'The raison d'être of the disc is Howells's Requiem and it is impressive as the core of a powerful programme. Going back to the opening Gibbons hymn 'Drop, drop slow tears', it then seemed right. Some discs are built out of contrast: this glories in its breadth of tone, matching the sombre consolation of the words and music. It is certainly impressive' (Early Music Review)» More

'An absolute riot for cricket fans, this is quite extraordinary collection of cricket music, including a Village Rondo for piano by Matthew Holst, great-grandfather of Gustav, believe it or not' (Choral Guide)» More

'This disc is testimony to the achievements of the Yorkshire Bach Choir and should extend its reputation to those who have never yet been able to hear it in concert' (Early Music)» More

‘This invaluable reissue of discs dating from 1952-53 is a reminder of Jorge Bolet's early stature. The first-ever recording of Prokofiev's malignant, ferociously demanding Second Concerto is of so much more than documentary interest … nothing can dim one's sense of Bolet's massive and unswerving authority, a quality at once lyrical and magisterial … a true aristocrat of the keyboard, his warmth and humanity strike you at every turn’ (Gramophone)

‘The complex cross-rhythms in the Credo are adroitly handled. Although the performance is a semitone lower than modern pitch, movements such as the Gloria keep their brightness … you can hear their enthusiasm in the exultant finish of the Gloria and the sublime melodic meditations in the Sanctus and Agnus [of the Ave maris stella Mass]’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Rosenthal had an inimitably seductive manner of playing … with Ward Marston’s superb restoration and remastering, APR’s exemplary annotation and a first-rate booklet from Jonathan Summers, this is, quite simply, pianophile heaven’ (Gramophone)

‘The artistry of Moriz Rosenthal (1862-1946) arguably stands head and shoulders above all recorded Liszt pupils’ (Classics Today)

'Parry's choral masterpieces, the six Songs of Farewell, composed between 1913 and 1915, represent a magnificent summation of his work as an English choral composer whose influence on several generations of native composers thereafter was immense. And this ravishing performance by Tenebrae, in the context of works by Elgar, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Harris and Howells, only serves to accentuate how deeply that influence was assimilated' (Gramophone)

'Jamie Walton is a conviction cellist, playing the music he feels is most timely rather than what the industry demands. These three works make sense together but are hardly a commercial proposition. The 1934 D minor Shostakovich sonata is among the most affecting performances I have heard since Rostropovich died. The C major sonatas by Britten and Prokofiev have lower emotive traction, but the playing compensates with delicious little insights and evocations. Daniel Grimwood is the intuitive accompanist' (La Scena Musicale, Canada)

‘Just about everything about Stephen Hough’s Chopin Nocturne cycle seems ideal. His gorgeous and well-recorded sonority seduces in intimate moments, rising to the music’s dramatic climaxes with emotional force yet never losing clarity or luminosity. He applies rubato with the utmost discretion, taste, and proportion, while largely underlining the composer’s harmonic surprises through shifts of tone color and chord balances … in a catalog crowded with superb Chopin Nocturne cycles, Stephen Hough easily sets reference-worthy standards’ (Classics Today)» More

'Louis Andriessen has never shirked the big subjects,and here are two of the biggest: politics and sex. De Staat (1972-76) is a hard-hitting classic referencing Plato and Brecht in the struggle between 'pure' music and its social context. The recent Anais Nin is a monodrama for soprano (the superb Cristlna Zavalloni) and ensemble about the French-Cuban writer who had relationships with her father, the composer Joaquin Nin, and a raft of lovers. The use of 1930s scoring gives a Kurt Weill feel to the textures; the album misses the film fragments, but this is an excellent start to the London Sinfonletta's new series for Signum' (The Observer)

'Robert Quinney's second outing on Signum—a recital of arrangements of music by Elgar—finds him exchanging the organ of Westminster Cathedral for that of its Anglican neighbour, where he has been sub-organist since 2004. As before, his playing is unerringly elegant and incisive, with a sensitivity to timbre and temperament simply unequalled by his peers. But with arrangements that largely accent the more plangent undertones of the Abbey's V/105 Harrison & Harrison, the result is something both sober and sepulchral—'Nimrod' sounding positively funereal. The early Sonata in G (the only work here written for the organ) fares best of all, Quinney subtly exploiting its quasi-symphonic mien to good effect' (Choir & Organ)