Cyprien Katsaris (piano), Stephanie Gomley, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner

Piano 21 pays tribute to Haydn in this CD which brings together the celebrated conductor Sir Neville Marrine, The Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Cyprien Katsaris to perform three concertos by the master of classicism. The Concerto for harpsichord or piano in D major, Hob. XVIII: 11 which opens this CD was Haydn't only concerto for piano and orchestra to have achieved major acclaim. This musical gem is suffused with ideas of the most enthralling effect. The Concerto for violin and piano in F major, Hob.XVIII: 6 which follows is characterised mainly by a certain thematic flexibility enhanced by graceful ornaments and the freshness of its rhythms. This elegant Concerto, composed in 1756, the year of Mozart's birth, features a third movement, the eleven first notes of which are the same as those of the Minuet in Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1787). The Concerto in G major, Hob. XVIII: 9 which completed this CD, is scarcely ever played: several musicologists question its authenticity. Imbued with charm and lyricism, this unjustly neglected concerto contains perhaps the most beautiful and certainly the most poignant, profound, and emotionally charged second movement (the Adagio) in all of Haydn's piano concertos. However, it lacks cadenzas and Cyprien has therefore improvised one that emulates Haydn's style; Cadenza "B" (track 12) is a more romantic alternative.

• Haydn: Keyboard Concerto No. 6 in F major with violin and strings, Hob. XVIII:6 'Double'
• Haydn: Keyboard Concerto No. 9 in G Major, Hob. XVIII:9
• Haydn: Keyboard Concerto No. 11 in D major, HobXVIII:11