‘This is by a country mile the finest Goldberg Variations I’ve heard, on any instrument, since Angela Hewitt’s (also on Hyperion: what’s their secret?!) … Kolesnikov’s playing sparkles throughout … the sensitivity of Kolesnikov’s touch meets a sharp intelligence of approach and a determined refusal to follow convention for its own sake. Also, his ornamentations are a total delight throughout: they never sound self-conscious, but instead casual and relaxed; deeply considered but sounding as though touched out with remarkable ease. Structurally, he observes all the repeats, but he sounds so natural that, unlike in one recent recording, I stopped paying attention to them after a while and lost myself in the sound. It’s beautifully presented, too, with a brief note from Kolesnikov himself, an excellent essay from Richard Wigmore, and artist biography. In short, this disc is completely marvellous: a wonderful musician giving his fresh take on a timeless masterpiece, beautifully played and captured in excellent recorded sound. If you want a modern Goldberg Variations on a piano with digital sound, then there is no reason hesitate’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘This 57-strong choir of boys and men makes an absolutely heavenly sound. There is purity in the tone, exquisite balance across the voices, and a magical empathy with this programme of 15th and 16th century polyphonic motets which set texts relevant to the seasons of Christmas, Epiphany and Candlemas … Cole himself is a superbly gifted choral director, moulding and shaping his choir into a conglomerate whole which makes a sound which is both deeply satisfying and infinitely stimulating. If only every disc of Christmas music was this distinguished in content and performance quality’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘The compelling reason for buying this CD … is the performance of the Fifth Symphony. It’s a fine one; indeed, I think it may be the highlight to date of Martyn Brabbins’ cycle. It only remains to say that producer Andrew Keener and engineer Simon Eadon have done a fine job; the recorded sound is excellent’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘A sublime and exhilarating soul-feeding experience, one to treasure and to return to’ (colinscolumn.com)» More

‘[Kolesnikov’s] playing has the joy and freshness of a new encounter, imbued with Terpsichorean grace and delight, as he revels in the jiglike rhythmic momentum of variation 7, and dashes off the fast variations 11, 21 and 24. He has shown his affinity for baroque keyboard music with an album of Louis Couperin’s Dances, but his approach here is magisterial, nearing the sublime in the Adagio of variation 25. There are countless great accounts of this music on harpsichord and piano, but this is required hearing’ (The Sunday Times)

‘We’ve done pretty well for all kinds of recordings of Bach’s Goldberg Variations over the last few weeks … but my new favourite arrived this week from pianist Pavel Kolesnikov … in some ways I think it’s the antithesis of Lang Lang’s Goldbergs—a different kind of introspection, a natural rather than forced intimacy, ornamentation that’s delicately applied and feels organic, and a hushed, gentle pianism that draws you effortlessly inside the music and Bach’s imagination … natural, logical, simply expressed and beautifully revealed in all its intimate complexity; playful, as well. Exquisitely voiced by Kolesnikov, and a luminous recording to match … it’s my Record of the Week’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Brabbins draws the most beautiful playing from the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Vaughan Williams’s great ‘Romanza’ and it’s a wonderfully well-made recording as well, the sound surrounded by a spacious acoustic halo’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Hamelin is utterly commanding in this repertoire. Technically there are no hurdles and the clear recording allows you to catch every pin-point note in any part of this dizzying pianism, so we are left to appreciate this music in all its splendour. Hamelin's phrasing is marvellous and his control of the quieter passages is miraculous, even to the many tremolandi that Liszt injects into the proceedings. He also has perfect control of the theatre so essential in this music; the dramatic, declamatory opening of the Réminiscences de Norma is astonishing and when the grand chorus 'Dell aura tua profetica' finally rings out it is shining nobility incarnate. Bringing Liszt, Thalberg and Hamelin together is a splendid gift from Hyperion Records and I will end by paraphrasing a quote about the Liszt/Thalberg dual from a newspaper article from 1837: ‘an admirable joust … (with) three victors and no vanquished’’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘The miraculous strings-of-pearls lightness is so entrancing the recording is worth having just for that … there are wonderful moments of captivating poetic invention, such as the way the 29th Variation ends in a haze of pedal sonority, out of which the final variation emerges like a mirage … utterly wonderful’ (The Telegraph)

‘A miraculous performance … this is a cherishable account of the Goldberg Variations, individual without point-making, ever respectful of the score. Fabulous booklet notes by Richard Wigmore crown a release fit for a king’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘Sophie Rennert’s voice is magnificently burnished, full and deep … the songs with viola form the centrepiece of the disc, and one could hardly hope for a finer exponent of the obbligato part than Lawrence Power … Graham Johnson, of course, needs no introduction, and everything one associates with him—the intelligence, the high musicality, the technical perfection—is here in spades’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘Timeless music, beautifully sung, impeccable phrasing and intonation, and we've become used to the high quality of the recordings over the years—that luminous sense of space and depth. Well, it's taken them over 33 years to finish the project, but that's it—complete. Eighteen masses by Josquin, nine volumes ending with the three masterpieces on this final recording. A major achievement in time for Josquin's 500th anniversary next year’ (BBC Record Review)