Gottlieb Wallisch - Haydn: The London Sonatas - BBC Radio 3 'CD Review'

Viennese pianist Gottlieb Wallisch has moved the focus of his attention from Mozart to Haydn, and his last set of three sonatas, written on his second visit to London in the 1790's...In between them is this D Major Sonatas which doesn get played nearly as much, just two short movements, a particularly forward thinking first movement and a presto finales which deliberately disturbs the expected rhythms with accents and uneven phrase - quirky Haydenesque humour, to which Wallisch resopnds well.

[Plays track]

The Sonata in D Major there, performed with straight-forward enjoyment by Gottlieb Wallisch who seems to relish this miniature sonatas quirks just as much as the broader rewards of its near neighbours in London. He's been given a good recording as well, plenty of space but an appropriately intimate perspective.