‘The whole album fizzes with energy and spontaneity. The familiar sounds of Vivaldi’s Seasons are rewired with the plucked aesthetic of Reuven’s wildly virtuosic mandolin, the Piazzolla mixed up with quasi-dissonant echoes of Vivaldi, the seasons of each composer interlaced. The Sinfonietta Leipzig (musicians from the Gewandhausorchester) bring spontaneity alongside fastidious clarity and musicianship, underscored by Wellber’s brilliantly improvised accordion/harpsichord continuo … this is Vivaldi half-heard through an early morning mist in a Venice back-street, theatrical, ghostly, out of time, snatched notes from history as if played by a troupe of players from the more distant shores of the floating city’s old empire’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘[The Moments musicaux are] played with a winning combination of charm, melancholy, and grandeur … what an excellent recording it is as well, perfectly embracing [Osborne’s] transparent tone and the range of colour and dynamics, which never turn brittle or ugly even under the more rigorous demands of the first piano sonata. Highly recommended, which is why it’s my Record of the Week.’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Whatever the season, the result is sunny, cross-cultural and humane: a genuine Mediterranean tonic’ (The Times)» More

‘These radiant performances are superlative in every way. Iestyn Davies’s stylish and idiomatic renderings of these masterful scores are enhanced by the beauty and technical dexterity of his exceptional voice. His wonderful contributions are complemented by the outstanding partnership of Arcangelo, under the inspirational direction of Jonathan Cohen. It's a match made in heaven. Hyperion’s stunning sonics are the icing on the cake’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘The Leonore performance has more character [than that by Trio Parnassus] … and better momentum and energy in the fast movements. I was particularly impressed by the playing of cellist Gemma Rosefield. The Hyperion recording is far superior in sound quality … if you don’t have these works, this new recording is a very attractive proposition’ (MusicWeb International)

‘There seems to be an opinion that the first sonata is a bit too long, a bit too diffuse … but this performance really changed my idea of it … it’s just fantastic playing. It’s beautiful—even when it’s loud and demonic, it never loses a sense of beauty. The piano tone is lovely, there’s a huge conviction and mastery, and it’s just a fantastic performance of this sonata … I can’t imagine this being better played’ (BBC Record Review)

‘These are beautifully poised and fluent performances, lovingly shaped by James O’Donnell and exquisitely captured by the Hyperion recording engineers. Highest praise, however, must go to Peter Holder, whose handling of the often extensive and always highly virtuoso organ accompaniments, is utterly, breathtakingly, marvellous’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘In the hands of the Leonore Piano Trio, both works come across as an enriching, organically cohesive concert experience, aesthetically removed from the domestic drawing-room. Tim Horton makes the most of the piano writing, rising from poetic intimacy to impassioned, virtuosic heights in the second trio. A winner of a release, grippingly recorded’ (International Piano)

‘The greater pleasure of this recording is the playing of the Leonore Trio, excellently recorded by David Hinitt and Andrew Keener in Henry Wood Hall (neither too spacious nor too intimate). Gemma Rosefield’s soaring cello in, say, the second movement of Trio No 2 is a delight, violinist Benjamin Nabarro’s violin is forthright and impassioned, while Tim Horton, who certainly has his work cut out, pushes the narrative forwards with dexterity and not a little stamina. But it is the way these three talented musicians blend together that merits the largest bouquet. More please!’ (Gramophone)

‘The Leonore Trio is an outstanding ensemble, whose previous releases for Hyperion of music by Rimsky-Korsakov, Parry and Litolff have all been enthusiastically received. So often in the trio repertoire the piano is allowed to dominate, yet pianist Tim Horton, violinist Benjamin Nabarro and cellist Gemma Rosefield balance Bargiel’s middle-register-dominated textures with such exquisite sensitivity and timing there is never any hint of overbalancing. This is music that by its very nature requires gentle coaxing and affectionate warmth to sound its best, and the Leonore responds with playing that possesses a radiant inner glow. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine this music played more captivatingly, captured in beguilingly natural sound by Andrew Keener and David Hinitt’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien start with the first version of his F major Sonata of 1838, giving it a good heroic opening with plenty of flair, which subsides into gentle caressing of the second subject. These contrasts of dynamism and repose, strength and delicacy, recur throughout the movement, giving shape and ever-shifting colour. The same can be said of the Adagio, in which the restrained grace of the opening melody opens into grand rhetorical gesture, with Ibragimova giving a keen dramatic edge to Mendelssohn’s more flamboyant passages … the recording is close and well balanced’ (The Strad)» More

‘Only with Richter have I been as convinced while listening that there was no other way of playing Schubert; and yet the two artists are so utterly different in temperament. Hough’s uncannily subtle timing, his sensitivity to texture and his mesmerising voice-leading are means to greater ends. It is his noble humility in the face of greatness and beauty that makes these among the most touching Schubert performances I have ever experienced. And experiences is what they are. Where many pianists seem fully aware of the destination from the outset, Hough invites us to embark with him on a magical mystery tour … with Hough, dramatic import never comes at the expense of weighing down and plodding’ (Gramophone)