All 57 sonatas of Haydn go on 2-year journey

Pianist and Professor of Hoseo University Hur Won-sook will play all 57 sonatas of Joseph Haydn on a stage for two years on five occasions. Polish classical recording label DUX will make a nine-CD album of her as well.

The first performance will be showcased in the Chamber Hall of the Sejong Center in Seoul at 8 p.m. on Thursday. She will play six music pieces, including Hob. 26, 41, and 50, under the title of “Hur Won-sook’s Haydn project ABCDEFG(?) Hi, Haydn.”

“I was looking to select the distinctive pieces of Haydn and found sonata from A major to G major. Was this a coincidence or a playful intention hidden by the composer?”

The pieces in a unique order are also in line with the bright atmosphere of Haydn’s sonatas. To the comment on how “Haydn’s sonatas bring out delightfulness of marbles rolling on a surface,” she responded, “It gives you a sense of warmth and happiness, rather than something funny.”

“These are the pieces that make you relax and breath between perfectionist Mozart’s sonatas and Beethoven’s sonatas with such strong impressions as if to express the victory of the human.”

However, she said that Haydn’s unique phrasing and impromptu nature, as well as the difficulty to interpret his pieces, make you constantly question. It hasn’t been long since she first started Haydn’s sonatas.

“I use to play mainly romantic music until 10 years ago. Then, I decided to let go of excessive expressions based on the desire to go back to basics with Beethoven and Bach. I was contemplating who would be the next composer for me and came up with Haydn, whose musical characters were in line with mine and would be a great challenge for me.”

She released her first album with songs by César Franck and Lee Kon-yong in 2014 with DUX and her second album with Diabelli Variations by Beethoven and a suite by Ryu Jae-joon in 2017. Her album featuring Goldberg Variations by Bach released in January 2019 won the Supersonic Award by Pizzicato, a magazine devoted to classical music. She has also been nominated for the Baroque instrumental music category by International Classical Music Award and waiting for announcement in January next year. “I am honored to be even nominated. For now, I will only pay attention to Haydn though,” said Hur with a smile.


gustav@donga.com