Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 33 in C minor, Hob.XVI:20

There is no more distinctive contribution to 18th Century keyboard literature than Haydn's 60 (or so) Sonatas.

The brilliant American pianist Andrew Rangell plays four of these masterworks, including the great C minor, Sonata No. 33.

A multiple prize-winner at several international competitions, the young Chinese pianist Yun-yi Qin here presents a wide-ranging recital of major works and delightful miniatures that showcases her remarkable ability.

At only sixteen years old, Yun-yi Qin already performs with the technique and maturity of someone twice her age.

The light-fingered elegance required by Haydn and Mozart, the technical and expressive challenges posed by Schubert, and the almost demonic power demanded by Liszt are effortlessly met by this extraordinary teenager, whose assured technique, musical maturity, unaffected virtuosity and busy concert schedule already mark her as an important artist.

Yun-yi Qin was the winner of the 2008 Jaén Piano competition.

The making of this CD was part of the prize awarded to the winner of the 2007 Manchester International Piano Competition.

The First Manchester International Concerto Competition for Young Pianists was held in August 2007 in Manchester Cathedral, offering young pianists the rare and exciting opportunity to perform a concerto with an outstanding professional orchestra. Each applicant had to prepare and submit on DVD a complete performance of one of the standard romantic or classical piano concertos. From an initial number of pianists who entered from twenty countries, twenty-four young semifinalists were invited to come to Manchester to perform (twelve pianists in the 16 and under section and twelve in the 22 and under). After performing their concertos with piano accompaniment at Chetham’s School of Music, four finalists were chosen to perform their concertos with Manchester Camerata under Stephen Threlfall.

The competition was an unusual event in that every member of the jury was a well established concert pianist. In this respect it looked back to an earlier era of musical history, when the majority of jurors in piano competitions were players rather than teachers or critics. But the emphasis of the competition, which will be held again in August 2009 and which received a tremendous amount of encouragement and positive feedback from audiences, professional musicians, the media, teachers and participants themselves, is forward looking. It emphasises the positive for every young pianist who chooses to enter.

These works were recorded at Haydn House and Museum. Rohrau, Lower Austria. Fuller played a fortepiano which is an unsigned instrument, built around 1782.

Nicolai de Figueiredo was born in Brazil and studied music there, coming to Europe in 1980. He has performed throughout the world as soloist and conductor and his recording of 13 Sonatas by Scarlatti received the CHOC de l’Année 2006 from Le Monde de la Musique as one of the ten best recordings of the year.

The legendary Viennese pianist, Paul Badura-Skoda, has issued a new recording of five piano masterworks by Joseph Haydn, for the bicentenary of his death. Johann Schantz's fortepiano from Badura-Skoda's collection, is the most appropriate instrument available today for interpreting Haydn's music. In a letter to Marianne von Genzinger dated 4 July 1790, Haydn refers to Johann Schantz as "the best pianoforte maker". In the late '80s and early '90s Paul Badura-Skoda recorded a small collection of four single volumes on the same instrument, with Michel Bernstein and for Astrée. The booklet contains notes (in four languages) by Badura-Skoda himself. In 1945, Badura-Skoda entered the Vienna Conservatory, and two years later won a scholarship which allowed him to study with Edwin Fischer. In 1949,Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan became aware of his outstanding talent and invited him to play and practically overnight he became world famous. Since then, Badura-Skoda has been a regular and celebrated guest at the most important music festivals, and a soloist with the world´s most prestigious orchestras, recording a vast repertoire: more than 200 LPs and dozens of compact discs including the complete cycles of the piano sonatas of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. He performs with equal authority on both period and modern instruments and was a pioneer in proposing the use of period pianos in perfomance.