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| Recordings |
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| Hamburg 1734 |
| ‘Instrumental Choice’ HMC 901898 |
| "This disc is a three-fold celebration, first of a splendid harpsichord…., then of Hamburg and thirdly of its greatest music director, Telemann…..The disc contains a wealth of fine music…. The arrangements (orchestral music by Telemann for four hands harpsichord with Chirstine Schornsheim)….show off the harpsichord’s many resonances and colours to great effect. This is a stimulating and at times extravagantly expressive recital." |
| BBC Music Magazine – February 2006 |
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| Scarlatti Sonatas |
| "This two CD set is tackled by Andreas Staier, one of the world’s leading harpsichord specialists, with passion and gusto." |
| Hi-Fi Choice ***** – May 2005 |
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| Mozart Piano Sonatas - HMC901856 – 2005 |
| "Immediate reactions to Andreas Staier's new Mozart disc (another French Harmonia Mundi release, HMC 901856) might depend on your generosity towards the fortepiano. Staier's instrument is a modern replica, and the delicacy of some sounds is remarkable. Yet even if the fortepiano's clatter usually prompts apoplexy, his imaginative responses to his chosen sonatas (K 330, 331 and 332) should still lure you inside. Like Harnoncourt, Staier may be erratic but never dull. A wonderful, life-enhancing disc." |
| The Times - April 2005 |
| "I am delighted with the new harmonia mundi disc, finding in Staier’s readings a perfect balance between strength and delicacy." |
| International Record Review - April 2005 |
| "delightful, freshly conceived and invigorating performances." |
| Classical CD of the Week - April 2005 |
| "his sparkling touch, deft and witty timing and delicate feeling for the poetry of the slow movements give unalloyed pleasure." |
| The Daily Telegraph - April 2005 |
| "[The Alla Turca finale of K331] is outrageously mischievous, but surely not even the most dour scholar could resist such fun." |
| Evening Standard - April 2005 |
| "the changes are blatant, cheeky, provocative, prodding every last listener to ask how far should these things go." |
| The Irish Times - April 2005 |
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| Mozart Sonata in A major – Alla Turca finale |
| "Yes, you’ve noticed. Staier changes the figuration, as well as the octave at which he plays the right hand, and the ornamentation, and the sonority. I find this is a thrilling reading, and quite within Mozart’s experimental vein. After all, Mozart sometimes improvised the solo part of a concerto he hadn’t had time to finish, and he mostly improvised cadenzas. In Mozart’s day the text was usually just a start not a sacred document. Staier has entered fully into this spirit and all three sonatas have altered moments. This might put you off, but not me who popped out to buy a copy. Even if you don’t like what Staier does with the text, you can relish the beautiful sound of the fortepiano he uses, his exquisite phrasing and nifty finger work and overall to the works. These are outstanding performances." |
| BBC CD Review – March 2005 |
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| Haydn - Keyboard concertos, with the Freiburger Barockorchester / Gottfried von der Goltz (Harmonia Mundi HMC 901854) |
| Editor's Choice – Gramophone – April 2005 |
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| "Pianoforte devotees will relish the nimble fingerwork of Andreas Staier in three of Haydn's liveliest and most touching works, Hob XVIII: Nos 4, 6 and 11. Dismissed by one contemporary as 'an exercise for composers and instrumentalists, with no ambition other than to offer a vague pleasure to the ear', these three contrasting works sound a great deal more substantial to posterity, especially the D major with its great 'Hungarian' finale. Once the harpsichordist of Musica Antiqua Köln, German keyboard virtuosos Andreas Staier has since 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 - January 2005 |
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| "While it is good to have this rarely performed work in a state-of-the-art period-style performance, the quality of the music, as with the G major concerto, belies Haydn's reputation as a composer who never wrote a dull work. The finest music here, the D major, is the most durable of the keyboard concertos, written in the 1780s, and stylishly performed…." |
| The Sunday Times - January 2005 |
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| "This disc continually surprises and delights. Faultless." |
| The Independent on Sunday - January 2005 ***** |
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| Brahms Piano Quintet – MDG307 1218-2 |
| A lighter touch for a Brahms masterpiece |
| "On this excellent recording we’re aware that the dominating resonance of the present-day concert grand is missing; the balance shifts in favour of the strings, making the work seem more colourful, less sombre. The first movement and the Scherzo are especially successful, with full, resonant tuttis contrasting dramatically with the more tenuous, atmospheric music… Staier and the Leipzigers will expand your view of this great work." |
| Gramophone – January 2005 |
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| Mozart Piano Sonatas - HMC801815 - 2003 |
| "Andreas Staier brings to this music a rare passion, subtlety and recreative flair. Once or twice you might find Staier disconcertingly spiky or impatient. But his inventive, often revelatory, performances make the best possible case for playing this music on the kind of instrument Mozart himself would have used." |
| The Daily Telegraph - November 2003 - CD of the Week |
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| "Here are fragmentary suites and magnificent sonatas, improvisation and studied art; and Staier has the measure of it all." |
| BBC Music Magazine - January 2004 |
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| "Powerful, dramatic readings capturing the sense of Mozart breaking down idiomatic barriers of his time… Staier is firing on all cylinders in this altogether invigorating keyboard recital. A superlative disc." |
| Critic’s Choice, Gramophone – January 2004 |
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| "If I were allowed to own just a single recording of Mozart’s piano music, then this would be high on my short list." |
| International Record Review – January 2004 |
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| Mozart Piano Sonatas K330, 331 ‘Alla Turca’, 332 (HMC901856) |
| Sunday Times Classical CD of the Week |
| Observer Classical CD of the Week |
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| "A wonderful, life-enhancing disc." |
| Geoff Brown, The Times – 1 April 2005 |
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| "Even if you don’t like what Staier does with the text, you can relish the beautiful sound of the fortepiano he uses, his exquisite phrasing and nifty finger work and overall sensitivity to the works. These are outstanding performances." |
| CD Review, BBC Radio 3 – 26 March 2005 |
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| "I am delighted with the new harmonia mundi disc, finding in Staier’s readings a perfect balance between strength and delicacy." |
| International Record Review – April 2005 |
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| "delightful, freshly conceived and invigorating performances." |
| Classical CD of the Week, The Sunday Times – 10 April 2005 |
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| "his sparkling touch, deft and witty timing and delicate feeling for the poetry of the slow movements give unalloyed pleasure." |
| The Daily Telegraph – 9 April 2005 |
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| "[The Alla Turca finale of K331] is outrageously mischievous, but surely not even the most dour scholar could resist such fun." |
| Evening Standard – 15 April 2005 |
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| "the changes are blatant, cheeky, provocative, prodding every last listener to ask how far should these things go." |
| The Irish Times – 22 April 2005 |
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