«Hamelin n’a pas son égal pour clarifier les plans sonores et en dégager la clarté et la beauté … ce formidable pianiste qu’est Marc-André Hamelin se livre ici à une démonstration de ses talents: mise en place des plans sonores, compréhension de l’architecture musicale, puissance expressive et maîtrise technique parfaite» (Créscendo, France)

«Avec la prodigieuse faculté que possède Hamelin de clarifier les textures, de mettre en relief quelques articulations décisives du discours, de différencier les voix en jouant de l'extraordinaire diversité de timbres de son toucher, cette redoutable sonate acquiert une simplicité biblique la mettant au niveau d'un nouveau-né … la maîtrise est totale, olympienne, presque surnaturelle tant la vélocité vertigineuse se soumet aux exigences de l'expression» (Classica, France)

‘Hamelin brings his characteristic virtues to both works. There's his ability to maintain momentum without sacrificing detail … and his variety of colour evoked in each hand … in short, this one's a must’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Hamelin balances the intial seething turbulence with quiet introspection. A breathtakingly lovely second movement precedes technical fireworks and reflective, harmonically colorful phrases in the third before Mr Hamelin propels the majestic finale to a virtuosic conclusion’ (The New York Times)

‘Easily the best recorded performance of Dukas’s massive sonata … in Hamelin’s hands, the Dukas sonata is given a clarity of expression and an overall sweep lacking in the other recordings. His tonal palate being much wider than his colleagues, he is able to engage us more emotionally in a work better known for its intellectual properties. He also underplays passages that are pushed relentlessly in less understanding hands … Hamelin gives us added respect for the composer’s imagination … Roger Nichols has supplied probing notes and Hyperion excellent sound’ (American Record Guide)

‘Hamelin, one hardly needs to say, makes light of any difficulty, clarifying complex textures and subtly highlighting different voices with myriad keyboard colours … this performance has expressive power and intense emotional involvement that make it one of his most successful recordings—and that is saying something’ (Gramophone)

‘Dukas's monumental sonata is one of the under-appreciated masterpieces of the French piano repertoire, and it is also a perfect showcase for Hamelin's extraordinary keyboard talents’ (The Guardian)

‘Hamelin plays it [Dukas] fabulously, surmounting its various challenges with ease, achieving just the right note of tender intimacy—in contrast to the rest of the work—in the slow movement. He is tremendously exciting in the Scherzo, but above all he expounds the vast architecture and drama of the finale as few have managed to … altogether this is a marvellous issue, and yet another distinguished addition to Hamelin's swift-growing discography’ (International Record Review)

‘For a disc of all 17 of Duparc's melodies, the clear first choice is Sarah Walker and Thomas Allen’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Roger Vignoles is a most sympathetic accompanist, and virtuosic where virtuosity is called for, and the whole set is at one with Duparc's own evaluation of these magnificent songs’ (Gramophone)

‘Another impressive first for Hyperion. There are few singers in Britain today more at home in the French language, and both are well attuned to Duparc's subtle and refined musical world’ (BBC Record Review)

‘The Hyperion issue is as near an ideal Duparc record as could be’ (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)