Tom Beghin on 7 historical keyboards in 9 virtual rooms.

From McGill University’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (Montreal, Canada) comes a path-breaking project. Performer and musicologist Tom Beghin, Tonmeister and producer Martha de Francisco, and recording engineer Wieslaw Woszczyk apply Virtual Acoustics for the first time to a recording of this magnitude.

In the “Immersive Presence” Laboratory, surrounded by a semi-sphere of 24 loudspeakers, Tom Beghin plays “as if” in the historical room. His sounds are captured, mixed with reverberation responses identical to those of the actual location, and retransmitted almost instantaneously through the sphere, allowing him to engage “the room” then and there.

12 CDs + 1 DVD

Contents:
CD 1 Program One: Courting Nobility, c.1755 - 1769
Harpsichord Johann Leydecker (1755) by Martin Pühringer (2004). Music Room, Eszterháza (Fertöd)
- Sonata in C Major, Hob.XVI:3
- Capriccio in G Major, “Acht Sauschneider müssen seyn” Hob.XVII:1
- Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVI:4
- Sonata in B-flat Major, Hob.XVI:2
- Sonata in A Major, Hob.XVI:12

CD 2
Program One (cont'd)
- Sonata in A-flat Major, Hob.XVI:46

Program Two: Program Two. Quality Time, c. 1750 - 1772
Clavichord in Saxon Style (c. 1760) by Joris Potvlieghe (2003). “Room Five,” Haydn’s House (Eisenstadt).
- Sonata in C Major, Hob.XVI:1
- Sonata in G Major, Hob.XVI:6
- Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVII :D1
- Sonata in E Major, Hob.XVI:13

CD 3
Program Two (cont'd)
- Sonata in B-flat Major, Hob.XVI:18
- Sonata in G Minor, Hob.XVI:44

Program Three: The Music Lesson, c. 1755 - 1767.
Harpsichord Johann Leydecker (1755) by Martin Pühringer (2005). Spiegelsaal, Esterházy Palace (Eisenstadt).
- Sonata in C Major, Hob.XVI:7
- Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVI:14
- Variations in A Major, Hob.XVII:2

CD 4
Program Three (cont'd)
- Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI:G1
- Sonata in E Minor, Hob. XVI:47
- Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:45

Program Four: Haydn’s Workshop, c. 1760 - 1771.
Clavichord in Saxon Style (c. 1760) by Joris Potvlieghe (2003). Study, Haydn’s House (Eisenstadt).
- Sonata in C Major, Hob.XVI:10
- Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVI:19

CD 5
Program Four (cont'd)
- variations in E-flat Major, Hob.XVII:3
- Sonata in F Major, Hob.XVI:9
- Sonata in G Major, Hob.XVI:8
- Sonata in C Minor, Hob.XVI:20

SINGLE PIECE I “Room Five,” Haydn's House, Eisenstadt
- Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVI:33

CD 6 Program Five: “Your Most Serene Highness!” (“Prince Esterházy Sonatas,” 1774).
Harpsichord in French Style (c. 1770) by Yves Beaupré (2007). Ceremonial Room, Eszterháza (Fertöd).
- Sonata in C Major, Hob.XVI:21
- Sonata in E Major, Hob.XVI:22
- Sonata in F Major, Hob.XVI:23
- Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVI:24

CD 7
Program Five (cont'd)
- Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob.XVI:25
- Sonata in A Major, Hob.XVI:26

Program Six: The Score (“Anno 776 Sonatas,” 1776).
Tafelklavier Ignaz Kober (1788) by Chris Maene (2007). Salle de Nantes, Château Ramezay (Montreal).
- Sonata in G Major, Hob.XVI:27
- Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob.XVI:28
- Sonata in F Major, Hob.XVI:29

CD 8 Program Six (cont'd)
- Sonata in A Major, Hob.XVI:30
- Sonata in E Major, Hob.XVI:31
- Sonata in B Minor, Hob.XVI:32

Program Seven: “Equal to the Finest Masters” (“Auenbrugger Sisters Sonatas,” 1780).
Fortepiano Anton Walter (1782) by Chris Maene (2005). Music Room, Eszterháza (Fertöd).
- Sonata in C Major, Hob.XVI:35
- Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Hob.XVI:36

CD 9 Program Seven (cont'd)
- Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVI:37
- Sonata in E-Flat Major, Hob.XVI:38
- Sonata in G Major, Hob.XVI:39
- Sonata in C Minor, Hob.XVI:20

CD 10 Program Eight: Musical Letters to a Princess (“Marie Esterházy Sonatas,” 1784).
Tafelklavier Ignaz Kober (1788) by Chris Maene (2007). Prunkraum, Albertina (Vienna).
- Variations in C Major, Hob XVII:5
- Sonata in E Minor, Hob.XVI:34

Three Sonatas dedicated to Princess Marie Esterházy
- Sonata in G Major, Hob.XVI:40
- Sonata in B-flat Major, Hob.XVI:41
- Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVI:42

SINGLE PIECE II
- Sonata in C Major, Hob.XVI:48
Fortepiano Anton Walter, c.1795, by Chris Maene, 2005 (from the collection of McGill University)
Salle de Nantes, Château Ramezay, Montreal

CD 11 Program Nine: Viennese Culture, 1789 - 1798.
Fortepiano Anton Walter (after 1791) by Chris Maene (2005). Festsaal, Palais Lobkowitz (Vienna).
- Fantasia (“Capriccio”) in C Major, Hob.XVII:4
- Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob.XVI:49 for Marianne von Genzinger
- Variations (“Sonata”) in F Minor, Hob.XVII:6 for Barbara von Ployer
- Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob.XVI:52 for Magdalena von Kurzböck

CD 12 Program Ten: The London Scene, 1794 - 1795.
Piano Longman, Clementi & Co. (1798) by Chris Maene (2004). Holywell Music Room (Oxford).
- Prelude in C Major, from Appendix to the Fifth Edition of Clementi’s Introduction to the Art of Playing on the Piano Forte Op. 42 (1811)
- Sonata in C Major, Hob.XVI:50, for Theresa Jansen
- Sonata in D Major, Hob.XVI:51, possibly for Maria Hester Park
- Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:52, for Theresa Jansen
- Adagio in G Major, Hob. XV:22

Coda
- Variations in G Major on “Gott, erhalte Franz den Kaiser!” Hob.III:77
Fortepiano Anton Walter (“stoss”), c.1782, by Chris Maene, 2005 - Tom Beghin's Studio, Montreal

DVD
Playing the Room: a documentary film (dir. Robert J Litz and Jeremy Tusz)
Video Performances
1. Capriccio in G Major, “Acht Sauschneider müssen seyn,” Hob.XVII:1 (1765)
2. Sonata in G Major, Hob.XVI:40 (publ. 1784)
3. Fantasia (“Capricc io”) in C Major, Hob.XVII:4 (1789)
4. Adagio from Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob.XVI:49 (1789 - 1790)
5. Allegro from Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob.XVI:52 (1794)
7 x 9 Matrix: Andante for Musical Clock, Hob.XIX:10