‘This is Hewitt close up and personal … here, she opens her soul … the impression she conveys is of someone sitting at home on their own as the light fades, playing some favourite music purely for their own enjoyment … this is a lovely recital, one to return to often’ (Gramophone)

‘Angela Hewitt’s spacious, uncluttered approach revels unashamedly in the pianism while still letting the original songs sing … the real treats are Hewitt’s own arrangements … the engaging liner notes weave a thread through Hewitt’s own memories as well as the parent music. In all, this beautifully recorded recital is a gift to all song-loving pianists who wrestle with the instrument’s stubbornly percussive nature’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘It's a beautifully made collection … you can tell it means a great deal to Hewitt’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Rapturous and rhapsodic … a beguiling collection … and a delight’ (The Guardian)» More

‘This beguiling sequence of transcriptions was Hewitt’s lockdown project. Using a broad conception of a ‘love song’, she is able to include her own impressive arrangement of the Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony (a love song to his wife) with Schubert’s An die Musik (a love song to Music) in Gerald Moore’s memorable recreation and Siloti’s version of Grainger’s Irish Tune from County Derry. Each of the 23 is beautiful, and the whole has a gentle, even religious solemnity.’ (The Sunday Times)

‘If, like me, you’ve appreciated Hewitt as a performer of control and precision, then prepare to throw your hat in the air listening to the wild rubato of Widmung (Schumann/Liszt), or thrill to her joyously uninhibited Cäcilie (Strauss/Reger). But even these are topped by two arrangements of her own, of Bist du bei mir (Stölzel attr. Bach) and the Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No 5’ (Pianist)» More

‘An album full of colour, full of emotional intensity, and full of unabashed pathos. Highly recommended’ (Pianist)

‘Hewitt’s innate taste, discernment and creativity have resulted in a lovely experience in a world still menacingly dark and grim for reasons apart from the pandemic … as usual, Hewitt’s liner notes are a model of seamlessly melded scholarship and personal reactions and reminiscences … one especially imaginative inclusion, which was not technically a song at all, is Hewitt’s own transcription of the Adagietto movement from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony’ (Limelight, Australia)

‘Canada’s first lady of the piano, Ottawa-born, UK-based Angela Hewitt wears her heart on her sleeve with her latest release … acclaimed for her sparkling performances of Baroque composers including J S Bach, Hewitt treats listeners to lushly romantic transcriptions of works by Schumann, Schubert, Strauss, Grieg and Falla among others, with even Percy Grainger and George Gershwin making cameo appearances. What’s most fascinating is the way the pianist’s renowned, impeccably clear pianism translates to the milkier sonorities of her chosen repertoire, immediately apparent in Schumann’s 'Widmung', transcribed by Liszt, or Strauss's more delicate 'Freundliche Vision', from 5 Lieder, Op 48. Other highlights include Gluck’s 'Orpheus’ lament & Dance of the blessed spirits' as well as Hewitt’s own transcription of Mahler’s Adagietto from his Symphony No 5 in C sharp minor, brought to life with limpid sentimentalism’ (Winnipeg Free Press, Canada)

«Le jeu d’Angela Hewitt, tout en finesse, riche en couleurs, à la fois limpide et brillant, est l’un des plus éloquents de notre temps ; on la retrouve toujours avec un réel bonheur d’écoute. C’est encore le cas dans ce panorama de transcriptions qui met en évidence le monde du sentiment amoureux par le biais de morceaux choisis avec beaucoup de soin et dont le programme est d’une parfaite cohérence. Détailler ici les vingt-trois plages d’un disque qui allie le charme à la profondeur de l’expressivité et au dépouillement de l’âme serait une gageure. Le mélomane aura en tout cas grand profit à découvrir, au fil des pièces sélectionnées par Angela Hewitt, toute l’essence de la rédaction de sa notice, claire, érudite sans être pédante, et surtout révélatrice du contenu secret de chacune d’entre elles, les textes des lieder étant reproduits lorsque c’est nécessaire, offrant ainsi un parcours qui parle autant au cœur qu’à l’intelligence» (Crescendo Magazine, Belgium)