‘The Takács are impressive on this album: every micro-phrase, every note is considered. Their sound draws you in from the first moment. The opening chords and sinuous lines vibrate and thrill on many levels; this is of course to do with their rich and subtle playing but also the fantastic recorded balance. To simultaneously hear the separate parts and the collective so beautifully is a treat indeed: it feels like being right up there with them—the fifth member of the quartet. This performance offers a riveting introduction to Coleridge-Taylor’s five Fantasiestücke for those who don’t know it—a beautiful patchwork of contrasts and vibrant sonorities. With the swooping lines of the upper voices of Edward Dusinberre and Harumi Rhodes, and the deep bass lines plummeting and landing with perfect weight and trajectory, I could listen to the Prelude on repeat with pleasure’ (Gramophone)

‘We can applaud Hamelin and Hyperion for bringing us such a fine collection … Hamelin brings a warmth of expression to his playing that plumbs the depths without seeming cloying … as we have come to expect from Hyperion, everything about this release is first class. The cover features some beautiful art by Monet, the booklet presents useful information about every individual track on the two CDs as well as some biographical information about the artists, and the engineering is excellent. For those who enjoy piano music, this new release is one that you really ought to hear, especially if you have not yet experienced the magical music of that underappreciated master, Gabriel Fauré’ (Classical Candor, USA)

‘Fauré's piano music is full of intricate passage work and subtle modular harmonic shifts, more so within the Barcarolles, that require a perceptive musical mind like Hamelin's to uncover and convey … Hamelin finds the melodic core within all of its impressionistic abstraction and brings it to the surface with clear elucidation’ (Classical Music Sentinel)

‘Hollingworth conducts the Mille regretz Mass entirely without instruments, whereas Dougan conducts the Desilde al cavallero with discreet organ accompaniment. Both direct eminently sensible and musical performances. We can feel confident that the future of this bold project is in the best possible hands’ (Gramophone)

‘James O’Donnell masterminds an account of Vaughan Williams’s Mass in G minor to rank alongside the finest to have come my way. Not only is his an ideally unforced, lucid conception (the return of the Kyrie theme during the Agnus Dei at the words ‘miserere nobis’ sounding sublimely inevitable here), he also secures singing of effortless poise and heart-warming devotion from his Westminster Abbey colleagues. My goodness, the richness and vigour of RVW’s writing for his four soloists and double choir really does activate the goosebumps, yet there’s mystery and expectant hush aplenty at the heart of the Credo (‘Et incarnatus est’). Memorable, too, are those numinous undulations in the Sanctus, as well as the transcendent beauty of the work’s concluding measures. Set down last year to mark the piece’s centenary, this performance benefits from the ideally glowing acoustic of All Hallows, Gospel Oak, whereas that of O taste and see—the lovely communion anthem that RVW wrote for the coronation service of Queen Elizabeth II, and which opens with his signature phrase from ‘Sine nomine’—was recorded in Westminster Abbey itself … in sum, this classy collection will surely give lasting pleasure. Jeremy Dibble’s eloquent and scholarly annotation is a model of its kind’ (Gramophone)

‘This album finds the quartet in excellent shape, with their clarity of idea and warmth of sound as strong as ever … this performance [of the Dvořák Quartet] is by turns punchy, lyrical and emotionally direct, with some bold exploration of timbre, particularly in the percussive Scherzo’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘James O’Donnell left Westminster Abbey after 20 years as director of music to take a position at Yale. This, apparently his last recording at the Abbey, sustains the remarkably high standards he and his choir consistently achieved during his tenure … a fine and unmissable farewell by O’Donnell’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘This CD amply demonstrates that James O’Donnell passed on to his successor, Andrew Nethsingha, a choir in peak condition. The singing throughout is highly skilled and strongly committed. It’s a demanding programme which presents the choir with a wide variety of challenges: all these challenges are successfully met. Most of the music is a cappella, meaning that Peter Holder is not often involved. But in A Special Appeal his contribution is nothing less than spectacular. Hyperion have entrusted this project to engineer David Hinitt and producer Adrian Peacock. With such an experienced team dealing with the technical aspects, it’s little surprise that the recordings are excellent. It will be noted that most of the music was recorded not on the choir’s home turf but in the fine acoustic of All Hallows’ Church, Gospel Oak. The choir sounds equally at home in both venues. This disc closes the James O’Donnell era at Westminster Abbey in considerable style’ (MusicWeb International)

‘Mahan Esfahani continues his survey of Bach, digging now into the Notebooks for Anna Magdalena Bach and their fascinating miscellany of insights into the composer’s domestic life … among the delights here are short works by Bach’s sons, including a handful of pieces by CPE that suggest a young composer already well advanced down his own idiosyncratic path. Esfahani has considerable fun with the jaunty little March in G, adding some bumptious ornamentation in the repeats. His rendering of the G minor Polonaise makes considerably more sense than the rather too stately version by Nicholas McGegan in his survey of the Notebooks’ (Gramophone)

‘These six supremely accomplished musicians approach the project seriously, of course, but with a welcome light touch … this is audibly a hugely enjoyable collaborative venture, the mellow warmth of the four saxophones and the contrasted tonal colouring of Jang Eun Bae’s piano providing a surprisingly convincing support for Gerhardt … the Falla suite and the three Shostakovich items [are] superbly played and most appealing’ (Gramophone)

‘The [Loeillet] Suite’s five short movements are quite as beguiling in Lane’s hands as they were in Cherkassky’s. Almost all the 17 titles here have some career connection to the pianist, personal taste dictating which will appeal more than others. Myra Hess’s selection of 13 Schubert dances and waltzes is another highlight (Lane ran the annual Myra Hess Day from 2006 to 2014), as are his exuberant dispatch of ‘Seguidillas’ (Albéniz) and Black and White Rag, and his poised, graceful handling of Godard’s charming Mazurka and the Schubert-Godowsky Rosamunde ballet music. You can easily imagine the audience’s indulgent end-of-recital smiles over Das Butterbrot’ (Gramophone)

‘Interweaving Byrd's Mass for five voices, which dates from the mid-1590s, with a handful of the composer's motets (Ave verum corpus and Circumdederunt me among them), this beautifully sung and recorded disc captures supremely well the stillness at the heart of the Mass, which was written for secret Catholic worship during the reign of Elizabeth I’ (The Sunday Times)