Haydn: Keyboard Concerto No. 4 in G major, Hob.XVIII:4

“Hamelin and Les Violons du Roy play that gypsy finale [of the D major Concerto] with irresistable verve...If there's an incongruity between the sound of Hamelin's modern piano and that of the period-band that accompanies him, it's one that's easy to get used to...it's hard not to enjoy Hamelin's showmanship and the eloquence of his slow movements is an added bonus.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 ****

“Hamelin’s songful legato in the F major’s largo cantabile and bravura in the presto finales make the strongest possible cases for these works, and I don’t know a more exhilarating account of the D major — but it ought to be the disc’s climax.” Sunday Times, 21st April 2013

“ Hamelin could probably hum these concertos into a battered plastic kazoo and they’d still sound great. Everything works. There’s the requisite dynamism and energy, coupled with a superhuman lightness of touch...Hyperion’s sound is beyond reproach. Another entry in my provisional "Best of 2013" list.” The Arts Desk, 27th April 2013

“[in the F major] Hamelin weaves an enchanting spell, approaching an almost Mozartian pathos...[in the finale of the D major] he pushes forward without dropping the tempo, heightening the delirium of this whirling gypsy dance. Add to that some unmarked col legno earlier in the same movement for an authentic touch of Hungarian paprika and the result cannot fail to raise a smile.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2013

“Crisp accounts with touching nuances in the nocturnal slow movements” BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 ****

“The Schynders evidently have fun refracting Haydn's motifs through the prism of contemporary styles, but what is remarkable is that these modern additions never outstay their welcome while making gentle fun of their surroundings.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2012

“Many concertos are attributed to Haydn but these three are undisputedly authentic. The keyboard part in No 4 falls in a narrow compass; Andreas Staier introduces variety by ornamenting the slow movement and decorating fermatas in all movements. His embellishments are very good indeed, even if he is ornate in places. (If you dislike ornament, you should choose the Andsnes, who sticks to the letter and does so most artistically.) A rarity is No 6 for violin and keyboard, its outer movements the least interesting with sequential passages. The emotive slow movement (mostly a conversation between the two soloists) redeems matters and gives Gottfried von der Goltz a chance to show his mettle as a sensitive violinist.
In the finest work, No 11, the orchestral exposition is an ideal Vivace, the first theme lilting over repeated quavers generating the right degree of forward tension, and the bass line given its full due, oboes and horns colouring the texture tellingly. A similar degree of perception, with Staier's contribution equally telling, is heard throughout. The recording is expertly balanced and tonally truthful. An outstanding disc.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“this disc continually surprises and delights. Faultless.” The Independent on Sunday, 16 January 2005 *****

“Andreas Staier has established himself as one of the foremost solo exponents of the baroque repertoire, here matching Haydn himself for musical wit, wisdom and joie de vivre.” The Observer, 16 January 2005

“Like Emanuel Ax on Sony, Leif Ove Andsnes confines himself to the three concertos that have been fully authenticated.
Had the works generally known as 'the Haydn piano concertos' been these three and not a rag-bag of juvenilia and pieces attributed to Haydn, the canon might have been more highly thought. But even the slightest work can dazzle and delight if it's performed as well as these are here. Where Ax's performances have a slightly monochrome feel, everything tapped out (there's much audible fingerwork) with the same well-adjusted mix of energy and sensibility, Andsnes's playing is altogether more various, while perfectly at one with itself stylistically.
Ax's Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra is the more idiomatic of the two ensembles in the D major Concerto's Rondo all'Ungarese, but that's about the only occasion on which it has the edge over Andsnes's stylish and highly articulate Norwegian Chamber Orchestra; and even here Andsnes himself scores points for a less noisy plunge into the interlude in D minor and a more sunlit and finely flighted way with the episode which follows. The Norwegian players are never afraid to play full out, a strategy which the explicit but carefully balanced recording is happy to underwrite. Thus the players make much of the 'look here, young man' chromaticisms in the first movement of the D major Concerto as the piano chatters irrepressibly on; and they contribute decisively to the superbly articulated – nay, revelatory – performance of the G major Concerto with which the disc begins. After a splendidly jaunty account of the first movement, Andsnes pushes this G major Concerto to its limits with a decidedly skilfully shaped account of the glooming C major slow movement and a dashing account of the concluding Presto. His playing of the Largo cantabile of the F major Concerto – the concerto's centrepiece and its raison d'être – is the very embodiment of sweetness and light. This is a simply marvellous disc.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010