«Tout chante (même dans ces tempos larges dont, à l’instar de Scott Ross, il posséde l’alchimie, ce legato soi-disant interdit par l’instrument à cordes pincées), tout danse, l’air entre à foison, je respire et je savoure l’art de ce petit génie du clavecin qui ajoute trois Suites qu’il désigne joliment comme orphelines» (Artamag, France)

‘In terms of gleaming vocal purity, The Gesualdo Six, directed by Owain Park, are hard to beat. Their Morning star takes its title from Arvo Pärt but combines chant and early works (by Lassus, Byrd, Clemens non Papa) with new works by Joanna Marsh, Judith Bingham and Adrian Peacock. Park’s own O send out thy light is lyrical and radiant. Not so new but still beautiful, Herbert Howells’s Here is the little door stands out. The dominant mood is quietude, contemplation’ (The Guardian)

‘All credit to Esfahani for this carefully prepared recording. While no amount of scholarly underpinning will save poor performing, there is much to enjoy in playing that displays poise and expressive nuance as well as virtuosity’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Wherever you turn in this double album, it’s clear that Hewitt has approached this second volume of Mozart piano sonatas, part of a complete set, with her customary meticulous style … an excellent recital that yields rewards on every listen’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Hamelin’s truly astonishing virtuosity here is transmuted into remarkable variations of colour throughout, with the Nocturnes providing him with plenty of opportunities to colour these works with both light and shade—the Nocturne No 2, for instance, flips between powerful, rushing, Chopin-esque passages full of dramatic harmonic shifts, and delicate flutters of dappled sunlight chords … superb … a terrific release, and one that’s well worth picking up’ (Limelight, Australia)» More

‘At the outset of the scholarly notes that Mahan Esfahani has provided to accompany this release, he states his aim ‘to perform and record all the keyboard works of J.S. Bach’. His Hyperion discography has, over recent years, garnered considerable praise from MusicWeb reviewers, including myself. So I was delighted to be given the opportunity to appraise his latest offering, in which he performs the composer’s Six French Suites … Esfahani elicits a wide spectrum of tonal colour from his instruments. Passage work is notable for its pristine quality, with the thicker harmonies luminously clear. His tempo choices are comfortable, and the music comes over as vibrant and alive. Repeats are observed and extra ornamentation is added the second time around. The dance movements have gusto, verve and vigour, whilst the Sarabandes offer contrast, being eloquently contoured with phrases spun out in a single breath. Recording quality is excellent in every way, and the accompanying annotations are top drawer’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘Hewitt plays all these pieces with the greatest subtlety and care. I noticed the way she carefully differentiates different types of touch, the way her nimble fingers coast through every awkward corner and her sensitive phrasing … the bright tone of her Fazioli piano is admirably suited to the character of these works, and these performances seem to me ideal accounts of them’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘Having heard his Debussy on disc and in concert before, I was really looking forward to this … I was absolutely blown away; it sounds like he’s born only to play Debussy. It’s just perfection on every level … there is nothing missing; every single note is chosen and perfect and I was in heaven listening to this disc … under Steven Osborne’s fingers [the Études] never sound like technical exercises, there’s just so much colour and imagination and uniquely Debussyan timbres … you’re just not aware of the recording, it’s that good … here we have an elite pianist who is making it sound like it flows off his fingertips, effortlessly’ (BBC Record Review)

«William Byrd et sa Mass for five voices concentrent la dernière fournée des Gesualdo Six. La formation chambriste masculine d’Owain Park donne à l’oeuvre un aspect discret, intime, sans doute en adéquation avec le caractère secret qu’elle revêtait—l’époque était très hostile au catholicisme dont cette messe et son auteur se réclament. Dans les motets glissés en complément, les entrelacs harmoniques de l’Ave verum et l’expressivité stupéfiante du Circumdederunt qui captent l’attention, offrant un visage plus complexe de Byrd, à l’image de leur écriture contrapuntique» (Diapason, France)

‘The performances are formidably assured … Matej Kastelic (b1994), achieves a lot in five minutes with Credo/I believe’ (Gramophone)

‘The works for double choir have a compelling sonority, especially when delivered by soloists of this quality, but those for just four or five voices are affecting and full of distinctive touches, more personal in affect than the grandeur and solemnity of the Mass. Among the double-choir pieces I especially enjoyed the opening track, Benedictus Dominus, while the seven-voice Fracta diuturnis has some lovely responses to the text; and among the more lightly scored works, Ad te levavi stands out for sheer loveliness. There is much to praise in these poised, polished performances, hieratic in the Mass and more intimate where the music permits it (the beginning of the ‘Qui tollis’ is lovely in a way that recalls Lassus). Speaking of Daser’s successor, this seems to me to be Cinquecento’s finest disc (in terms of both programming and performance) since the one they devoted to Lassus’ (Gramophone)

‘Steven Osborne’s recording brings to an end his Debussy cycle for Hyperion, and rarely have mastery and sensitivity been so meticulously and awe-inspiringly combined … here is a pianist who shines a searchlight on Debussy’s inner secrets, yet is no less adept at retreating into a hazy and distant sense of vision, his essentially modern view of Debussy remote from Gieseking’s legendary and opalescent if far less precise recording … Osborne’s entirely personal and committed way with the Études is underlined by a sense of overwhelming bleakness that makes even outstanding alternative recordings by Pollini, Uchida and Aimard have less impact’ (International Piano)» More