Haydn & Scarlatti: Chiaro e scuro Olivier Cavé

• Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Sonata in D major, Hob XVI - 37
• 1 I. Allegro con brio 05:49
• 2 II. Largo e sostenuto 03:50
• 3 III. Finale. Presto ma non troppo 03:06
• Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
• 4 Keyboard Sonata in G Major, Kk. 425 02:54
• Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Partita in G major, Hob XVI - 6
• 5 I. Allegro 05:13
• 6 II. Menuetto 04:27
• 7 III. Adagio 03:48
• 8 IV. Finale. Allegro molto 02:28
• Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
• 9 Keyboard Sonata in E Major, Kk. 495 04:00
• Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Divertimento in C major, Hob XVI - 10
• 10 I. Moderato 03:07
• 11 II. Menuet - Trio 02:56
• 12 III. Finale. Presto 02:41
• Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
• 13 Keyboard Sonata in G Major, Kk. 432 02:03
• Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Sonata in F major, Hob XVI - 23
• 14 I. Allegro 04:24
• 15 II. Adagio 05:44
• 16 III. Finale. Presto 03:33
• Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
• 17 Keyboard Sonata in A Major, Kk. 342 02:11
• Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Sonata in D major, Hob XVI - 24
• 18 I. Allegro 04:13
• 19 II. Adagio 03:46
• 20 III. Finale. Presto 02:06
• Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
• 21 Keyboard Sonata in B-Flat Minor, Kk. 128 05:17
• Total Runtime 01:17:36

Info for Haydn & Scarlatti: Chiaro e scuro

An original programme with which the Swiss pianist Olivier Cavé succeeds in summarizing two universes that might, however, a priori appear remote: Domenico Scarlatti vs. Joseph Haydn. In the same album, Olivier Cavé confronts two complementary visions of the keyboard. ‘With this project, I wanted to connect these two composers,’ he tells us, ‘for, when playing Haydn, I always had the feeling that he was familiar with Scarlatti’s music.’ For these two composers, the keyboard is the alphabet of a distinctive language; in a style both playful and mischievous, they composed with a bantering humour, unlimited amusement, unfailing virtuosity and a perfect sense of description. Paradoxically, the two composers meet in their slow movements, of unparalleled simplicity and amazing naturalness that give this music, generations apart, very great lyrical depth. This recording shows to what degree the impact of Scarlatti’s music on Haydn’s keyboard compositions is undeniable. For this project, Olivier Cavé has relied on the learned advice of the American musicologist Elaine Sisman.

Olivier Cavé, piano

Olivier Cavé
Born in Switzerland on December 18, 1977, Olivier Cavé studied piano at Sion Conservatory and later at the Conservatory in Lausanne where he earned a Diplôme de Piano with honors and was the recipient of an accolade for excellence. The pianist also participated in master classes given by Maria Lilia Bertola in Milan and by Nelson Goerner in Geneva. 1995 brought Cavé into the sphere of Maria Tipo, whose master classes he attended at the Fiesole School of Music, followed by a two and a half year study under Aldo Ciccolini in Italy and France.

Cavé gave his first concert with the Camerata Lysy under the direction of Yehudi Menuhin in September of 1991. He has collaborated with artists such as Alexis Weissenberg, Menahem Pressler, Arie Vardi, Howard Griffiths, Tibor Varga, Barbara Hendricks and Isabelle Huppert, and performed as a soloist with the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, the Galileo Galilei Orchestra of Fiesole, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and the Basel Chamber Orchestra (Kammerorchesterbasel).

In June 2000, Olivier Cavé placed among the finalists of the Clara Schumann Competition in Dusseldorf. In 2002, he performed Beethoven’s first piano concerto for an RAI radio broadcast as part of a special series featuring a comprehensive program of Beethoven’s concertos for piano and orchestra in honor of Maria Tipo’s 70th birthday. He was invited by La Scala in Milan for the reopening of the theater museum and library in 2003 where he performed Liszt’s opera transcriptions on a piano that once belonged to the composer.

Olivier Cavé’s first recording “Réflexions” was released by Deutsche Grammophon in May of 2004; the CD features works by Beethoven, Schubert, Scarlatti and Schumann. His career took a new turn in September 2008 with the release of his first recording for Aeon, which features sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti. Critics across Europe praised the Swiss pianist with Neapolitan roots for having returned to the source. Dedicated to Muzio Clementi, Cavé’s second recording is even more striking than his first. Released in the autumn of 2010, the CD was given a 5 Diapason rating, 4 Stars from Classica and the highest award from the Japanese magazine Geijutsu Records. This success also led to invitations to perform at prestigious locations throughout the world, such as the Teatro Olimpico in Rome, the Tonhalle in Zurich, and the Phillips Collection in Washington.

His tour along the American eastern seaboard, during which he presented a program entitled “Il Pianoforte Italiano” and gave master classes at Duke and West Virginia Universities, was a great success and preceded his debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in February 2012 under the direction of Rinaldo Alessandrini, where the pianist was praised as a "model of refinement behind the keyboard". The performances drew wide attention from both public and press.

Early in August 2012, Olivier Cavé made a remarkable debut at La Roque d'Anthéron International Piano Festival in France. He will release his third disc with Aeon in May 2013, dedicated solely to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and entitled, “Nel gusto italiano – Concerti, Capriccio e Aria,” a program which the pianist interpreted in January of this year at Venice's Teatro La Fenice and will bring to his debut at the Menuhin Festival Gstaad in August.

Booklet for Haydn & Scarlatti: Chiaro e scuro