‘There are moments when The Tallis Scholars' beautifully shaped performances seem almost too seraphic, too smooth, but that's a minor quibble’ (The Guardian)» More

‘The provenance of the two great works here, the Missa De beata virgine and Missa Ave maris stella, both canonically intricate and based on plainchant, is secure … there are moments when The Tallis Scholars' beautifully shaped performances seem almost too seraphic, too smooth, but that's a minor quibble’ (The Guardian)

‘Marking the midpoint of The Tallis Scholars’ complete projected Josquin cycle, the two works here, based on plainchants, are masterpieces both … for those who revel in structural listening, Phillips and his charges provide readings of remarkable textural clarity. But they also sing with supercharged expression’ (The Sunday Times)

'Commissioned in 1837 by the French Minister of the Interior, Berlioz's monumental Requiem setting was intended to commemorate soldiers supportive of the winning side in the July Revolution of 1830 … anyone in search of a transformative listening experience, Berlioz agnostics among them, should make this release a priority purchase. Expect to hear terrific choral singing and an uncommonly close corporate involvement in the ritual of making music' (Classic FM Magazine)» More

'Lou Reed and Metallica aren't the only ones delving into pre-war bohemian perversity: the Dutch minimalist Louis Andriessen offers a monodrama based on the diaries of Anaïs Nin, with the soprano Cristina Zavalloni recounting Nin's sexual liaisons with Antonin Artaud, René Allendy, Henry Miller and her own father. With clarinet and sax used to evoke jazz-era Paris, a cabaret- flavoured, sometimes comical Kurt Weill ambience captures the amorality and loneliness in Nin's writing. It is paired with Andriessen's most famous composition, De Staat, in which the vocal group Synergy offer ruminations on music from Plato's Republic, set to the reedy, methodical cycles of Andriessen's early minimalist style' (The Independent)

'McCreesh provides pretty much the enormous forces Berlioz demands—60 tenors at least—singing French Latin, as well as mostly original instruments (including ophicleides), leavened with Polish forces from his own Wratislavia Cantans festival … even those used to the Colin Davis or Charles Munch tradition may find its airy beauties compelling' (BBC Music Magazine)» More

'Parry’s six unaccompanied motets are luminous setting sof texts by mainly seventeenth-century poets, reflecting his love of English renaissance madrigals and partsongs. The disc includes choral music by Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Holst, John Tavener and Richard Rodney Bennett—all performed with Tenebrae’s customary poise' (Financial Times)

'Spry, clipped music-making, and a lovely French programme, capped by Roge's ebullient account of Poulenc's mercurial, flamboyant Piano Concerto. Ibert's Divertissement is also sharply energetic, especially in its riotous finale' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Here's a recording guaranteed to put a smile on your face! Enthusiastic and fun, yet with touching, tender moments and a clever awareness of the music's irony, the London Chamber Orchestra delivers a witty, exuberant collection' (Classic FM Magazine)» More

'This is far from being a conventional Irish song collection … Aylish Tynan’s bright soprano, very well controlled with clean attack on high notes, is perhaps too little varied in tone for sustained listening, a minor disadvantage. Predictably, Burnside is always a most sensitive accompanist, not least in some of Britten's tricky piano-writing. A most distinctive disc, well recorded, and well worth investigating' (Gramophone)

‘Listening to Joyce is strangely addictive. One cannot wait, as it were, to read the next chapter. She shares with Kreisler and Tauber the same unteachable ability to elevate the second-rate to the first-rate, and to illuminate familiar masterpieces with a convincing and unmistakable voice … this is such a cornucopia of good things it is hard to know where to start … full marks all round for an early Award contender’ (Gramophone)

‘The Ballades are simply magnificent, up there with the best. Always warm and well-shaped, they are very complete in their understanding of where the music is going, always convincing in their rubato’ (MusicWeb International)