‘Drake’s way with the highly individual piano-writing makes much of the harmonics, sonority and percussive demands. Spence, always a fine recitalist, here shows that his lyrical voice is now developing in fascinating ways. He still has the bright fluidity atop the stave but there is now a bronzy heroic quality at the core that brings the more dramatic, desperate and impassioned moments to vivid life. Yet there is a sense of sadness that pervades the whole—his voice suits the idiom. His words are astonishingly clear too so that even a non-Czech listener can easily follow along with the text provided without getting lost’ (Classical Source)» More

‘What makes this special? … it’s the high poetry of [Kolesnikov's] fingering, conjuring from his Yamaha CFX concert grand … sounds of such deftness and clarity that my mouth kept dropping open’ (The Times)» More

‘Gugnin is a Moscow/Como-trained pianist of platinum technique with a wealth of imagination and fantasy. Aspects of this Shostakovich album remind me of the young Demidenko in his glory years—a Hyperion signing from earlier days. There's the same sense of urgent rhythmic spring, the ability to pulverise and poeticise, the icy attention to textural clarity and chordal voicing, the foundational weight of bass registering, the wideness of dynamic range. It's a galvanising chemistry … outstanding’ (Classical Source)» More

„[Die] langsamen Sätze bergen die letzte und vielleicht größte Gemeinsamkeit : Sowohl Hans Pfitzner als auch Walter Braunfels trauten sich, in einer Zeit, in der Schönklang und Innigkeit langsam aber sicher in die Kritik gerieten, ihr Innerstes nach außen zu kehren. Was in diesen Sätzen zu hören ist, ist keine routinierte Schwelgerei, sondern tiefes Gefühl. So zumindest verkaufen es Constantin Trinks, Markus Becker und das Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin“ (WDR 3)

„Hörenswerte Werke also, die bei Markus Becker in überaus kompetenten Händen sind. Immer wieder macht dieser Pianist mit ganz besonderen Projekten auf sich aufmerksam: Seinen brillanten interpretatorischen Leistungen und seinem gediegenen künstlerischen Habitus nach darf er sich zu den wirklich bemerkenswerten Pianisten unserer Zeit rechnen … das Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin unter Constantin Trinks begleitet Becker engagiert und routiniert auf seinem anstrengenden Weg durch die schwierigen Soloparts“ (Rondo, Germany)» More

‘If I listen one more time to Andrey Gugnin playing DSCH I shall probably be locked up for my own safety’ (Ludwig Van, Canada)

‘This most welcome disc from Hyperion continues the recent trend whereby music by Stanford that has been completely neglected and, frankly, largely forgotten receives an overdue revival … the recording has been engineered very successfully by Ben Connellan and produced by Annabel Connellan: they’ve done a fine job. The excellent notes are by Stanford expert Jeremy Dibble … I suspect that most, if not all the items are new to the recording studio. All are well worth hearing, especially in such good performances and their neglect is unjustified. Our knowledge of Stanford’s music is hereby expanded and that can only be a good thing’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘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

„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

‘Both concertos have irresistibly charming Romance-style slow movements, while the outer movements are flawlessly constructed. Howard Shelley plays and conducts with such serene control that piano and orchestra seem to become one single instrument’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More