers meet in their slow movements, of unparalleled simplicity and amazing naturalness that give this music, generations apart, very great lyrical depth. This recording shows to what degree the impact of Scarlatti’s music on Haydn’s keyboard compositions is undeniable. For this project, Olivier Cavé has relied on the learned advice of the American musicologist Elaine Sisman.
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