‘Now here’s a contribution to the Vaughan Williams anniversary that I think might be on a few ‘best of the year’ lists in December. I hope so … tenor Nicky Spence is in wonderful voice here: not too much reserve; loads of passion; well-balanced responses from the Piatti Quartet and pianist Julius Drake. It’s one of those performances whose vivid exploration of the emotional landscapes evokes Ravel in places, with whom Vaughan Williams was taking lessons and who thought highly of this cycle [On Wenlock Edge], apparently. Viola player Timothy Ridout adds real richness to the sound of the Four Hymns, and the early cycle The house of Life—Vaughan Williams’s settings of Rossetti—is beautiful, touching. The whole recital is mesmerizing, I think’ (BBC Record Review)

‘After Mendelssohn set down the Sonata in F major [MWV Q26] in draft form, he got as far as revising the first movement before moving on to other things. Superb duo partners Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien have opted for the original first movement. Once you listen, you'll understand why. The triumphant opening is so lively and joy-filled as to make one question how it could ever be bettered. The lovely second movement impresses as a tender love song from a sensitive and longing soul. It's so wonderful and filled with beauty that anyone who chose to exit this lifetime while this was playing might conceivably die with a smile on their face. The sonata closes with a joyous cat-and-mouse romp. As a celebration of the goodness life has to offer, this marvelous sonata deserves a place alongside Beethoven's Archduke Trio and the finest works of Mozart’ (Stereophile)

‘This year marks the 150th Anniversary of the birth of the composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, the father of British music into the 20th century, and there could be no better way to mark that event than by this important release on the Hyperion label. It features the outstanding Scottish tenor, Nicky Spence, whose singing throughout has such fine poise and, when required, a full-bodied quality, perfectly supported by the pianist, Julius Drake. Then, with the imaginative colours created by the highly acclaimed young Piatti Quartet, Spence captures the emotive words of the popular song cycle, On Wenlock Edge’ (Yorkshire Post)

‘Whether noble, sparkling or deeply expressive, Bargiel has the means and methods to sustain his engaging creativity that withstands scrutiny and repetition, and here enjoys the services of the interactive Leonore Piano Trio, for Tim Horton (piano), Benjamin Nabarro (violin) and Gemma Rosefield relish the music’s tunefulness and emotions and make a great team, captured ideally at Henry Wood Hall’ (colinscolumn.com)» More

‘A beautiful piece [MWV Q26], much in the same spirited vein as the slightly later Cello Sonatas. Ibragimova and Tiberghien offer an incisive, articulative account of its big first movement, one that never lacks for momentum or color. The exchanges of foreground and background roles in the central Adagio flow beautifully while the concluding Assai vivace is brilliantly felt, its episodes of tension and release unfolding with utter naturalness. Rounding out the album is a fragment of a Violin Sonata in D that the composer left incomplete sometime in the late 1820s. It’s a tantalizing sketch, with a warm-hearted Adagio introduction followed up by a stormy fast section, but not much more—though Ibragimova and Tiberghien get its closing bars to shimmer’ (The Arts Fuse, USA)

‘The practicality and professionalism [of the Moments musicaux] is covered over by the subtlety of Osborne’s deft and immersive interpretation. The 3rd Moment, in B minor, is one to savour for years to come. I wish I had a sixth star to award’ (Ludwig Van, Canada)

‘Here are two bafflingly neglected piano trios in gloriously vibrant performances. If you’ve ever wished there was more chamber music to discover by Brahms and Robert Schumann, this is a real treat.’ (The Guardian)

‘Memorable musical ideas, effortless conversations between the instruments in this performance, and a restlessly engaging scherzo [in No 2]. The Leonores sound as though they’re really enjoying this music, and so have I. Bargiel collaborated with Brahms on new editions of Schumann and Chopin; they became great friends as well. This man is so connected with the Romantic greats and yet, at best, he’s usually a footnote in their histories and now we can enjoy his piano trios’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Technically and emotionally challenging music for Holy Week and, as The Gesualdo Six’s director Owain Park puts it, ‘at times the harmonic movement seems almost unhinged, at others spellbindingly beautiful.’ And before the Gesualdo there’s the cooler but no less remarkable Lamentations by Thomas Tallis: wonderfully precise singing held by a jewel of a recording. And a couple of modern pieces as well, so it’s as though we’re looking at Holy Week through a different lens. One of my Easter highlights’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Stephen Hough is a beautifully thoughtful pianist, really sculpting out every phrase and every detail and making it his own, which is necessary in such a landmark piece as this [D894] … [he] takes a somehow more classical, more refined approach in something that seems to me very spiritual … a really beautifully thought out, phrased, balanced, paced recording’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Few pianists are more tirelessly exploratory than Marc-André Hamelin. In this enriching new album he turns to the strange and idiosyncratic world of CPE Bach … a world of quirky surprises, of fits and starts, of a determination to advance towards new musical horizons … dazzling advocacy, together with Hyperion’s superb sound and Mahan Esfahani’s scholarly and illuminating notes’ (International Piano)

‘Here The Gesualdo Six tackle two of Renaissance polyphony’s warhorses, an imaginative pairing that also welcomes two short works by contemporary composers. Tallis’s Lamentations and Gesualdo’s Responsories have been recorded many times by ensembles of the highest calibre. In both cases The Gesualdo Six do more than stake their claim … one has to applaud the element of risk-taking in their performance … if you don’t take risks with Gesualdo, you may as well not bother. In any case, it was time we heard them in the music of the composer whose name they have taken; the rest of the set is eagerly anticipated’ (Gramophone)