‘I’ve never heard anything but first-rate performances from the Brabant Ensemble, and this is no exception. And it’s hard to underestimate the value of a group such as this as an advocate for a virtually unknown but very worthy composer. Hopefully it means that many listeners will take the chance to discover Févin, whose reputation is further honored by Hyperion’s excellent production and Stephen Rice’s informative notes’ (Classics Today)» More

‘Their performances here are as secure and eloquent as one would expect … this is a convenient way of exploring votive antiphons on one disc. Texts and translations are included, as are details of the singers for each work and helpful notes on the music and the whole production is exemplary’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘A fine example of a concept album that works’ (BBC Record Review)

‘A wonderful evocation of Mass being celebrated by St Maximinus, painted in Hildegard's wonderfully perfumed language’ (BBC Record Review)

‘A wonderful evocation of Mass being celebrated by St Maximinus, painted in Hildegard's wonderfully perfumed language’ (BBC Record Review)

‘[Upheld by stillness is] a fine example of the way Park is able to engage with earlier musical forms and choral tradition, while finding a sound that's utterly modern. Superbly drilled performances and an effortlessly spacious and detailed recording’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Why is it [Record Review’s] Disc of the Week? Well, it’s the sense of timeless, spacious majesty, the somehow ‘quiet grandeur’—and that’s not a contradiction here—that Brabbins achieves, surges of sound with an underlying sense of awe and mystery. The choral contributions are a match for the excellent orchestral playing, well balanced in a recording that somehow suggests there’s an infinite distance between us and the veiled horizon’ (BBC Record Review)

‘A wonderful evocation of Mass being celebrated by St Maximinus, painted in Hildegard's wonderfully perfumed language’ (BBC Record Review)

‘These moving and deeply considered accounts of Rachmaninov’s elusive Études-Tableaux are outstanding in every way. The disc constitutes an unmissable companion to Osborne’s two previous Hyperion discs of this composer … one ends up scratching one’s head trying to figure out how any pianist can seemingly observe each marking on the score with such care on the one hand and sound almost as though they’re playing ‘on the hoof’ on the other. This is an exceptional disc even by Steven Osborne’s impeccable standards. Do not miss it’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘This version of the 1868 Brahms A German Requiem pares his otherwise monumental forces to a 33-voice choir supported by an instrumental octet, the result of arranger Iain Farrington’s having consulted the composer’s own piano-four-hands edition of the score. This chamber incarnation of this most intimately resigned of the Brahms compositions retains the piano in concert with those winds and strings that contribute to the work’s distinctive color … baritone Matt Sullivan addresses the individual’s relation to the transience of life and the anguish of existential doubt in the solemn, 'Herr, lehre doch mich' … the string quartet that accompanies the soprano entry of 'Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit' produces a luminous clarity as Natasha Schnur implores the Lord for comfort’ (Audiophile Audition, USA)» More

‘You need an expert choir and orchestra to pull off this mighty work and that’s what we have here. You also need a conductor who has a real feel for the drama and sweep of the music and Martyn Brabbins fits that bill admirably. In less than expert hands A Sea Symphony can appear to be a sprawling edifice but there’s never any danger of that here: Brabbins’ direction is taut and incisive but he also knows exactly when to be expansive—and to what degree’ (MusicWeb International)

‘Shelley is stylish and adept in the piano part, and he marshals the forces of the Ulster Orchestra well so that they play with great sensitivity. The recorded sound is well balanced’ (MusicWeb International)» More