Haydn: Piano Sonata No. 48 in C major, Hob.XVI:35

“These performances sound natural, appropriate and in perfect structural and expressive proportion...They are the work of an insightful musician of profound culture and wide interests, whose intellectual and emotional identification with Haydn is unreserved, and whose playing, beautifully captured in technical terms, is a delight to listen to.” International Record Review, April 2011

“In the second volume of his complete Haydn cycle [Bavouzet] shines particularly in sonatas 48 and 50, the sprightliest on the CD, both with lovely reflective slow movements. Bavouzet offers the crispest of trills, a sprinkling of the fantastic, and a tender heart.” The Times, 16th April 2011 ****

“His playing in this second installment is quite as exemplary in touch, phrasing, characterisation and continuity, while the recorded sound is again intimate yet unconstricted...Bavouzet brings a fizzing vivacity to the first movement of Sonata No. 48 in C...And in the solemn neo-baroque central movement of No. 50 in D (c.1778), his control of sonority and voicing of inner parts has a measured grandeur that is quite marvellous.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2011 ****

“Bavouzet is perhaps the ideal pianist for Haydn: his clarity of touch, quickness of wit and sensitivity to different soundworlds make him an empathetic interpreter...[he] makes the most of the contrasts between the pieces...The pianist is very much alive to their unfailingly fresh invention, delivering it all apparently effortlessly and without exceeding the necessary 18th-century parameters on the modern grand piano” Classic FM Magazine, June 2011 ****

“Bavouzet more than holds his own and, time and again, seems to offer a fresh ear to these sonatas, as if this is as much his great adventure as ours.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2011

“…his playing is arguably more ebullient than refined yet it is also exhilaratingly energised and finely attuned to the composer's volte-face mentality.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2007

“what makes Koroliov a Haydn interpreter of distinction are a dignified strength of expression..., a clear instrumental tone..., and a real ability to find the spiritual and emotional depth which many still suppose to be absent from this music...in its way this is Haydn-playing as good as you will find.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2010

“Hamelin is especially compelling in the great C major (No 48) and E flat major (No 49) sonatas, works that rank with the finest creations of the Viennese Classical period. An unmissable bargain at two-discs-for-the-price of one.” Sunday Times, 2nd August 2009 ****

“In the sonatas proper...he is a model of correctness, with enough wit, exuberance and the most exquisite lightness of touches to keep the music buoyant.” The Guardian, 31st July 2009 ****

“…a luminous evenness of touch and a wonderful lightness in his decorations and runs. …his account of the Adagio of the E flat, HobXVI:49, has a tenderness of its own. And while his account of the unsettling F minor Variations knocks a startling three minutes off the timing of Gary Cooper's account reviewed here in the July issue, it proves quite as intense.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2009 ****

“…Hamelin exhibits a coruscating wit and brilliance known to few pianists. When have you head dotted rhythms more sprucely articulated than in No 35's finale, or wondered how terms such as vivace can take on a whole new meaning given such rapier reflexes and musical sheen?” Gramophone Magazine, October 2009

“One of the outstanding releases of the Haydn celebratory year” International Record Review

“Richard Lester, captured in a generous recording, is content to let the charm and wit of the music speak for itself without being overly interventionist. This can be effective in fast outer movements, which have an infectious energy.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2009

“In the case of this group of sonatas, three from 1773 and three others from later in the same decade, in every instance, Odiaga proceeds with the same deeply disciplined appreciation of structure and therefore of line which has distinguished all her past performances. ...The humor in Haydn, often a matter of unexpected junctures, is allowed to speak for itself; underlining and italics are not in Odiaga's style book. Also consistent is the recording quality...open, finely detailed, absolutely unobtrusive in character. All the traits which led me a few years ago to place one of Lola Odiaga's first Haydn sonata CDs on an end-of-the-year want list are present here in full force and sharp focus. Urgently recommended!” Fanfare

“The exquisite, classical balance evident in these six sonatas makes them rewarding examples of Haydn's exploitation of the piano's broad expressive range and rich textural variety. This volume in Jenö Jandó's complete edition presents these pieces in a compelling, moderninstrument version. For example, there's brilliance and sparkle in the opening movements of the D major and E flat Sonatas; warmth and dramatic intensity in the slow movements (most notably in the Baroque echoes of the Sonatas in C major and D major), and an appealing blend of wit and elegance in finales such as the third movement of the D major Sonata. Most remarkable, though, is the G major, where Jandó's precision and sensitive balance of linear and harmonic dimensions convey its concerto character and Haydn's imaginative approach to form. Try Jandó's engaging account of the opening Allegro, his deft balance of the slow movement's effective blend of major and minor, and his exuberant virtuosity in the finale.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This latest volume in Jeno Jando's complete edition presents these pieces in a compelling, modern-instrument version.” Gramophone Magazine