‘Godard's music tickles the senses with some attractive, dramatic ideas during the actual process of listening. There is, for example, a delightful, nifty Saint-Saëns-esque Scherzo to the A minor Concerto, and an even better one in the G minor ... the performances by the indefatigable Howard Shelley and the Tasmanian orchestra cannot be faulted’ (Gramophone)

‘Alice Coote has chosen arias from four of Handel's greatest operas, and from Hercules, one of his most dramatic oratorios. Her warmly textured voice, especially in the middle range lends itself alluringly to Handel's portrayal of tenderness, intimacy and melancholy. Thus it is that Ruggiero's 'Mi lusinga il dolce affetto' (Alcina) and Ariodante's 'Scherza infida!' steal the show … the wealth of virtues in Coote's recital include her intuitive sense of apposite, well-proportioned ornamentation and a sure feeling for just tempo. She is not afraid to take her time where text and music require it, as you will discover in 'Scherza infida!' which comes in at almost three minutes longer than some. Coote sustains it effectively and is sympathetically accompanied by bassoonist Peter Whelan with other members of The English Concert … expressive singing with eloquent instrumental partnership make for a rewarding encounter’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Eminently attractive, a mix of the agreeably tuneful, romantically pictorial, invigoratingly dashing and elegantly crafted. Shelley is the stylish master of it all … books 2 and 3 of the Songs without words include some gems, and also some spirited numbers (for example, No 4 of Book 2 is marked 'Agitato e con fuoco'). Full of narrative whatever the tempo, this set concludes with the well-known and enigmatic 'Venetianisches Gondollied' with Mendelssohn exploring similar waters to those found in Chopin's Barcarolle. Similar delights follow in Book 3, the concluding 'Duetto' melting the heart in a manner that is rather Schumannesque, and so lovingly shaped by Shelley. Yes, all good stuff, and thoroughly recommended’ (International Record Review)» More

‘Howard Shelley … shows himself ideally cast. His poise and vehemence give substance to even the composer's more facile utterances. Time and again Shelley makes it clear that Mendelssohn has a special place in his affections, and although it is invidious to locate the finer moments in his unfailing expertise, certain performances stand out for their exceptional grace and commitment. What suppleness and expressive beauty in the Andante prefacing the evergreen Rondo capriccioso, what virtuosity in the wildly skittering finale of the F sharp minor Fantasia. What quiet eloquence Shelley achieves in the sixth of the Songs without Words (Book 2), where the gondolier sings his plaintive song above a gently rocking accompaniment’ (Gramophone)

‘Lintu and the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada prove impressively alert and intuitive partners for Hewitt. Besides festive trumpets and drums, both concertos feature prominent roles for woodwind—each includes clarinets in the line-up—passages which are full of character here. Hewitt brings to bear the nuanced precision and intelligence that have made her Bach recordings so successful, alongside an appealing Mozartean zest and intimacy often missing from modern-instrument performances’ (International Record Review)» More

‘Angela Hewitt continues her Mozart series with Hannu Lintu, switching from her Italian orchestra to the Canadian National Arts Centre Orchestra, which the conductor melds into a flexible and characterful ensemble. The concertos Nos 22 and 24 are linked by C minor, the key of the outer movements of K491 and the inner one of K482. It was, as Hewitt writes in her lucid and well-researched notes, a key of great tragedy for the composer … this is Mozart characterised by clarity of thought, attention to detail and reactive interplay between soloist and orchestra’ (Gramophone)

'Every number here has something particularly arresting within it, all supported by persuasive and committed singing, and playing of intense charm. Recorded sound, though stereo only, envelops the performers in the spacious warming acoustic of a French church' (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘This is as close as you'll ever get to musical champagne; I've a feeling Saint-Saëns would have approved … Saint-Saëns's Second Concerto is fiendishly difficult, with much of its virtuosity reserved for the soloist's long accompanying episodes. The composer himself confessed it was 'too difficult' to achieve popularity. Yet Clein has the measure of it, delivering the dizzying double-stops with airborne grace and tight precision … she revels in the spacious cadenza of its curious, short fast movement, combining limpid vocalise with insouciant runs’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘This is Tchaikovsky at his best, in music of relatively short duration and of very wide-ranging character … the young Siberian-born Pavel Kolesnikov … shows an extra degree of poetry and is … recorded, under the watchful eye (and ear) of possibly the greatest living classical record producer’ (International Record Review)» More

‘Byrd's double life, in public a member of Queen Elizabeth I's Chapel Royal in a newly Protestant England, in private a covert Catholic, directly shaped his music. Grand works such as the Great Service are among the glories of the English choral tradition. In contrast, the three Latin masses set here, long neglected, were for amateur, chamber performance in hidden Catholic communities. Westminster Cathedral Choir may sing them with more splendour and finesse than Byrd himself would have expected, yet the results are uplifting and moving. It's no slight to these musicians to say the disc is worth buying for the Byrd scholar John Milsom's incomparable notes: a masterly encapsulation of Tudor church music history in a few dense pages’ (The Observer)» More

'The culmination of three years as Associate Composer for the BBC Singers, Airplane Cantata features the choir's performances of five pieces, culminating in the lengthy Choral Symphony, a celebration of London through six centuries of texts, from courtly fifteenth century verse to latterday urban poetry. Three pieces set poems by William Blake, George Meredith and Robin Bell, of which the latter's Ruchill Linn is the standout, with a haunting soprano evocation of a curlew's call, and a wonderful tumbling cascade of overlapping lines conveying a waterfall's 'white arc of foam'. The cantata is the latest work reflecting Jackson's fascination with flying, its nine sections using contemporary accounts of achievements by the Wright Brothers, Bleriot and others' (The Independent)

'Combining a Greek background with an Australian upbringing, Elena Xanthoudakis pays tribute in her personal introduction to this wide-ranging bel canto selection to two illustrious predecessors Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland. She also highlights her collaboration on this disc with Richard Bonynge, whose stylistically apposite conducting is one of its most notable features. Under his baton the Royal Northern Sinfonia offers first-rate accompaniments, while the recorded sound is close to ideal, allowing the characteristic scoring of individual pieces to register with clarity … It's a programme that has been thoughtfully put together, and Xanthoudakis demonstrates considerable mettle in delivering it so skilfully' (Opera Magazine)» More