Haydn 3 Sonatas

Melodiya, 2018

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« Rarely do we hear Haydn this way: serious and airy simultaneously. Ancelle plays each note and every silence precisely and still gives you the feeling that it shouldn’t be taken too seriously (…) Joseph Haydn's humor is constantly present in the three sonatas. Arthur Ancelle clearly took to heart the recommendation written by the composer on the top of his scores : to play with open-mindedness, not stiff or in scholar way. In his own variations, Ancelle shows how much he masters the smooth combination that makes Haydn so characteristic : delicious spontaneity and freedom of mind on one hand, zest for life and harmony in the other. »

"the exceptional level of interpretation and the irreproachable musical taste of the pianist do not spoil the integrity of the image: they "color" it more (...) We also want to emphasize the flexibility and the naturalness of the phrasing, the attention paid to the silences that allow the entire musical fabric to "breathe", subtly highlighting the individuality of each new theme and its smallest changes, as well as the keen attention of the pianist brought to polyphony. (...) The second solo album of Arthur Ancelle, monographic this time, clearly pursues the line of research he started with the Ballades de Chopin and the works of Dutilleux (2015), and demonstrates the maturity and depth of a musician of great intelligence and brilliant humor."

« the French pianist plays clear but deep in the keyboard, transforms the eccentricities in disarming confidences, opening the doors of a secret garden which he traverses with a brio tinged with tenderness. Magnificent album that calls for more. »