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Four Piano Sonatas
Joseph Haydn

Matthieu Idmtal

Four Piano Sonatas

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917200799
Catnr: CC 720079
Release date: 28 August 2026
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1 CD
€ 19.95
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Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917200799
Catalogue number
CC 720079
Release date
28 August 2026
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN

About the album

This new recording by pianist Matthieu Idmtal shines a fresh light on the piano sonatas of Joseph Haydn, revealing a composer of boundless imagination, wit, warmth and emotional depth. Far from the often predictable image of Classical elegance, these works unfold as vibrant musical conversations filled with surprise, humour, tenderness and dramatic intensity. Especially in the hands of Idmtal who is a refined piano poet! Drawn to Haydn’s music during a deeply personal and reflective period, he discovered in these sonatas a source of comfort and renewal - “a balm for the soul, an antidote to melancholy.” Through four carefully chosen sonatas, he invites listeners into Haydn’s endlessly inventive world.

Recorded at the outstanding Westvest90 studio in Schiedam, The Netherlands - renowned for its exceptional acoustics and warm, natural sound - this album captures both the intimacy and theatrical energy of Haydn’s music with remarkable clarity and depth. Idmtal’s sensitive and deeply personal interpretations bring new life to these masterpieces, from the sparkling wit of the late sonatas to the darker, near-Beethovenian intensity of the Sonata in B minor. The result is a recording that not only celebrates Haydn’s genius, but also reaffirms the timeless joy, humanity and emotional richness at the heart of his music.

Artist(s)

Matthieu Idmtal (piano)

“I have listened to Sofronitsky, Gilels, Richter and Ashkenazy – great Scriabin players all. Young Matthieu Idmtal has the potential to join that lofty group.” – The American Record Guide “He plays with high sensitivity, with flair and imagination, and most of all, with a lot of poetry.” – Radio Klara “Belgian pianist Matthieu Idmtal creates a wonderfully colorful and profound universe that not only surprised me, but even more completely captivated me. His great technical vocabulary leads to an interpretation that combines a refined sound with penetrating expressiveness in a sublime way.” – Opus Klassiek It is clear that Matthieu Idmtal has become an established name on national and international stages. Press and public have witnessed his distinctive musical personality, and have praised his highly sensitive interpretations. As a prize...
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“I have listened to Sofronitsky, Gilels, Richter and Ashkenazy – great Scriabin players all. Young Matthieu Idmtal has the potential to join that lofty group.” – The American Record Guide

“He plays with high sensitivity, with flair and imagination, and most of all, with a lot of poetry.” – Radio Klara

“Belgian pianist Matthieu Idmtal creates a wonderfully colorful and profound universe that not only surprised me, but even more completely captivated me. His great technical vocabulary leads to an interpretation that combines a refined sound with penetrating expressiveness in a sublime way.” – Opus Klassiek

It is clear that Matthieu Idmtal has become an established name on national and international stages.
Press and public have witnessed his distinctive musical personality, and have praised his highly sensitive interpretations.

As a prize winner of more than 15 international competitions, Matthieu Idmtal has been a guest at the main Belgian stages such as Bozar, Flagey, De Bijloke, De Singel, Concertgebouw Brugge, Philharmonie de Liège, Handelsbeurs,… and made part of international festivals such as the Klara Festival, Festival Musiq’3, Les Sommets du Classique (Switzerland), Palermo Classica (Italy), Musicales and Côte Chalonnaise (France), Les Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad (Switzerland), Festival Musical d’Arcangues (France), Festival Zeeuwsch-Vlaanderen (Netherlands), Festival en Poitou (France), Les Festivals de Wallonie,…

The young pianist has now four CD’s to his credit: the complete sonatas for violin and piano by E. Grieg together with violinist Maya Levy (2017), the 12 Etudes Op. 8 & 24 Preludes, Op. 11 by A. Scriabin (2018), and the Piano Sonata, Op. 7 & 14 Lyrische Stücke by E. Grieg (2021), published by Piano Classics, and original works for four hands by J. Strauss, played with pianist Alessandro Deljavan.
These recordings quickly received high critical acclaim such as “This is definitely one of the better Scriabin CD’s of the last decade” (De Muze), or “In a sublime way, he joins the beauty of sound with expression. His playing contains a variated and colourful toucher, supple phrasing, a natural rubato, pricesly elaborated dynamics, and a contagious imagination. Idmtal is a poet at the piano.” (Magazine Stretto).
All CD’s were awarded ‘Choice of Klara’ by national radiostation Radio Klara, and received a five-star review by the prestigious music magazine ‘Classica’.
In 2026, a new recording will be released containing piano sonatas by J. Haydn.

His recording of music entirely devoted to Alexander Scriabin was very highly praised, and in recent years Matthieu Idmtal has established himself as a leading interpreter and representer of his music.
He repeatedly gave several recitals entirely dedicated to the Russian composer and performed several times for the European Scriabin Society.

Last seasons, Matthieu Idmtal gave solo recitals and concerts with orchestra in Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Lithuania, Morocco and Spain.
In addition to his solo concerts, he very much enjoys playing chamber music, and thus won several prizes in piano duo together with Anastasia Kozhushko, as well as in duo with violinist Maya Levy.
Such awards include top prizes at competitions such as “Youth ’n Classic” (Belgium), “Concorso Internazionale San Cristoforo” (Italy), or the press and public prize at the “International Chamber Music Competition Almere” (the Netherlands).
In 2017, Matthieu Idmtal was awarded ‘Supernova’: a prize given by the Belgian music critics and programmors, in collaboration with the main national classical music radio stations, Radio Klara and Musiq’3.
The prize would include a concert tour throughout the whole country.
Matthieu Idmtal shared the stage with musicians such as Bomsori Kim, Pierre-Alain Volondat, Eva Zavaro, Jef Neve, Elsa de Lacerda, Alessandro Deljavan, Marley Erickson, Dirk Brossé,…

The repertoire of Matthieu Idmtal ranges from the baroque period till music of nowadays, but he has always had a particular attention to (Post-) Romantic music, with Robert Schumann, Edvard Grieg, Alexander Scriabin and Frédéric Chopin as composers close to his heart.
His affinity with the latter made him create the ‘Brussels Chopin Days’: an international concert series dedicated to F. Chopin of which Matthieu Idmtal is the artistic director since 2013.
He also makes a point of bringing lesser known works into the spotlights, and has interest in jazz music.
Over the years he developed a curiosity for composing and has written several pieces of music.

His experience makes him a regular guest to give masterclasses, as well as being jurymember in national and international music competitions.

Matthieu Idmtal feels an endless gratitude to his teachers Frima Nakhimovitch, Maria Andreeva, and Vitaly Samoshko, and is thankful for every inspiring and marking musical encouter that influenced him to be the musician he is today.


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Composer(s)

Joseph Haydn

(Franz) Joseph Haydn was a prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets 'Father of the Symphony' and 'Father of the String Quartet'.   Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family at their remote estate. Until the later part of his life, this isolated him from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, 'forced to become original'. Yet his music circulated widely and for much of his career he was the most celebrated composer in Europe.   He was a friend and mentor of Mozart,...
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(Franz) Joseph Haydn was a prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".
Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family at their remote estate. Until the later part of his life, this isolated him from other composers and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, "forced to become original". Yet his music circulated widely and for much of his career he was the most celebrated composer in Europe.
He was a friend and mentor of Mozart, a teacher of Beethoven, with whom he formed the First Viennese School. He was also the older brother of composer Michael Haydn.

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