‘This estimable Kreisler compilation from the young British violinist Jack Liebeck heralds his new alliance with Hyperion, and one could hardly imagine a more propitious start to their relationship … these disarmingly affectionate and often brilliant accounts of these Kreisler favourites prove unusually satisfying … particularly superb are the transcriptions of Dvořák’s E minor Slavonic Dance, Op 72 No 2 and the ‘Danse espagnole’ from Falla’s La vida breve, both of which are hugely demanding for the violinist and played with élan and bravura here by Liebeck … this is unquestionably a Kreisler disc to which I’ll be returning often and always with pleasure, for these spirited and discerning readings have so much to commend them as to make even minor qualms seem churlish. Liebeck and Apekisheva are heard at their brilliant best in Kreisler’s own formidably taxing reworking of the G minor ‘Devil’s Trill’ Sonata by Tartini. There is indeed something of the Mephistophelean about this astounding account and Liebeck sounds stunning in Kreisler’s intimidating cadenza’ (International Record Review)» More

'These live performances taken from Lorin Maazel's recent cycle with the Philharmonia in London took me by surprise … never sacrificing spontaneity to predictability, shape, purpose and direction are maintained throughout individual movements and each symphony as a whole. Excitement is full-on and spectacular, yet movements of intimacy can be utterly captivating; overall tension never sags. Mahler's inner narratives are drawn with conviction, flair and vivid imagery wholly at one with the spirit of the music' (International Record Review)» More

'This is the third volume in the impressive coverage of all Poulenc's songs masterminded by the superb pianist Malcolm Martineau … the present set any slight piano dominance comes from the sheer character of Martineau's playing. This is immediately effective in the opening group of four Airs chantes, sung with engaging character and immediacy by Sarah Fox. In 'Colloque', which follows, Loma Anderson is joined by Thomas Oliemans, which brings most beautiful singing in a nostalgic love duet' (Gramophone)

‘A Winterreise of vision and searching intensity … Finley’s rich and beautifully modulated baritone voice is also one that nurtures words and can encapsulate the musical images with which Schubert clothes them … for instance in his veiled, hushed and then anguished interpretation of 'Auf dem Flusse’, again with Drake establishing an undercurrent of desolation. Finley can exercise his lyrical powers in such songs as ‘Der Lindenbaum’, ‘Die Krähe’, ‘Letzte Hoffnung’ or ‘Täuschung’ but it is not a lyrical talent alone: more to the point, it is the spectrum of tonal colouring, inflection and instinctive phrasing which lend this performance of Winterreise such an absorbing sense of inner communion with the soul. Nothing is exaggerated; but on an intimate scale Finley and Drake find the nub of the dramatic psychological substance of these songs’ (Gramophone)

«Cédric Tïberghien, déjà remarquable dans l’œuvre pour violon et piano avec Alina Ibragimova (Diapason d'or, cf. no 571), relève sans la moindre faiblesse les défis techniques—Szymanowski est redoutable pour les doigts. Dans les deux triptyques, il souligne la filiation lisztienne, souvent négligée, par un piano généreux, orchestral. Grâce à un respect scrupuleux des infinies nuances d’expression ou d’agogique, la ligueur formelle s’unit à liberté rhapsodique, la sensualité des couleurs à la mobilité des rythmes—signature de Szymanowski. Langueurs capiteuses de Schéhérazde, grimaces douloureuses ele 'Tantris le bouffon', cyclothymie névrotique de la 'Sérénade de Don Juan', rien de l’esprit de Masques ne lui échappe. Dans Métopes, il exalte les jeux d'eaux de 'L'Ile des sirènes', les séductions capiteuses de 'Calypso' (deux pages également marquées par l'inimitable Richter, Decca), les mouvements chorégraphiques, grâce ou transe, de 'Nausicaa'. Au-delà de la virtuosité, les Etudes op. 33 s’apparentent bien à des pièces d’atmosphère. À des improvisations fantasques où Tïberghien sait creuser du mystère» (Diapason, France)» More

«Le Concerto pour deux pianos et cordes (1971), instaure une ambiance davantage tendue et moderniste : rythmes acérés, cordes plus froides, mélodies assez heurtées … étrange Lento semblant venir tout droit des Premiers hommes dans la Lune de H.G. Wells; les harmonies des pianos mêlées aux cordes angéliques dans les aigus rappellent Messiaen … défendu avec conviction et sa technique brillante par Piers Lane» (Diapason, France)» More

‘Performances are very good indeed … and Piers Lane and Howard Shelley are persuasive advocates for this music (Shelley is also the second pianist in the Concerto for two pianos). Anyone who is interested in Australian music should, of course, acquire this disc, but I sincerely hope that it will also have a much wider impact and help to reinstate Williamson’s work in the concert repertoire’ (International Record Review)» More

«Musicien remarquable et savant, fin connaisseur des classiques viennois, interprète rompu aux instruments d'époque, Robert Levin est-il pour autant le partenaire idéal de Steven Isserlis … sommet d'inspiration, la Sonate op.69 (1807-1808) bénéficie d'une lecture nerveuse, concentrée, d'une belle musicalité, qui ne le cède en énergie, en âpreté, en modelé qu'aux plus grandes versions sur instruments modernes» (Diapason, France)» More

«Robert Levin et Steven Isserlis parviennent en effet dans les Sonates op. 5 à un équilibre sonore naturel leur permettant d’associer la verve classique et la liberté pré-romantique présentes dans ces deux partitions de jeunesse. On perçoit également parfaitement comme le style beethovénien s’affirme dans la Sonate op. 69, comme l’écriture se dessine et se structure, en une véritable fête permanente et perpétuellement attrayante. Il ne faudrait toutefois pas penser que l’on assiste à une conférence esthétique : au contraire, cette justesse de propos doit sa réussite à l’enthousiasme des deux musiciens qui parviennent brillamment à dégager de chaque mesure une âme musicale convaincante, à l’image de la Sonate op. 102 no 1» (Classica, France)» More

‘Louis Vierne (1870-1937) is by no means obscure, but his contemporary Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937) is one of those composers who continues to occupy specialist territory. His substantial Piano Quintet … presents a fascinating synthesis of ripe late 19th-century romantic sensibility and the new ideas of texture and harmony emerging in the early years of the 20th century … in the Vierne Quartet of 1894, the Goldners pitch their playing perceptively, pointing to the influences of Franck and Mendelssohn. There is discipline in this music, but also a warmth of spirit that finds an outlet in the third movement, and which the Goldners interpret with stylish sensitivity—a characteristic, indeed, of the whole disc’ (The Daily Telegraph)» More

‘British pianist and specialist in Polish music Jonathan Plowright is well supported by the Szymanowski Quartet from Poland, and the performances of both works are exemplary for their passion and emotional sweep’ (Singapore Straits Times)» More

‘Haywood plays these works with consummate sensitivity, and has been well recorded. Isserlis seems to have been a charmer and, musically-speaking, a miniaturist and his works reflect an interesting channel to composition in Russia in the first two decades or so of the twentieth century’ (MusicWeb International)» More