‘Enough waffle: these are hugely enjoyable performances, superbly balanced … concertos have rarely sounded so upbeat … this is a wonderful, set, stylishly played and directed, beautifully recorded and very well annotated’ (TheArtsDesk.com)» More

‘Alban Gerhardt takes another route through the emotional landscape of the [Elgar] to the famously passionate performance of Jacqueline du Pré and others. Gerhardt emphasizes nobility, dignity, the poetry of Elgar’s writing, and conductor Andrew Manze and the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra bring breadth and soul to their sound as well. It’s a similar story in the Dvořák Concerto that follows, manifesting Gerhardt’s determination to go back to the sources, the scores themselves, rather than absorbing the Romantic performing tradition of these two great masterpieces. I think it’s refreshing’ (BBC Record Review)

‘The Gesualdo Six’s Wishing Tree contains rather more secular repertoire than they usually offer, here combining Renaissance pieces in celebration of nature with contemporary pieces, and a thread of folksong, such as Vaughan Williams’s delectable Bushes and Briars … the singing is of the standard we have come to expect from the Gesualdo Six, as is Adrian Peacock’s production’ (TheArtsDesk.com)» More

‘An electric recording … in trimming down the forces, and bringing the keyboard front and centre, we really hear the brilliance of that sound … it was Mendelssohn who said that every generation has a duty to redefine Bach, and Mahan Esfahani and his colleagues are rising to the challenge with something brilliant and immediate and vital … it’s magical. He always writes wonderful booklet notes … there’s never a dull moment’ (BBC Record Review)

‘More secular music than their previous albums, a programme that they tell us emerged from their first tour outside the walls of the Cambridge chapels where they were first performing together over a decade ago. Renaissance pieces to contemporary composers, arrangements of traditional folksongs woven throughout—it’s a delight’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Fascinating listening, especially in the hands of the forthright and luminous Amsterdam Piano Trio’ (The Times)» More

‘This is such elegant, sensitive playing … truly, these two are a heaven-made Beethoven match … Watkins and Bax have embraced Beethoven’s fire and storms, but also found beauty and balance that others miss. Certainly it feels as though a new Beethoven cello sonatas benchmark has landed. Or at the very least, I’m not sure that I’ve ever personally enjoyed a set so much’ (Gramophone)

‘A golden moment, here, in the career of Lise Davidsen … the programme is a crowd-pleaser in the best sense’ (Gramophone)

‘What comes through most clearly when listening to the baritone-composer’s new arrangement of Die schöne Müllerin is the affection and respect that lies behind it … Williams’s ear for texture—and the Carducci Quartet’s warm playing—brings rewards’ (Gramophone)

‘Hyperion's The Romantic Piano Concerto series is one of a kind, featuring 235 works for piano and orchestra, many of them rarely heard, extending beyond the well-loved yet typical selection of repertoire we might expect from a collection like this. Remarkably, 121 recordings are premieres, with many others having only been recorded once prior. The 1991-2007 edition gathers an outstanding roster of 19 pianists (including Howard Shelley, the first pianist to record for Hyperion in 1988), 21 conductors and 14 orchestras, performing works by 59 composers. Beautifully presented with comprehensive booklet notes, this is the monumental first half of an exciting project, the second of which is set to be issued in 2027’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘These musicians cannot put a foot wrong, either technically or musically. The voices remain fresh and interesting throughout … of the other works presented here the most substantial are the two psalm-motets Cantate Domino and Miserere mei, Deus, both presented with a fully convincing sense of their form and grand design … the recording comes with a highly original booklet note by Grantley McDonald, which reveals a truly awesome account of the composer’s unpaid debts throughout his life’ (Gramophone)

‘A fascinating portrait of a composer who produces music of undoubted appeal and expressive focus. Well worth investigating’ (Gramophone)