‘Rapturous and rhapsodic … a beguiling collection … and a delight’ (The Guardian)» More

‘It's a beautifully made collection … you can tell it means a great deal to Hewitt’ (BBC Record Review)

‘An absorbing project from bassoonist Laurence Perkins … the textures keep changing—solo bassoon, sonatas, chamber music, to the Panufnik bassoon concerto. It's a really enjoyable chronological tour of twentieth-century bassoon’ (BBC Record Review)

‘A really rather overwhelming experience. Each line is given clarity by the single voice to a part Cinquecento, but the blending of sonorities in the whole make for wonderful listening, with waves of collective voices and the emergence and receding of individual lines creating something truly glorious … such illumination would not be possible without the superb voices of Cinquecento, and Hyperion’s excellent recording, which is perfectly balanced in a spacious acoustic, but close enough for that all-important clarity of diction and line to be communicated without any need to strain the senses’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘It’s easy to understand why Plowright has chosen to champion this appealing work [Gablenz], with its variety of texture and mood, melodic invention and imaginative orchestration … in terms of sheer spontaneity, pliant rhythmic élan and delicacy of texture, I cannot imagine a more thrilling performance [of the Polish Fantasy], or one that more fully captures Paderewski’s heartfelt message. Łukasz Borowicz and the BBC Scottish are everywhere complicit in this happy enterprise. Combining an unfamiliar yet worthy work with Paderewski’s signature warhorse, freshly reconceived and proudly resplendent, makes this release a rare treat’ (Gramophone)

‘If, like me, you’ve appreciated Hewitt as a performer of control and precision, then prepare to throw your hat in the air listening to the wild rubato of Widmung (Schumann/Liszt), or thrill to her joyously uninhibited Cäcilie (Strauss/Reger). But even these are topped by two arrangements of her own, of Bist du bei mir (Stölzel attr. Bach) and the Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No 5’ (Pianist)» More

‘Andrew Kirkman offers yet another casket of rediscovered musical gems—pieces once heard in the palace of James IV of Scotland … the main work here is the Missa Horrendo (the ‘Catherine Wheel Mass’). Its endlessly unfolding melodic contours are challenging but are sung here with a magical poise … the singers conclude with a beautifully constrained rendering of a Magnificat and Cornysh’s lovely Ave Maria’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘From the start, Ibragimova captures the playful insanity that lies at the heart of No 1, with its crazed ricochet arpeggiations. Rather than articulating the notes with machine-gun precision, she flutters over the strings like a supercharged butterfly. In the famous variations finale, it feels as though the musical characters have come back for a final bow. Additionally, in the notorious quick-fire semiquavers of No 5, she removes the separate-bow safety net and revels in Paganini’s irregular, thrown-bow groupings. Inimitable, unforgettable and cherishable’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Nadejda Vlaeva’s mind, fingers and soul totally embrace Vladigerov’s idiom. Her ear for tone colour and her innate sense of controlled Romanticism are exactly what this repertoire needs. Take for example Op 9’s third selection, the ‘Waltz-capriccio’, where Vlaeva’s suppleness and lilt never allow the thicker, busier sequences to bog down for a second. Her subtle pedalling in Op 17’s Elegy creates alluring timbral distinctions between melody and accompaniment. Her sensitive articulation in the same work’s Prelude imparts welcome shape and character to the frequent tremolos and quasi-exotic decorative flourishes. And what a pellucid, limpid touch she brings to Op 9’s gorgeous ‘Confession’, as if the piano’s hammers had been replaced by peacock feathers! … if you’re searching for a gift for the Romantic piano-music maven who has everything, look no further than this delectable album’ (Gramophone)

‘While I like Colin Tilney’s expressiveness, Trevor Pinnock’s forthrightness, Robert Wooley’s sense of architecture, Pascal Dubreuil’s élan and Masaaki Suzuki’s grace in this repertoire, I love Esfahani’s rigor and clarity … the opening Sinfonia of the Partita No 2 in C Minor is glorious, the spacious, spread chord of the first bar establishing a dramatic tension which underpins the subsequent faster sections of the movement. Well-dramatised, too, are relationships among movements, such as those among the flowing Fantasia, the busy Corrente, the transparent Sarabande, the bustling Burlesca and the exciting Gigue in the Partita No 3 in E minor. Which sets up the sunny, tirade-streaked Ouverture in the following Partita No 4 in D just nicely. And its bittersweet cousin, the Sarabande in the same suite. Some of the best playing here can be found in Esfahani’s improvisatory and beautifully characterised account of the fifth Partita’s Praeambulum—which again points ahead to the sixth Partita’s opening Toccata, as thrilling an account as you’re likely to hear anywhere’ (Limelight, Australia)» More

‘The more I have listened to this concerto, the more I have grown to like it, and there is no doubt that Gablenz had a winning melodic gift … this is an attractive disc, well up to Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series standard (it is volume 83). The recording is fine, and the performances of both soloist and orchestra are top-notch. The highly informative booklet is full of musical and biographical detail’ (MusicWeb International)» More

‘The 20th century has been examined from multiple angles, but this week’s top album surely marks the first occasion when it has been seen from the perspective of the bassoon. Sometimes viewed as a comical instrument good for nothing but rude remarks, this long, thin creature, containing over eight feet of tubing partly doubled back on itself, is actually astonishingly versatile with a range of colours easily exceeding some paint charts. It’s especially impressive in the hands and lips of the British bassoon champion Laurence Perkins … Perkins’s partnership with the pianist Michael Hancock is especially joyous and the whole album represents the kind of triumph only possible from a small, imaginative, independent recording company’ (The Times)» More