‘British Solo Cello Music brings together works by Benjamin Britten, William Walton, John Gardner, Frank Merrick and Thomas Adès. Many have personal connections with Isserlis, recounted in a liner note full enough to act as a social history of 20th-century cello music … Isserlis brings all his intelligence and passion to this impassioned music [the Britten Cello Suite] but offers other moods too’ (The Guardian)» More

‘There is huge entertainment value in this sparkling CD … outstanding’ (Choir & Organ)» More

‘The five voices of Cinquecento are as immaculate as ever, their full sound and flawless intonation leaving a hint of almost organ-like harmonic richness at times, and the spaciousness of the recording suits them and the music really well. It’s fourteen years since they last brought us music by this under-appreciated Renaissance composer—after all, if Lassus rated him he was probably pretty good—and this is beautiful music’ (BBC Record Review)

‘Overall, what leaps out is the sheer quality, consistency and stylishness of Janine Jansen’s playing. She conjures up the mood of each piece with seemingly effortless and flawless technique … Pappano is a sensitive partner, bending the pulse of the music to respond to Jansen’s organic rubato’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘It’s almost a commonplace to remark upon Shelley’s unstinting advocacy of all‑but-forgotten and sometimes rather inconsequential music. That’s to do Benda a disservice, however … where these works really score … is in the slow movements, which have a richness and personality not often associated with the transitional music of the mid-18th century. These thus become the expressive fulcrum of each work; that of the F minor Concerto in particular deploys muted strings and a singing solo line to go to emotional places one might not have expected’ (Gramophone)

«Steven Isserlis, comme tout le monde, s’est retrouvé à l’arrêt au début du printemps 2020. Le violoncelle solo fut une planche de salut : il se remit à travailler une grande Suite que Frank Merrick (1886-1981) lui avait donnée en mains propres. Notre jeune virtuose avait alors dix-sept ans et s’était pris d’affection pour ce pianiste qui futl’élève de Leschetizky et débuta sous la baguette de Hans Richter … Britten est également au programme avec deux partitions taillées pour Rostropovich : le vigoureux Thema qu’il écrivit en 1976, déjà très affaibli, pour le soixante-dixième anniversaire de Sacher, et l’importante Suite no 3 (1971), ici défendue avec passion et engagement … On en ressort avec Sola (2000), piécette très prenante écrite par Thomas Adès … Toute une époque» (Diapason, France)» More

‘As ever with Isserlis, his conversational booklet notes, with their plethora of personal anecdotes and musicological musings, are an integral part of the pleasure … Walton’s Theme for a Prince, composed in 1969 for Prince Charles’s 21st birthday, rarely gets a recorded outing, yet its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 16 bars come with a spacious, lyrical beauty from Isserlis that’s been stopping me in my tracks on each fresh hearing. Or there’s Isserlis’s postscripting of Britten’s dark Third Cello Suite—a multi-hued reading of immense beauty that rings with the impression of emotional authenticity—with four traditional Russian themes Britten borrowed for it … perhaps what I value most about this programme, though, is the supple, lyric beauty Isserlis draws from his 1726 ‘Marquis de Corberon’ Stradivarius at every turn, and particularly in the Britten Suite. We critics often relish it when an artist isn’t afraid of a bit of ugly in the pursuit of making a searing point. Yet Isserlis reminds us that it’s possible to bring tonal beauty to even the most pained musical expression without pulling any emotional punches’ (Gramophone)

‘The Four Pieces for cello and piano … are played with great warmth and variety of registral shading by Adrian Brendel … the surprise is the String Quartet No 2, a concentrated, varied work that best shows off the Nash players’ individual skills and collective empathy—and one written by Bruch at the grand old age of 22’ (The Strad)

‘Taking their cue from Stephanie Gonley’s first-violin leadership, the Trio and Quartet performances have a classy verve that convinces strongly … Adrian Brendel and Lawrence Power excel in the Romance and Four Pieces, as does Simon Crawford-Phillips’s accompanying—strongly characterful, while not looking to dominate—in both works and in the Piano Trio’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Hough’s playing is of an enviable freedom and flexibility, his shot-silk pianism endlessly blossoming with colour and nuance … few pianists can approach him as a master of finesse, and he is presented in sumptuous sound’ (International Piano)» More

«Le jeu d’Angela Hewitt, tout en finesse, riche en couleurs, à la fois limpide et brillant, est l’un des plus éloquents de notre temps ; on la retrouve toujours avec un réel bonheur d’écoute. C’est encore le cas dans ce panorama de transcriptions qui met en évidence le monde du sentiment amoureux par le biais de morceaux choisis avec beaucoup de soin et dont le programme est d’une parfaite cohérence. Détailler ici les vingt-trois plages d’un disque qui allie le charme à la profondeur de l’expressivité et au dépouillement de l’âme serait une gageure. Le mélomane aura en tout cas grand profit à découvrir, au fil des pièces sélectionnées par Angela Hewitt, toute l’essence de la rédaction de sa notice, claire, érudite sans être pédante, et surtout révélatrice du contenu secret de chacune d’entre elles, les textes des lieder étant reproduits lorsque c’est nécessaire, offrant ainsi un parcours qui parle autant au cœur qu’à l’intelligence» (Crescendo Magazine, Belgium)

‘It hardly needs saying that Christopher Herrick’s recital is superb. The ideal sound gives the impression of ‘being there’. The liner notes give all the information required for an intelligent appreciation of this repertoire … this is a well thought out recital, with lots of new discoveries (at least for me) and not a few ‘old favourites’’ (MusicWeb International)» More