‘I really enjoyed returning to this version of Remède de Fortune after a year or so and I look forward to reviewing the next record in a week or so … here’s an idea for any history lover like me. Why not make a date with your armchair, your CD player, order one of Jonathan Sumption’s volumes of The Hundred Years War series or perhaps W. Mark Ormrod’s Edward III, pour yourself a glass of red wine and spend the evening in the fourteenth century with Machaut’s singers for accompaniment?’ (MusicWeb International)

‘There are two ways to listen to The Brabant Ensemble’s new recording, A monk’s life, both of which are highly satisfying. First, you can simply soak up the sounds of a top-notch vocal ensemble singing polyphony of the mid to late 16th century. Alternatively, you can follow the printed program and librettos, turning the 30 tracks into an intriguing biography of a nameless monk in late-Renaissance Germany … Stephen Rice and the Brabant conjure up a glorious environment for worship’ (Classical Voice North America)

‘Hamelin has a supreme command of the music’s architecture and of its pianistic demands. It’s a reading of leonine power and monumental artistic presence, a fusion of heroism and lyricism. The inexorable momentum of the opening movement just sweeps you along … Hamelin certainly hits the heights in this recording. I sincerely hope there’ll be more Beethoven to come from Hamelin, such has been the pleasure I’ve derived from this disc’ (MusicWeb International)

‘This is a superb programme mining a rich vein of post-Reformation music from German-speaking countries, all sung with the characteristic silvery tone of The Brabant Ensemble … this is superb—the singers constantly move between overlapping, sumptuous ars perfecta polyphony to quick-witted, snappy homophony, and they do it at every juncture with great style and fluency’ (Gramophone)

‘The OAE and soloist-director Steven Isserlis open with the D major Cello Concerto G479, a sunny work that suits Isserlis’s effervescent persona … Boccherini (himself a virtuoso cellist) showcases his instrument’s ability to soar into the stratosphere … nothing daunted, Isserlis produces a sweet cantabile sound even at the dizzying high end of the fingerboard … Isserlis and friends entwine Boccherini’s lyrical strands into a felicitous musical conversation: balanced, measured and fully in keeping with his gallant idiom’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The range of references is much wider than in other pieces I’ve heard by Ngwenyama—testament to her ability to harness these multiple stylistic strands to convincing creative ends. The Takács Quartet, for whom Flow was written, offer an energetic and engaging account of the work, aided by solo cameo roles for viola player Richard O’Neill and cellist András Fejér, and assisted in no small measure by Ngwenyama’s own personal understanding of the medium itself. Worth exploring’ (Gramophone)

‘It was in a wary frame of mind that I approached a frisky album of unknown pieces for multiple pianos and orchestra by Mendelssohn, Moscheles, Schubert and Liszt. Four-hand is where musicians share in-jokes. Was it a fun hour? Actually, not far from it … [the ‘Wanderer’ Fantasy is] well worth the effort, full of musicality and unexpected asides’ (The Critic)

«Andrey Gugnin propose un merveilleux récital consacré à Grieg, où le néo-classicisme élégant Du temps d’Holberg (une rare occasion d’entendre la version originale pour piano solo) côtoie la magnificence menaçante de la Ballade. Deux cycles complets de Pièces lyriques—d’extraordinaires miniatures pour piano—sont également inclus» (France Musique, France)

‘Beautifully produced (Andrew Keener), beautifully recorded (Oscar Torres), beautifully composed (we knew that), beautifully played (we would expect nothing less from Nash Ensemble members) and beautifully presented (typical of this label), the performances are also penetrating and revealing as well as being the epitome of interactive music-making … from Faune to final track, this January release will be a New Year winner’ (colinscolumn.com)» More

‘Hearing her plush, aubergine-colored voice, coquettish and confident in the drama, one understands why she's in top demand for the role [of Carmen] … selections from Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Rossini's La Cenerentola and The Barber of Seville show off her seamless agility throughout the registers, with ringing top notes and smoldering low ones. At 28, the young mezzo has a full career ahead, and opera fans will want to keep their ears open’ (NPR, USA)

'Marc-André Hamelin saa teoksen tekniset vastukset kuulostamaan leikiteltävän helpoilta. Avauksen fanfaarimaiset akordit on tasapainotettu täydellisesti, Scherzon rytmit tanssivat kuin neidot kedolla ja finaalin fuuga puikkelehtii kuin kärppä rantapusikossa' (Rondo Classic, Finland)» More

‘A 19th-century musical dictionary observed that if God ever listened to music for pleasure, the composer he’d pick would be Boccherini. Isserlis and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s album doesn’t make the choice seem impossible. The music flows with a natural ease and a lively disposition, and often exploits the cello’s top register, requiring extra dexterity. No problem for Isserlis’ (The Times)