„Hat hier jemand Sonate gesagt? Dabei klingt dieser Brahms mit Alina Ibragimova und Cédric Tiberghien wie ein veritables Violinkonzert, nein, wie ein verspieltes Ständchen, pardon: ein inniges Liebeslied. Oder doch wie eine Improvisation? So hat man Brahms noch nie gehört. Ganz selbstverständlich gelingt es Ibragimova, den deutschen Romantiker mit dem Sound der russischen Violinschule, perfekter Technik und viel Persönlichkeit neu zu hören. Wunderbar!“ (Kultur-Tipp, Switzerland)

‘The song-like nature of the first two Brahms sonatas is very much to the fore, Ibragimova playing with a miraculously sinuous vocal line, graceful, sonorous and at times heartbreakingly tender. Tiberghien is both poetic and magisterial, particularly in the first movement of the second sonata, Op 100, which requires a huge range of colour and dynamic contrast, all beautifully realised here’ (The Observer)

‘The last two volumes were fine recitals from Benjamin Appl and Ian Bostridge, so the bar’s been set seriously high for the solo debut of soprano Harriet Burns, and she delivers (with the help of Johnson’s stewardship, of course). It’s a really well-planned recital … Harriet Burns makes a fine solo debut here; tenor Robin Tritschler’s contributions to the German folksongs are enjoyable as well’ (BBC Record Review)

„Es ist ein Fest, ein Rausch voll musikalischer Einfälle, delikat und hoch emotional … der Hörer hat unentwegt das Gefühl, die beiden Musiker erzählten Geschichten, Geschichten vom Verschmelzen und Sich-Trennen, von Glückseligkeit und Leidenschaft, von Schmerz, vielleicht von Tod. Alina Ibragimova entdeckt die Brahms’sche Poesie neu, ihr gelingt ein Blick ins Herz des Titanen“ (Aachener Nachrichten, Germany)» More

‘Trinity’s mixed young adults are effortless in the ease with which they respond to Layton’s exacting demands … Layton’s idiomatically fine-tuned direction lovingly sculpts the rolling contours with the imprimatur of a true connoisseur’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Cunningham and London Early Opera offer optimal accompaniment: breathless silences into which Crowe drops her shining notes, a crisp stride underneath Bevan's perorations, fragile siciliano accompaniment as a foil to Crowe's swelling assurance and, in duets, a respectful retreat … Handel has never sounded better’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘That evergreen theme of courtly love inspires in Machaut extraordinary harmonies and beautiful, primitive counterpoint. The singers combine pin-sharp tuning and gentle phrasing in this seductive collection’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Christopher Warren-Green secures crisp rhythms and vivid detail from the Philharmonia in lifelike sound. In choosing the Mozart as companion piece, van de Wiel faces the stiffest recording competition. But he also has an angle: treating this last of Mozart's concertos less with the nostalgic languor of a composer already foreseeing the end than with the straight-toned vigour of a still-young creator who thinks life is going to go on. It is a valid approach’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The variety of moods in these miscellanea, lovingly performed by the Ulster Orchestra and Howard Shelley in congenial sound, is one of its most attractive features … and the most winning work? Definitely Fairy Day, with fey, dated poetry transformed into fine art through constantly modulating, simple harmonies, sweetly sung by sopranos and altos from the choir Codetta, and the most luminously delicate instrumental textures. Stanford as Mendelssohn, perhaps, and it’s lovely’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The D major Concerto by Lassen is the real find here, gorgeously melodious and full of unexpected twists and turns. Roth is on fine form’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Under Mahan Esfahani’s fleet fingers, and even fleeter imagination, [the Toccatas] positively fly … Esfahani continually finds more in the music than the page might suggest … fugues that in other performances outstay their welcome simply don’t. Esfahani perfectly understands the toccatas’ architecture, yet celebrates their quirkiness and, interrogating every note, is generous with expressive pauses’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

„Auch hier feiern Ibragimova und Tiberghien das Kantable mit einer Intensität, Klangsinnlichkeit und zugleich mit einer schwerelos anmutenden Tonschönheit, die einem mitten in Herz fährt“ (Rondo, Germany)» More