A fascinating and entertaining recital from Matthieu Cognet. Joseph Haydn was a master of musical comedy, and his Piano Sonata No. 60 features eccentric quirks similar to those heard in his ‘London’ Symphonies. Robert Schumann was influenced by the comic writer Jean Paul when he composed his rhapsodic Humoreske in B-flat major, Op. 20, which exudes a stream-of-consciousness quality. The 20th century brought with it musical humour of a satirical, sometimes acerbic nature. Prokofiev’s Four Pieces for piano, like Schumann’s Humoreske, encompass a range of characters, and Bartók’s Piano Sonata, Sz. 80 has moments of grim humour and dry wit.
Matthieu Cognet was born in Paris and later moved to the United States, where among many achievements he has written and published his solo piano transcription of Ravel’s La Valse, became Artistic Director of the French American Piano Society, and currently teaches and performs in New York and beyond.
