The Virtual Haydn

 The Virtual Haydn has the complete works for solo piano by Haydn. Tom Beghin plays it all in a 4-disc box set using 7 historical keyboard instruments played in 9 virtual historic rooms. One HDVD is devoted to to a documentary about the project, a concert with 5 Haydn selections, and an interactive feature that lets you hear how the 7 different instruments would sound in each of the 9 rooms (total of 63 examples). In addition, there are 3 Blu-ray audio disks with all of Haydn's keyboard works. Except for a couple of short archive scenes, the video is in high-definition. Sound is 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio. This was published 2009 in Blu-ray only) In terms of content and recording technology, this title from Naxos is one of the  sophisticated videos ever published. Grade X-A+

Who would be qualified to review this astonishing box set? It comes to us from a group of fanatical early music experts teamed up with world-class scientists at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology at McGill University in Montreal. Because the subject here is so specialized, we give it the grade of "X."  If you are interested in historic keyboard music or the cutting edge of music recording and marketing, this title rates an "A+" for you. (If you don't have an HDVD home theater, you will have to get one of those too.)  For the rest of us more mundane souls, this set is still a bargain. It will open your eyes and ears to deeper understanding of the history of Western music. Thanks to the clever programs put together by Tom Beghin, you can get a solid introduction to keyboard Haydn without getting overwhelmed. Or if you have the sitzfleisch for it, you can listen to everything  in only 2 nine-hour days.

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