«Ce que tant de pianiste refusent à Grieg, le génie de la narration, le cantonnant aux vertus illustratives d’un aquarelliste, Gugnin le possède à un degré singulier … disque magique, peut-être le plus beau de ce pianiste qui ne laisse jamais de me surprendre ; il ne doit pas en rester là chez Grieg : la Sonate, d’autres cahiers des Pièces Lyriques veulent son art» (Artamag, France)» More

‘Andrey Gugnin has shown us before in his recordings of Shostakovich and Scriabin what an extraordinary amount of technique and colour he has, and it’s a perfect fit here in the way he encompasses not just the tints and poetry of these miniature tone poems but also the poise of the Holberg Suite and the more ambitious scope and grandeur of Grieg’s Ballade, his rather melancholy variations on a Norwegian melody. Effortlessly realistic recording as well—this is Grieg captured to perfection’ (BBC Record Review)

‘This endlessly fascinating collection is played with style and incredible subtlety … I don’t recall ever giving a recording the full ten stars. But then, I hadn’t heard Hamelin play his own work’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘The six players here play with such a shared vision and feeling for these works that you would think they had been playing sextets together all their career … the recording is up to Hyperion’s usual high standards. There are many other recordings of both works, though in the case of the Tchaikovsky you need to distinguish between sextet versions and those for string orchestra. Indeed, Hyperion has previous recordings of both, from the estimable Raphael Ensemble. However, I realise with a start that they are both over thirty years old and, moreover, not coupled with each other. If this coupling suits, do not hesitate’ (MusicWeb International)

‘The boys seem to have this music in their DNA, and Cole’s direction is faultless … I recommend this disc for the wonderful performances by a talented and well-trained choir, and for the repertoire. The recording also does the whole project justice’ (MusicWeb International)

‘For no-doubt-about-it enchantment, Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence, composed in 1890 (after The Enchantress) is an exuberantly charming string sextet given a bracing reading by The Nash Ensemble’ (Bay Area Reporter, USA)

‘Hamelin never fails to astonish me, forever setting the bar higher than I thought possible and while I could sit here with a big bag of superlatives, dotting them freely throughout this review it is easier to say that if you have any interest in piano music buy this remarkable album’ (MusicWeb International)

‘A typically impressive Hyperion release; an interesting and well-planned programme of attractive music, played with brilliance and insight by Piers Lane and recorded with understated sophistication … thoroughly enjoyable … the pleasure of this type of disc is exactly that sense of composers finding different answers to essentially the same challenge. In Piers Lane’s insightful and assured company, this proves to be an illuminating journey’ (MusicWeb International)

‘These are thrilling performances of Chopin’s studies, the technique dazzlingly immaculate and the musical impulses propelling it often startlingly original’ (The Guardian)

‘This album can be savoured on so many levels: as a masterclass in organ improvisation or for the radiance of Stephen Layton’s choristers and the rare opportunity to wallow in the marvel of an English choir in tip-top condition bathed in the vastness of Saint-Eustache. Nor should we ignore Trinity’s organ scholars, Jonathan Lee and Harrison Cole, who display their total mastery of the 101 stops and five manuals of the mighty 1989 Van den Heuvel organ’ (Gramophone)

‘Layton has given Briggs a disc to treasure, and anyone who buys it will enjoy it as well. This is highly recommended’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘[Lim's] Chopin is as flexible and feather-light as it is fluent and fiery, as compelling in its sense of structure as in its relishing of detail. The whole experience radiates joyful, youthful exuberance. And lest anyone hold his age against him, let’s not forget that Chopin himself was not that much older when he composed the pieces … in short: Yunchan Lim’s Chopin Studies are a triumph, and to say that they bode well for his future is a colossal understatement’ (Gramophone)