‘Scottish pianist Steven Osborne is mercurial but never flashy, and eloquent in the moments of repose. The Diversons … are played with equal brilliance’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Steven Osborne and Ilan Volkov launch into the Piano Concerto's opening 'Toccata' at a headlong pace … for all the remarkable velocity, the playing has weight and incisiveness too, and Osborne's way with the two central movements is equally sure … this beautifully devised single-movement set of variations [Diversions] presents Britten's inventiveness at its most elegant, while also finding serious depth in its penultimate Adagio. Osborne and the orchestra do this neglected jewel excellent justice. And there's vivid recorded sound to match’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Osborne's account of Britten's 1938 Piano Concerto is full of fire and wit. He dazzles in the long, unrelentingly fast first movement … he plays the sour second movement with breezy nonchalance, the third with a heavy improvisatory tread and the Prokofiev-like March with mock-heroic fanfares and percussive virtuosity’ (The Times)

‘Osborne takes the opening Toccata of the concerto at quite a lick, but his quick-witted pianism is up to the task, and it is matched throughout by some incisive and perceptive playing from Ilan Volkov's BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. All in all, it is a match for the composer-conducted classic recording by Sviatoslav Richter’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Osborne exults in Britten's dazzlingly pianistic writing, and we get to hear the original 1938 version of the concerto's third movement, a dazzlingly beautiful Recitative and Aria … a thrilling disc’ (The Sunday Times)

‘Steven Osborne yields nothing to the great Sviatoslav Richter in the punchiness and fine-tuned filigree of his playing. No skating over the surface here, with Ilan Volkov and the BBC SSO adept at teasing out the music's symphonic subtext, as well as its piquant orchestral effects … Steven Osborne combines fireworks with wit and subtlety, and Ilan Volkov relishes Britten's unerring ear for orchestral sonorities. Meanwhile, the BBC SSO players sound as if they're having a whale of a time’ (Gramophone)

‘Fischer-Dieskau's recording from 1965 carries massive authority, but this new recording tops it … everythng [Finley] sings has a feeling of emotional truth, without any artfulness. That's a great asset in these songs … Finley makes Blake's aphorisms ring out with the force of an Old Testament prophet’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘This marvellous CD showcases the songs Britten wrote for the baritones Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, John Shirley-Quirk and Benjamin Luxon—music that Finley, at the peak of his very considerable powers, makes his own with the pianist Julius Drake … Finley lends it [Songs and Proverbs of William Blake] the very beauty and intelligence and ecstatic vocalism it needs, without the mannerisms of Fischer-Dieskau’ (Financial Times)

‘The Canadian baritone has already impressed with his outstanding diction in three albums of North American song for Hyperion. Now he turns to the repertoire that Britten wrote for two of his favourite baritones: Songs and Proverbs of William Blake (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau) and Tit for Tat (John Shirley-Quirk) … Tit for Tat displays the young composer's prodigious melodic gift and his savour of words. Finley's noble baritone is a richer-coloured instrument than Shirley-Quirk's … in the Blake settings, Finley naturally sounds more at home with the English texts than Fischer-Dieskau ever did … Finley's watchwords are directness and clarity, both of which come across to splendid effect in the folk-song arrangements … Drake is his admirable partner in this outstanding enterprise’ (The Sunday Times)

‘If you want to know, or simply need reminding, why Gerald Finley is up there in the Premier League of baritone recitalists then strike out for the final five songs on this magnificent new recording … [Songs and Proverbs of William Blake] originally written for Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Finley proves himself the equal of his noble predecessor, both in expressivity and emotional weight. How good it is to have this difficult music available in such a fine modern performance … it is a mark of the quality of these two fine artists that everything on this new release should sound newly minted’ (International Record Review)

‘Gerald Finley sings them all with such an unwaveringly beautiful tone and attention to every syllable, and pianist Julian Drake is so wonderfully attuned to the baritone's inflections … Finley comes into his own in the final Every Night and Every Morn, and Drake's handling of the powerfully wrought accompaniments is superb. Those who have followed them through their series of 20th-century songs for Hyperion (Barber, Ives, Ravel previously) won't be disappointed with this one either’ (The Guardian)

‘Finley as ever acquits himself as a fine singer, a conscientious artist and a thoroughly reliable musician … Julius Drake is the superb pianist’ (Gramophone)