Andreas Haefliger, piano : Perspectives 6

   in Piano International (Sep, 2014)
The noted Swiss pianist Andreas Haefliger, born in Berlin in 1962, is now in mid-career. Very Helvetian indeed in his punctilious, neat, sometimes slightly clipped phrasing, Haefliger expresses the classical idiom with admirable clarity, without over-stressing imposed narrative elements that might give extra vivacity to the performances. Instead, Haefliger lets the music speak for itself, even to a fault, when in some repetitious passages extra personal inflections might have created a more dramatic or lively result. Beethoven’s Sonata Op 14 No 2 is rendered as light, blithe and a trifle winsome.

The same composer’s Op 109 is perhaps brittle sounding compared to more overtly powerful versions of this late work recorded …