Ivan Ilić Plays Haydn Symphonies

In an age before easy access to symphonic concerts, let alone recordings, people had to do with transcriptions that, quite often, they’d play themselves. Tenor, conductor, harpsichordist and composer Carl David Stegmann made about 25 piano transcriptions of Haydn symphonies; here, Ivan Ilić plays three of them—and he has chosen well. The “Trauer” (No. 44), with its long third movement, is done with a lovely touch and fine sense of poetry. No. 75’s “Andante con variazioni” is particularly graceful, while the “Oxford” (No. 92) romps charmingly to its close. Ilić plays it all with great commitment and style.