‘As exhilarating a musical experience as I know … even Liszt would doff the cap at Esfahani’s furious arpeggios and decorative flourishes, fingers flying at the speed of light … definitely one of my albums of the year’ (The Times)» More

‘Leslie Howard's Liszt edition—a monumental feat of perseverance, of which the present release, Rêves et fantaisies, is the hundredth initiative—began to hit our shelves in the late-eighties. Like Naxos's (multi-artist) Liszt project, it's never going to be the last word on the subject (how could it be) but as an édition intégrale, responsibly documented and bibliographically astute, it sets the bar high, a treasure-trove for dipping into and referencing forgotten byways … the gem of the [present] collection, beautifully sensitive, is the first version of the pedal-pointed Danse des sylphes from Berlioz's Faust, from a copyist's manuscript in Weimar prepared for publication, and with Liszt's autograph markings, but then dropped (it misses the introduction and coda of the definitive 1863 text). The ambience of the room and Ben Connellan's sympathetic engineering delicately suspend tone-painting and hour’ (Classical Source)

‘Osborne is completely unfazed by any of the formidable technical demands he is confronted with, so he can play very quickly without any sense of strain or loss of rhythmic and textural clarity … this is as good as it gets and should be heard’ (Audiophile)» More

‘Both concertos fit well the romantic idiom and take their deserved place in Hyperion’s ever growing and enjoyable Romantic Piano Concerto series. Emmanuel Despax proves an excellent interpreter of both these works. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Eugene Tzigane prove to be more than an able support. All the musicians seem to get to the heart of this music, especially in the slow movements of both these works. This is an excellent performance, one which is backed with the usual high standard of Hyperion’s production values, excellent recorded sound and scholarly booklet notes, a welcome addition to the catalogues’ (MusicWeb International)

'Perfecte muziek kortom voor een meesterpianist als Howard Shelley die zich gespecialiseerd heeft zowel in de klassieke periode als de romantiek. Het Ulster Orchestra doet ook een flinke duit in het zakje met zijn alerte begeleiding en stralende orkestklank' (de Gelderlander, Netherlands)

‘The performance itself is to be rated among the very best. Martyn Brabbins is a superb conductor in British music, and his performance—though a little slower than some—has superb forward impetus. His attention to orchestral detail is crucial, but, even more importantly, he has an architectural grasp of the shape of the whole. In a lesser performance things can become episodic, but Brabbins maintains not merely the internal coherence of the individual movements but also the relationship of each movement to the other’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘This ‘Moonlight’ teems with insight and ambiguity, and leaves an indelible impression that deepens with each listen … an atypical and revealing portrait of the first half of Beethoven’s career, in what is a thoughtfully planned and perfectly executed recital. In short it’s yet another exquisite piano disc from Kolesnikov and Hyperion’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘Pianist Julius Drake’s survey of the complete songs reaches its fifth volume with this recital by English lyric tenor and vocal actor Allan Clayton, mainly featuring the late songs from Liszt’s Weimar years (1848-61). The disc opens with two contrasting settings of Goethe’s ‘Freudvoll und leidvoll’ and other highlights include ‘Die Lorelei’, a reflective ‘Du bist wie eine Blume’, the brilliance of ‘Comment disaient-ils’, and the challenging ‘O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst’. The haunting ‘Ich möchte hingehn’ resembles the opening motif of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and it is claimed that Liszt wrote it ten years before Wagner started work on Tristan in 1857. Allan Clayton is in fine voice and Drake is outstanding in this latest edition of Hyperion’s exemplary series’ (New Classics)

‘Quite apart from the radiance and precision of the performances, part of the delight of this latest Josquin is the contrast between the two mass settings; the intense, mathematical ingenuity of Missa Gaudeamus alongside the calmer, simpler setting of Missa L'ami Baudichon … recorded excellence comes as standard with this series’ (BBC Record Review)

‘The Tallis Scholars sing these two masses in their own profoundly beautiful style, the individual lines blending and balancing, with finely shaped phrasing. It is a real joy to listen to. Of course, there are many other ways to perform this music, and that we know so little means that any sense of original performance practice must be an educated guess. On this disc, we simply enjoy the musicianship’ (Planet Hugill)» More

‘The most civilised music, delivered with immaculate technique, urbane humanity and perfect period manners’ (The Sunday Times)» More

‘Founded by their director, Peter Phillips, in 1973, the Tallis Scholars still ride high among small vocal ensembles—lithe, pure-sounding and vigorous as ever in performance of Renaissance polyphony. Their latest disc of Josquin’s Missa Guadeamus and Missa L’ami Baudichon exceeds expectation. These two sharply contrasting works, one bristling with mathematical patterns, the other based on a vulgar popular song, comprise the seventh of nine albums in The Tallis Scholars’ series of Josquin’s 19 highly distinctive masses, to be completed by the composer’s 500th anniversary in 2021’ (The Observer)