Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K457

“Staier's playing is illuminating.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2012 ****

“The variety of colour he gets from it is seemingly infinite, as is his expressive range...And (early-music devotees, please note and emulate, if you can) his ornamentations almost always sound spontaneous, a natural extension of the written notes.” Sunday Times, 22nd July 2012

“'Too easy for beginners; too difficult for artists'. So said Schnabel of Mozart's sonatas. A telling insight, typically overstated. Just how overstated is immaculately demonstrated here by an artist well up to the job.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 *****

“in the hands of an artist as captivating as the Portuguese Pires, they reveal unexpected treasures. Her exquisite passage work and the clarity and depth of her chording are a constant delight. She takes a surprisingly subdued view of the famous Turkish finale of K331. In compensation, the brilliant finale of No 12, K332, is exhilarating.” Sunday Times, 10th July 2011 ****

“This is Mozart rethought, unsanitised and maybe unsettling for some. But as Bezuidenhout implies, we have to move on.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2011

“Bezuidenhout promises great things, and this instalment is superb. The keyboard is perfectly scaled to the music: Bezuidenhout can give the C minor sonata (K457) full force and weight without ever sounding overblown, while the exquisite A minor rondo and B minor adagio have a gentle, unforced eloquence.” The Observer, 16th January 2011

“Any inbuilt resistance to hearing Mozart on a fortepiano rather than a concert grand quickly evaporates as the ear begins to relish the piquant colours and subtle nuances that Bezuidenhout produces...The best of it (K511, 540 and 457) sounds revolutionary while the rest cannot fail to charm.” Classic FM Magazine, February 2011 *****

“Bezuidenhout steers a wonderful, measured course through both works [Rondo and Adagio], but allows himself a bit of freedom in the two sonatas...Both are perfectly proportioned accounts, with every rhythm neatly sprung, and inflected with a splendid range of keyboard touch and colour.” The Guardian, 20th January 2011 ****

“There is nothing to fault in the playing, with Bezuidenhout displaying immaculate control of the refinements of tone of a fabulous fortepiano...This is Mozart playing of such intimacy and tenderness, on an instrument able to respond with similar subtlety and nuance” International Record Review, January 2011

“Throughout, Bezuidenhout transcends the apparent limitations of his instrument — a modern copy of a Walter fortepiano — with a remarkable range of colour.” Sunday Times, 30th January 2011 ****

“deeply-felt performances of some of the very greatest among the solo keyboard works...these performances leave a strong impression. Among the highlights is Bezuidenhout's expressive account of the tragic A minor Rondo K511. Elsewhere, Bezuidenhout is unfailingly imaginative with his own ornamentation. The reproduction Anton Walter pianos he uses are warm and sonorous.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2011 ****

“There have been a few recordings on historical instruments made in recent decades, but Bezuidenhout rivals them all for the breadth of understanding he brings to the music, and his astonishing inflections of colour. He is able to make the fortepiano really sing – such an important aspect of Mozart’s music...this is shaping up to be a truly great cycle that does Mozart’s solo piano music the fullest justice.” bbc.co.uk, 12th April 2011