‘Songs such as ‘An Silvia’ and ‘Der Musensohn’ can seem a bit twee in certain performances; with Coote, that’s not possible, with her use of colour giving the songs an emotional narrative. She doesn’t sugar-coat anything. ‘Erlkönig’ has a heart-in-mouth intensity, while the beloved ‘Im Frühling’ isn’t sung just as a pastoral study with some dark clouds but as an inexorable slide into sorrow. Even ‘Ständchen’ has an underlying tension alluding to the kind of trembling that is mentioned in the final moment …‘Der Tod und das Mädchen’ goes quite deep and dark, the voice of death being half whispered, benevolent but not open to negotiation, the final note having an almost baritonal colouring, underscored by the funeral-march pace used by pianist Julius Drake. In all selections, he is with her all the way, with generous (though not extravagant) tempo changes and eloquent tone colours that support what she is out to convey’ (Gramophone)

‘Reuven’s mandolin take on The Four Seasons’ famously virtuoso violin solos presents a panoply of colours, thanks to a holy trinity of a modern instrument, his own mandolin technique, based on Europe’s various violin schools, and shedloads of imagination. Listen to the shaping, shading and variety of his embellishments in the solos in the first movement of Vivaldi’s Spring. And these qualities then equally feed his Piazzolla arrangements (each movement of which follows its corresponding Vivaldi one); the double-stopped glissandos with which he opens Piazzolla’s Summer are properly exciting … in a steadily expanding catalogue of Vivaldi and Piazzolla Four Seasons offerings, this has brought something genuinely unique and worthwhile to the table’ (Gramophone)

‘The Nash Ensemble’s performance [of the Grand Sextet] comes alive because the other musicians never quite seem to accept their secondary status, challenging the pianist with playing that bristles with pent-up energy … what stands out, though, is the Sextet in G minor. This time the lineup is harp, piano, clarinet, bassoon, horn and double bass, an unusual group that offered Ries some intriguing sonorities, especially when juxtaposing piano and harp. It’s a rewarding piece, and you won’t hear it more persuasively played than this’ (The Guardian)» More

‘This CD catapults Hough into the stratosphere of contemporary Schubert performers: phrasing and dynamics are scrupulously but unobtrusively observed and the sound from the Henry Wood Hall London (April 2020, just as the pandemic was beginning to take hold) is warm and vivid. A Schubert CD for the ages’ (Limelight, Australia)» More

‘The Sonata in A, D664, is wholly delightful, Schubert at his most good-humoured. The affable first movement sings in Hough’s hands, while the second movement is thoughtful, poignant and tender, marked by gently sighing phrases. The sunny mood is soon restored in the finale, to which Hough brings a joyful light-heartedness with its tumbling scales and dance-like passages … there’s an intimacy and warmth to the piano sound which perfectly suits Schubert’s introspection, while a bright but sweet treble brings a lovely clarity to the melody lines and highlights Hough’s deftness of touch. Recommended’ (ArtMuseLondon)

‘Do we really need another recording of The Four Seasons? Well, I think we’ve got enough room in our hearts for another one, especially when it’s as unusual as this … this is a concept that has been experimented with many times, the combination of the four seasons of Vivaldi and Astor Piazzolla, but I do think that the instruments give us something new and fresh here … the reputation of the instrument is transformed through recordings like this, which show exactly how versatile that sound world is … I think it works: it sounds like they’re having a terrific time, and they move seamlessly between the different sound worlds’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Kolesnikov’s idea of having the Yamaha CDX tuned ‘to maximise the extreme sensitivity of the keys, with closely positioned microphones’ works extremely well, and his control at piano and below is faultless … fans of the composer cannot but be happy to listen to a less familiar side of his talent’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The best performances of Die Schöne Mullerin demand three things: a singer with an instinct for drama, a pianist who hears the world that Schubert makes for his young Miller through his fingers and, above all, a partnership in which singer and pianist are as one … Drake and Finley are hand in voice throughout the cycle, yet always understanding that either partner may sing their own song. The four-note lute melody in the piano part in ‘Pause’ hinting at the idea of a serenade becomes ever more unsettling, and when Finley lightens his tone, hoping for the best, the pianist knows better. A magnificent recording’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘These performances clearly brought much pleasure to members of the Nash Ensemble, among them violinist Stephanie Gonley, violist Lawrence Power, clarinettist Richard Hosford and cellist Adrian Brendel. The two pianists—Benjamin Frith and Simon Crawford-Phillips—lead the line with an enthusiasm verging on recklessness. It makes you wonder if this is the kind of joy that music awoke in the informal 1820s gatherings of London’s Philharmonic Society’ (Ludwig Van, Canada)

‘This is a very fine disc indeed. The choir is on top form throughout; clearly James O’Donnell has prepared them thoroughly for the assignment and then conducted them superbly. Peter Holder’s organ playing is marvellous throughout. The recording is excellent. The seasoned team of producer Adrian Peacock and engineer David Hinitt have captured the performances thrillingly, with the Abbey’s organ heard in all its splendour but never overwhelming the singers … besides giving further proof of the excellence of the music-making at Westminster Abbey, this disc also confirms that terrific music is being written for the liturgy in the opening decades of the twenty-first century. That in itself is a cause for celebration’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘The entire performance of the Missa Faulte d’argent, which forms the second half of this programme, epitomizes all that is currently best in the performing and recording of Renaissance choral music. Every note is clear. Every melodic line is audible and can be followed in each part without difficulty by the listener. Every harmonic interaction, be it in the weaving and occasional clashing of melodic lines or in homophonic passages, is perfectly weighted. Tempi and volumes are calibrated to respond sensitively to the text and to the sound made by the music itself, so that there is never bland perfection nor emotional exaggeration, and the music and its text can be expressed as rhetoric or narrative, to inform, edify and delight the listener … we can be grateful for this second recording by The Brabant Ensemble of motets and a mass by Mouton—he has proved more than worthy of their (exceptional) further attention’ (Early Music Review)

«Tout le Mendelssohn solaire est enclos en ces pages comme dans le piano vif-argent de Cédric Tiberghien et l’archet passionné d’Alina Ibragimova. Quel duo ! Après leur impressionnant parcours Mozart, complétissime !, pour le même éditeur, voici qu’ils explorent chaque note que Mendelssohn aura écrite pour leurs deux instruments ensemble … album parfait, qui vient régler la question de la discographie» (Artamag, France)» More