There is nothing left wanting in these performances. Hantaï and Verzier both display adroit virtuosity, possess warm tones but distinctive approaches, and share a telepathic sense of interplay, all excellent qualities in these intimate chamber works. Brother Pierre Hantaï on the keyboard sticks with them throughout, following them even in the most tempo rubato-saturated Sarabande. The lion's share of the pieces here are in the standard stylized Baroque dance forms, but Marais' expressive melodies, pungent harmonies, and highly individual take on the forms make each piece unique.

It was in 1774 that Joseph Haydn had his first set of solo keyboard sonatas published and that Mozart first tackled the genre. The five sonatas presented here all date from 1773-1783, a decade that saw the fortepiano swiftly become the preferred medium for a new style of keyboard writing, to the detriment of the harpsichord. All that remained was to find the instrument to speak this new language. The late Eighteenth Century German piano on which Jérôme Hantaï performs offers us a chance to hear a unique, expressive, cantabile voice.

On 1 May 1761, at the age of twenty-nine, Joseph Haydn officially became Vice-Capel-Meister to Prince Paul II Anton Esterházy, after having been Director of Music (Musikdirektor) to Count Karl Joseph von Morzin, who had squandered his fortune and had to disband his orchestra. Much has been made of the contract he signed that day. However, despite its demanding terms, it is not true that Haydn was reduced to the level of a servant, far from it, and his salary of 400 Gulden a year was double what he received from Count Morzin. But one of its restrictive clauses did forbid him to communicate to anyone new compositions requested by the prince, and to compose for anyone else without the monarch’s “gracious permission”.