‘Alina Ibragimova’s new recording of the set’s 41 movements runs to 65 minutes, and she is always judicious in choosing not to probe the music for Bachian profundities that it doesn’t have to offer. Her 'less is more' approach is highly appealing, bringing an attractive dancing lilt to many of the faster movements in a set where actual dance designations are rare indeed. Her eschewal of vibrato even in the slow movements, and her light-fingered dexterity in the fast ones, make the most of the music’s contrasts. So forget Bach: think instead of a sequence of delectable morsels, exquisitely presented’ (The Irish Times)» More

‘Everything about this recording of Schubert’s great cycle is distinguished. Producer Mark Brown and engineer Ben Connellan have recorded the performers most sympathetically. Richard Wigmore brings his expert knowledge to the booklet essay. But, above all, it’s the two musicians on whom the focus falls. Gerald Finley’s singing is superb from start to finish. The sheer sound of his evenly-produced voice is a great pleasure in itself but it’s the perceptive way in which he uses the voice that sets the performance apart. He’s absolutely convincing in the Schubertian idiom and he seems to penetrate unerringly to the expressive heart of song after song. In Julius Drake he has a wonderfully supportive and perceptive partner. Between them, these two musicians offer an outstanding performance of the cycle which draws you in and doesn’t let you go. I have many versions of Die schöne Müllerin in my collection. This one takes a place of honour on the shelves’ (MusicWeb International)

‘Marc-André Hamelin is of course celebrated not only for his astonishing technique—he has some of the fleetest fingers in the business—but also for his championing of lesser-known composers, which certainly includes Bolcom as far as we on this this side of the pond are concerned. He brings his usual precision, verve and sensitivity to these delightful pieces, which seem to me, as a collection, to be even finer than Joplin’s. indeed, I can’t wait to get hold of the sheet music and have a go at some of them myself. The recording is impeccable. Strongly recommended’ (MusicWeb International)

‘Incapable of giving a dull performance in any repertoire, Ibragimova gives every phrase its own colour and character and brings out all the invention and fun in music that effortlessly enlivens old-word procedures with 18th-century elegance and wit. Ibragimova rocks, and Telemann does too’ (The Times)

‘Osborne [is] not only a sympathetic and insightful interpreter but one who looks beyond the impressionistic tag that Debussy was less than chuffed with. So, while there is plenty of tenderness, painterly descriptions, and intimacies, fine-line sketches, luminosity, enchantment, there can also be louder and harder touches, or less sentiment, than expected, all in the name of extending the music’s possibilities, and a listener’s rethink, Osborne being very persuasive with his decision’ (colinscolumn.com)» More

‘Steven Osborne find[s] such limpid but perfectly focused tone and range of colours. This isn’t ‘impressionistic’ Debussy in that mistake sense that there’s a wash of sound or smears of paint—detail, delicacy, refinement, full dynamic range in early and late Debussy, from the Bohemian dance that’s his first piano piece in 1880 through to the relatively recently rediscovered thank-you for a coal delivery during the First World War. I was transfixed by the beauty and clarity of this recital’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Esfahani isn’t just showing off an instrument. His ornamentation and articulation are inventive and engaging, and will send alert listeners back to the score as the ear tries to tease out exactly what he’s doing. This is edgy, hyper-attentive playing, with rhythmic figures etched with a sharp, swift and precise stylus … the concluding fugue [of BWV992] is the pièce de résistance, turning this supposed leave-taking into a wild declaration of independence such that the recording itself becomes not just a collection of works by Bach but a performer’s manifesto’ (Gramophone)

‘A year ago we hailed the first album on Hyperion of the ‘altered’ make up of the Takács Quartet … we eagerly awaited their second, announced as being dedicated to Haydn. Here it is, and the result is everything we had wished for … in [Op 77 No 1], from the very opening rhythm one is carried away by the atmosphere of tonal diversity, as well as by the sharp-edged, almost hard-hitting force with which the Takács imbue the music. They profile the melodies with a knowing ease that culminates in the third movement and its fugue, with the first violin making light of its extreme heights, filling every moment with creative tension. Op 77 No 2, dominated by its contrapuntal aspect, is given harmonic warmth and expressive density, and in its superb Andante—a true masterpiece—they achieve a dramatic capacity that is truly breathtaking … the Takács have enriched the recorded legacy of Haydn quartets with these finely-wrought jewels’ (Crescendo, Germany)

‘The first thing that struck me, in the very first track, was an unexpected sense of lonely vulnerability. The fact that Telemann starts many of these fantasias off with a slow movement is hardly unique in and of itself, since Bach’s solo violin works often do the same as do innumerable other sonate da chiesa, but somehow it lends the Fantasia No 1 in B flat, and indeed the album as a whole, a profundity that I simply wasn’t anticipating. Throughout the set of twelve fantasias, Ibragimova reproduces that sense of delicacy numerous times, particularly in slow movements such as the opening Piacevolmente of No 8 in E major … in such capable hands as Ibragimova’s the shaky boundary between music ‘for professionals’ and ‘for amateurs’ breaks down altogether. Telemann’s craft in keeping the music playable is obvious, but Ibragimova shows us the art that he put into these twelve fantasias—each one an assembly of perfectly-formed one- or two-minute miniatures, forming an album of bite-size delights’ (Presto Classical)» More

‘Any recital recording that programmes only shortish pieces runs a risk, and even more so when they’re all by the same composer. I shouldn’t have worried with Steven Osborne in command. Not only are there plenty of lively dances on here to counter the cliché of the ‘wispy’ Debussy, but the contrasts between tracks and the clarity at any dynamic level—and of course Osborne can play with magical refinement—are wondrous … total delight, whether you listen to it in one or more sittings’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Where Ibragimova is often at her most appealing is when addressing dance metres. Here her lightly articulated bowing and her softly spoken melodic declamation make for considerable appeal. These virtues are especially prominent in the second half dozen of the Fantasias, where the dance assumes prominence over the contrapuntal dominance of the first. Elsewhere Ibragimova demonstrates a playful agility in enlivening the kaleidoscope of Telemann’s canvas’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Wonderful as it is to hear the Eighth treated with the respect it deserves, the main focus has to be on Symphony No 6. Even against formidable competition, Martyn Brabbins impresses handsomely. Nothing is forced—the fury and the anguish, the grandeur and the desolation seem almost to speak for themselves. What’s surprising on first hearing is how the Symphony’s epic sweep is balanced with such focused clarity. Details catch the ear that tend to get lost in the general melée, while the rhythmic articulation is sharp and muscular. Of course the superb recording helps, but the microphone can’t bring out things that aren’t already there. It’s all beautifully judged, right through to the near-ideal tempo (not hurried but always mobile) for that ghostly, awestruck finale’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More