‘Here we have coruscating performances by Simon Callaghan and the Sinfonieorchester St Gallen of three of Reinecke’s four piano concertos. Written respectively in 1860, 1872 and 1900, they reflect big changes both in their musical hinterland and in his evolving art. The first is imbued with the influence of Mendelssohn in its graceful virtuosity, while the second finds a tone of elegiac grandeur in its Allegro, and a songfulness reminiscent of Tchaikovsky in its Andantino. The first two movements of the fourth—coming 28 years later—represent the fruits of maturity. With virtuosity now at the service of a noble structure, its opening Allegro has a Brahmsian authority, while its Adagio has a rapt beauty worthy of Chopin. We should now hear this live’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘I was deeply moved. How would I describe it? Completely new … monumental in some ways in its outlook [and] hard to compare with anything else that I’ve listened to. I was quite blown away. It feels as though one opens a door to a new world going into this music, a three-dimensional new world … there is something just genuinely mesmerizing about this and the way Stephen Hough plays it. The combination of objective skill, intellectual clarity and his use of colours—it’s luminous, the way he can make the piano sing and sparkle; I think his gifts are endless’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Another new discovery for me this week is a piano concerto [No 1] from a composer born, as the notes tell us, the year Schubert wrote his string quartet Death and the Maiden (1824) and who died the year Alban Berg wrote his string quartet Op 3 (1910), and a beautiful, romantic slow movement where you can be forgiven for forgetting that this is a piano concerto at all … Simon Callaghan is a compelling soloist, sensitively accompanied by the St Gallen orchestra and Modestas Pitrėnas’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Hough’s creation is an immediate winner, and a perfect companion for the more serious thoughts of the genuine French music on display. This is a magical album’ (The Times)

‘The Takács Quartet began its recording career in Hungary in the early 1980s. Has it really taken almost forty years for them to get round to Maurice Ravel’s quartet? It has. It’s been worth the wait… they get the passionate urgency of the [second] movement [of the Ravel] as well as the pizzicato playfulness, and Ravel’s in intriguing company here—Stephen Hough’s first quartet (a recent work dedicated to the Takács), and it comes before the two French classics here, the Ravel and Dutilleux’s Ainsi la nuit. Hough wrote his quartet specially to work alongside them and it’s in the form of six ‘meetings’—imaginary encounters in 20s Paris with the composers known as Les Six, from boulevard and park to hotel and theatre—witty references to their styles; delicately sketched vignettes; it’s a treat. The whole album works beautifully—evocative, stylish playing from the Takács’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Cristo’s polyphony is unshowy but always graceful, and the church acoustic in which this selection of antiphons plus a Mass has been recorded perfectly sets off the unadorned freshness of the voices. When the music’s decorous emotional restraint relaxes, passion shines through: poignantly in the Stabat Mater, and with exquisite pain in the Cuius animam gementem (‘Whose groaning soul’) which follows. Cupertinos—and Hyperion—are to be congratulated on bringing this radiant music to light’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Isserlis has certainly collected a lovely set of pieces here, (almost) all from the 1880s. As you’d expect, his playing on this release is absolutely without fault … the highlight of this release is easily Luise Adolpha Le Beau’s Cello Sonata, Op 17. A quick online search shows few high-profile recordings of the piece before now, but I’ll eat my hat if this high-octane recording doesn’t push this fabulous work into the repertoire of a few more cellists. It’s intense, moody, and moving—everything you want out of a good sonata, and indeed everything you want out of a good new release, too’ (Limelight, Australia)» More

„„Es regnet nie, aber es schüttet.“ Dieses britische Sprichwort hat Steven Isserlis seinen Ausführungen im Beiheft vorangestellt. Damit möchte er andeuten, dass das Jahrzehnt um 1880 für Cellisten ein goldener Boden ist. In der Tat: die neue Aufnahme bringt sehr unterschiedliche Komponisten zusammen, die alle nochmal eine späte Form der Romantik aufblühen lassen. Isserlis und Connie Shih spielen diese Musik mit viel Wärme im Ton und Lust an der Entdeckung. Ein Album, das erfolgreich wenig bekannte Pfade erkundet“ (WDR 3)

‘No cellist alive can match the eloquent intent of Steven Isserlis’s line. Every phrase he threads through the warm embrace of Connie Shih’s pianism is articulated and ‘breathed’ with the ardour of a great vocalist, while his mercurial energy sets alight [Le Beau's] Allegro vivace’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Le Beau’s compact and tuneful sonata has been recorded several times but never with anything like the exultant energy on display here. Isserlis pours his heart into the lilting slow movement, and he and Connie Shih seize every opportunity to ratchet up the drama—as at 2'41" in the opening Allegro molto. They bring a similar exuberance to Richard Strauss’s youthful Op 6, heard here in its rarely played original form … Isserlis isn’t the first cellist to adapt [Dvořák's] glorious miniatures for his instrument but I find his account the most persuasive yet, particularly in the melodious sobbing of the final piece. Listen, say, to the vocal quality of his tone at 2'01", at 3'25" and again at the end. The effect is absolutely heart-rending … everything about this release is a pleasure, from the refinement and intensity of the performances to the absolute perfection of the recorded sound. Don’t miss it’ (Gramophone)

‘Isserlis is on top form here, playing with lucid intelligence, variegated bow weight and expressive intensity. Shih takes on her burdens with scrupulous clarity and together they form an immaculate team. A fine recording completes the pleasures of this slightly odd-looking but ultimately attractive disc’ (MusicWeb International)

‘Isserlis has a knack for coming up with clever CD concepts, and his latest, A Golden Cello Decade: 1878-1888, is no exception … the extraordinary pianist is Connie Shih. Isserlis says she is his favorite from among his many distinguished (he calls them 'long-suffering') keyboard partners. There is also a lovely cameo by harpist Olivia Jageurs during Bruch’s Kol Nidrei (where the harp appears in the orchestral version). This gorgeous chestnut opens the album with a dramatic flair that never turns maudlin’ (The Arts Fuse, USA)