‘The Takács beguile the ear with their incisive phrasing, their consistency, and their sense of detail. Compared with their previous recording (Decca, 1991), this new one seems more dynamic, more intense in its highlighting of the contrapuntal dimension … [they] articulate—better than all except a very few—the shifting border between classicism and romanticism that infuses Haydn’s last works’ (Diapason, France)

‘As always with The Gesualdo Six, the thing that strikes one most forcibly on first listening is the ensemble’s extraordinary vocal blend … the collection, centring on the theme of grief, is extremely well organised in terms of both contrast and similarity (of style and period), and I do recommend listening to it from beginning to end. Richard Rodney Bennett’s sumptuous A Good-Night provides a wholly appropriate finale to this thought-provoking journey’ (Gramophone)

‘No pianist today is more steeped in this idiom than Howard Shelley, who, true to form, dispatches both concertos with mingled flamboyance and limpid grace. Potentially routine passagework is sparklingly alive, while the cantabile melodies unfold with a vocal flexibility. Shelley is a master of rubato and artful timing. The chic opening of No 1’s finale and the waltzing second theme in the opening Allegro of No 2, given an echt Viennese lilt, make the point … Shelley’s crystalline fingerwork duly dazzles in the delicate filigree of the Rondeau brillant, which begins as a polonaise and ends as a skittering galop: a work not to Schumann’s taste, evidently, but hard to resist in a performance of such style and verve’ (Gramophone)

‘Impeccable … performances as wonderful and sonorous as you could hope for’ (The Sunday Times)» More

‘In all, these performances are a marvel. Never has Bach seemed less dry and more full of fantasy’ (The Telegraph)» More

‘A concatenation of music that delivers what it set out to do: exploring shades of positivity and the hope that the good someone has brought into the world will live on after they have passed. Perceptively and sensitively performed with outstanding musicality. Quite simply exquisite’ (Yorkshire Times)

‘Wonderful stuff … the playing is incredibly classy, and in the second movement [of Op 77 No 1] there’s an improvised, almost operatic feel to the first violin writing, and it’s very hard to make something like that feel natural … it’s so tastefully judged’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Vocal ensemble The Gesualdo Six is known for its Renaissance polyphony, with lucid and hauntingly beautiful performances of Josquin, Gesualdo, Tallis and the like, but with their album Fading—a couple of years ago—they began combining ancient and modern music with themes of darkness and light. Their new recording, Lux aeterna, takes this further: eternal light, an exploration of grief, musical responses to mourning and loss, uncertainty and hope. It’s a strikingly effective sequence … [A Good-Night is] a touching way to end this beautifully sequenced exploration of different sides of mourning and loss … six centuries of music, beautifully recorded’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Since for Esfahani any performance starts from a position where everything is freshly, indeed forensically reconsidered, Clavier-Übung II offers particularly rich pickings. Bach sets out not only to demonstrate how thoroughly he understands the flagship styles of Italy and France, but also how he can bend them to his own purposes. The interpretive possibilities are catnip to the harpsichordist who proves himself stylishly bilingual … the concluding Presto [of the Italian Concerto] goes off like a rocket trailing scarcely-containable energy—the end thundering like Wanda Landowska on steroids … altogether, a challenge to complacency that can’t be ignored’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘One thing is certain about this new recording by the Takács Quartet: you will not hear better string quartet playing anywhere in the world today. The technical perfection can almost be taken for granted, but there is also the warmth and affection of the performances, and the insight into the visionary slow movements, especially the wonderful Adagio of Op 77 No 1. The Decca recording of these pieces by the original all-Hungarian Takács Quartet, now more than 30 years old and long-since deleted, still sounds very well and has perhaps a touch more gypsy exuberance in the finales; but this new version, which throws in the lone small-scale Quartet Op 42 as a bonus, is to be treasured’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘This affecting collection contains music for mourning and remembrance … the great experience and skill of these singers provide perfect tuning in pieces such as Tallis’s In ieiunio (sung at low pitch) and superb phrasal breathing (especially in Morales’s Parce mihi)’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Mahan Esfahani couldn’t make a routine recital of Bach’s keyboard music if you paid him to … what a great way to end a Bach harpsichord recital … I love that final ‘ping’ as he lifts his hands from the keys. Bach’s Italian Concerto begins the album, leaping into life with irresistible immediacy, bristling with trills and decorations like little fireworks bursting over the left hand’s propulsive leaps, and it’s easy to share the sense of satisfaction at the range of sounds Esfahani’s harpsichord produces under his fingers, recorded in a well-handled church acoustic: there’s a lovely halo around everything with no loss of detail, and the bass of the instrument fully captured. Mahan’s notes are as engaging and communicative as his playing’ (BBC Record Review)