Next to his horrific, effects-mongering 2005 Beethoven release (type Q9410 in Search Reviews), Fazil Say mostly behaves himself with Haydn. The five sonatas included here contain extroverted outer movements laced with typically Haydnesque humor that is underscored by Say’s clipped phrasings and stage-managed dynamic dips, along with keen gauging of Haydn’s silences and harmonic sleights-of-hand. Yet the pianist still seems to keep everything on one emotional level, whereas Emanuel Ax (in the Sonata in A-flat major No. 43) and Ivan Moravec (D major No. 37) offer more in the way of color, nuance, and refinement.
The protracted slow movements feature exaggerated contrasts in articulation that reflect upon Say’s showmanship more than Haydn’s time scale. Compare, for example, Say’s inflated conception of the aforementioned A-flat sonata’s Menuet to Ax’s quicker, suppler, more humane account, and you’ll probably agree. Having experienced Say’s Haydn in concert, it’s a relief to hear the pianist’s brash interpretations without watching him enact the music, bopping on the piano bench like a chimpanzee in heat. On the other hand, Say’s ever present groans give Glenn Gould’s vocalizing a run for its money, and the sound rating reflects this.
