Haydn: Piano Sonatas Vol 2 (2 CDs)

"To summarise: this Hyperion double set contains some of the finest performances of Haydn sonatas I have heard. Hamelin's playing overflows with ardent lyricism and I especially enjoyed his naturalness of rubato. The close sound quality from the Henry Wood Hall is impressive and the booklet essay by Richard Wigmore is helpful too."
(Recording of the Month MusicWeb Sept 2009)

'The continuous outpouring of beautiful tone; it's mesmerizing…. These performances are beyond criticism' (Fanfare, USA)

They sound absolutely superb, in the right hands, on the modern grand piano. And Marc-André Hamelin has the right hands, as his first two-disc set showed … Playing of crisp clarity and deep feeling, superbly recorded' (The Dominion Post, New Zealand)

Marc-André Hamelin's first set of Haydn Piano Sonatas was Hyperion's best-selling release of 2007, and had the critics jostling to acclaim his performances in the highest terms, in particular his expression of the 'physical exhilaration of Haydn's playful inspiration in a way unmatched by any pianist past or present'. His second volume, released in a year where new Haydn recordings are prominent, should surely match the critical and commercial success of the first.

Some of Haydn's most alluring and appealing keyboard works are recorded here. The surprising (to some) emotional range of the composer is fully evident in the extraordinarily sensitive and intimate Sonata in E flat major No 49, written for Maria Anna von Genzinger, and the profoundly felt Andante con variazioni in F minor, the composition of which coincided with her death.