Arthur Ancelle (piano)

Works

• Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 30 in D major, Hob.XVI:19
• Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Hob.XVI:46
• Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 62 in E flat major, Hob.XVI:52

The name of the young French pianist became known thanks to the piano duet with Ludmila Berlinskaya. The artistic individuality of Arthur Ancelle, a representative of a renowned artistic family in France, who started his performing career at the age of thirteen, allows us to reckon him among the most interesting pianists of his generation. The graduate of the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, he underwent a study course with Berlinskaya and Mira Yevtich, and became a prize-winner of a number of prestigious contests. The owner of an extensive repertoire, Ancelle is known for his heightened interest in contemporary music. However, this album is dedicated to the piano works of Joseph Haydn whose 285th anniversary was celebrated last year. The album features two sonatas from Haydn’s 'middle' period (Nos 30 and 31) written in the late 1760s and still bearing traces of C. P. E. Bach’s influence, and also one of the best known sonatas in E flat major (1794) filled with deep musical revelations and unexpected turns of the composer’s thought. Arthur Ancelle’s refined sense of style, diversity of the musical palette, and noble restraint of playing make him a remarkable interpreter of the founder of the First Viennese School.

July 2018