Haydn : Concertos pour piano. Hamelin, Labadie.

Piano International (May, 2013)
With a lively and lean orchestral accompaniment, Marc-Andre Hamelin gives crisp and sparkling renditions here of three very attractive concertos by Joseph Haydn. There’s nothing facile about this music. The opening movement of the D major work has its share of deep harmony, and after an expressive Adagio, the well-known Hungarian finale has the feet tapping in this zinging rendition. The other concertos are full of good invention and numerous surprises. Hamelin and co really enjoy themselves, but never frivolously, shaping the fast sections with relish and largesse and being really poetic with the slow ones. The recorded sound is ideally tangible, airy and well balanced. Where cadenzas are needed, Hamelin …