‘In Hamelin's latest disc of music by Janáček and Schumann, he shows himself a virtuoso in a deeper sense, a virtuoso in sound, colour and poetic empathy, one who, to quote Liszt, ‘breathes the breath of life’. Using his prodigious command in music of a transcendental difficulty—the Chopin-Godowsky Études, the major works of Alkan, Albéniz’s Iberia, etc—he displays gifts which show him as first and foremost a musician’s musician’ (Gramophone)

‘Setting aside a 2000 Danacord release featuring four movements from the first book of On the Overgrown Path, this is Marc-André Hamelin’s first extended exploration of Janáček's piano music. It proves to be a totally compelling experience confirming Hamelin’s strong empathy for the composer … Hamelin negotiates the emotional trajectory from carefree innocence to utter dejection through a masterly control of timbre and atmosphere. Deceptively simple melodic and chordal figurations are subverted as a result of Hamelin’s deliberately introverted playing and astonishingly delicate touch … he proves to be equally adept at exploring the more intimate side of the Schumann’s character and the two Schumann cycles here are absolutely magical’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

«L'approche de Carwood est rhétorique: franche accentuation du texte dans des tempos allants, voix et lignes plus individualisées et sonorité moins ronde. L'influence de Pro Cantione Antiqua, revendiquée par Carwood, est évidente … il faudra suivre de près cette nouvelle traversée de l'univers de Thomas Tallis» (Diapason, France)» More

‘Hough’s own Sonata … is rich in textural variety and harmonic colour, full of massive chunks of sound like sculpted blocks of marble lit from within, and quirky, obsessive toccatas that whirl by like a runaway roundabout that keeps changing direction. It is unsettling, playful and original … hearing a masterful pianist performing his own work is a special experience in itself … countless details prove rewarding: the smoky pedal in the C sharp minor Nocturne’s transition, the free-flying melodic lines of ‘In der Nacht’, the veiled duskiness of the Moonlight Sonata's opening movement’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘A new disc from Stephen Hough is always welcome. How will he surprise us this time and where will he take us? … there’s the dark and turbulent eponymous tone-poem and the far-from-restful presto finale of the 'Moonlight', given additional agitation by Hough’s spiky left-hand off-beats. The two adroitly chosen Nocturnes show that Chopin’s nocturnal reveries could be as dark and threatening in their own way as Hough’s, if his Sonata notturno luminoso is anything to go by. Angular, dissonant, fiery and often bleak, this work (18’23" in length) suggests, among its many images, ‘the irrational fears or the disturbing dreams which are only darkened by the harsh glare of a suspended, dusty light bulb’ (the composer’s useful route map in a note appended to Harriet Smith’s thoughtful booklet)’ (Gramophone)

‘This cracking box of Fritz Kreisler fireworks marks the beginning of young violinist Jack Liebeck's partnership with Hyperion … these are so refreshingly bright and zestful they feel like new pieces. The instantly familiar Praeludium and Allegro, for example, is dismissed with exhilarating haste, as is Kreisler's immensely demanding transcription of Dvořák’s E minor Slavonic Dance. But perhaps the most impressive performance in the entire collection is the conquering of Kreisler's adaptation of Tartini's 'Devil's Trill' sonata, which surrenders completely to Liebeck and Katya Apekisheva's formidable technique’ (The Observer)» More

‘Handel the organist and improviser features just as strongly in these suites as Handel the exquisite miniaturist and inspired master of counterpoint. Driver brings to it all a winning sense of style, crisply ornamented, sensitively drawing on the piano’s tonal potential for shadings of colour and alert to the rhythmic energy that Handel can generate.To hear in succession the tiny contemplative adagio of the Second Suite followed by its bright fugal allegro and then the quasi-improvisatory organ-like prelude of the Third Suite is to appreciate just how compellingly Driver intuits the music’s rich diversity’ (The Daily Telegraph)» More

„Was schon damals bei der Matinee live zu konstatieren war, bestätigt der Höreindruck nochmals eindrucksvoll und aufs Schönste: gleich im groß konzipierten, tragisch grundgetönten d-Moll-Erstlings op. 15, dessen Solopart Hough im Kopfsatz gleichermaßen so leidenschaftlich vollgriffig auf dem Steinway gestaltete, wie er sich auch in die dazu kontrastierenden Passagen entsprechend nachdenklich versenkte. Überaus subtile Töne findet Stephen Hough für den Einstieg ins Adagio … die Aufnahme ist eine Bereicherung der Diskographie, nicht nur, was Salzburgs Orchester betrifft. Und die Geldbörse wird obendrein geschont, denn beide CDs werden wohlfeil zum Preis einer einzigen angeboten“ (DrehPunktKultur, Austria)» More

‘You understand exactly why Pizzetti was deemed so important when you hear his Sonata in A (1919): one of the great works in the form and an austere meditation on the first world war, that uses plainchant-inflected themes in a demand for spiritual continuity in the aftermath of political trauma. Castelnuovo-Tedesco's 'Sonata quasi una fantasia' (1929) is an eclectic, sexy mix of impressionism and jazz. The Pizzetti demands something other than beauty in performance, and Shaham and Erez are uncompromising and abrasive with it. The Castelnuovo-Tedesco sounds gorgeous from start to finish’ (The Guardian)» More

«Unis à la ville comme à la scène, Ethel Bartlett et Rae Robertson complètent la série consacrée par APR aux élèves de Tobias Matthay avec une escale rafraîchissante du côté du répertoire pour deux pianos … pour nous concentrer sur le meilleur du coffret, à savoir les variations de Schumann et Saint-Saëns, modèles d'équilibre dans lesquelles on admire la capacité des deux musiciens à se fondre l'un dans l'autre ou à individualiser leur propos. Leur palette magnifie la grisaille déprimante mais subtile d'En blanc et noir (Debussy) autant que la clarté printanière qui émane d’une Suite élisabéthaine concoctée par Bartlett d'après Byrd, Farnaby ou Bull. Quelques petites douceurs pour finir, avec des arrangements savoureux de pages de Bach, Granados ou Liszt (amusez-vous à deviner qui fait quoi dans cette Campanella ou ce Liebestraum en duo!) enrichies, registrées, octaviées» (Diapason, France)» More

‘The playing is especially potent in the dramatic sweep of the C major, in which Rubinstein’s romantic creative urge is all the more confident, complementing Lisztian passion and bravura with colour and harmonic dexterity that lend it individuality’ (The Daily Telegraph)» More

„Klar im Anschlag, konsequent in der Durchführung bis zum entschwindenden Ostinato des Leiermanns, nuancenreich im Ausdruck, stellt dieses die ideale ‘Tragfläche’ für den Sänger her … fazit: Diese ‘Winterreise’ hat Erlebnischarakter“ (Pizzicato, Luxembourg)» More