Beethoven: Diabelli Variations (with variations by Czerny, Hummel, Kalkbrenner, Kerzkowsky, etc)

"Staier's thoroughly engaging and vibrant musicianship warrant no less than our highest rating." (10/10 ClassicsToday June 2012)

"The Diabelli Variations as they were heard in Beethoven's time. An infectious recording that bubbles over with joy."
(Recording of the month Sept 2012 MusicWeb)

"Staier finds unexpected colours in this most mercurial, witty and enigmatic of the late piano works. Anybody accustomed to the "plinky-plonk" sound of period instruments in modern...will be astonished at the spectrum of timbres Staier conjures from this fortepiano...A piano disc for the ages."
(Sunday Times)

"It's safe to predict that very few people who hear this extraordinary performance...will have heard one quite like it before...his performance is about much more than special effects. Staier's variations of touch and tone and the nuances of his pedalling would be remarkable on a modern concert grand, let alone such an early instrument, while he is always alert to the ways in which he can articulate and alter the pacing"
(Guardian)

"Staier's perfectly judged tempi, angular demeanour, characterful contrasts, biting accents and cumulative sweep add up to a performance that abounds with probing details yet never loses sight of the music's grand design...This is far away the most stimulating and best-played fortepiano Diabelli Variations on compact disc." Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice, August 2012

"The endlessly ear-opening consequences are riveting; the wide-ranging aplomb of Beethoven's Variations could have been conceived with Staier's musical curiosity and flair in mind...This isn't just an indisputably great performance on fortepiano; it's a great performance full stop. Given Staier's virtuosity and insight, what price Hammerklavier next?"
BBC Music Magazine Awards 2013: Instrumental Finalist

As is his custom, Andreas Staier has gone back to the original manuscript of one of the most famous sets of variations in history: Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. But he has not restricted his work to recording the magnum opus, since the CD begins with a selection of the variations written by some of the other 50 composers Diabelli asked to take part in his project. Here you can discover the very first stirrings of Liszt's virtuosity (aged eleven!), the music of Mozart's son, the unexpected variations of Kreutzer and Kalkbrenner, and the Diabelli Variation of a certain Franz Schubert. A thrilling musical investigation!