‘The Florestans make everything sound gloriously inevitable … the attractions of this immaculately balanced recording become well-nigh irresistible’ (International Record Review)

‘Clear the decks for paradise … the Florestans currently have the best all-round perspective on this singularly lovable work. A terrific recording is no hindrance either’ (The Times)

‘A true veteran of song, with decades of experience to inform this performance. Gravitas is barely an apt word to describe his vocal resources … Holl causes each song to sound like it is coming from the very depths of the earth … immeasurably aided by the sensitive accompaniments of Roger Vignoles’ (Classics Today)

‘Holl makes a case … the words mean something to him, and he is desirous of presenting that meaning to us with every vocal nuance he can come up with … Roger Vignoles (maybe today's best accompanist going) plays with a clarity and feeling that knows when to assert itself and when to recede … definitely worth a hearing’ (Audiophile Audition, USA)

‘Holl has his ample voice under superb control … his enunciation is exemplary. The piano parts—they are far more than just 'accompaniments'—are beautifully judged by Vignoles, who has the measure of each of the songs in turn. He is the master of delicate dynamic shadings and full-blooded climaxes, skilfully creating atmosphere … singer and pianist are as one … as usual with Hyperion, one can count on fine, well-balanced and spacious recorded sound. Likewise the booklet and its contents are excellent, with a long, detailed and sensitive essay by Vignoles on the individual songs’ (International Record Review)

‘Robert Holl has established a top career  … he has a penetrating, powerful voice and a direct, unsentimental approach … there's some lively accompanying from Vignoles’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Holl feels and communicates superbly and can be awesomely delicate. In this recital of songs from Schubert's last year, the stark Heine settings emerge with heart-wrenching power’ (The Times)

‘The Takács pace the argument superbly, so that everything in this huge, complex structure seems to happen at exactly the right time’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Schubert's String Quintet is magnificent throughout, but it is the slow movement that makes it sublime. The Takács reading … is superbly sensitive to the subtle, almost imperceptible shifts of mood within its unfolding serenity. The album is completed by a vigorously engaging account of the unorthodox single quartet movement in C minor’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘The Takács' return to Schubert, with a performance of what is arguably the greatest of all his chamber works, has been well worth the wait, for though the CD catalogue already includes a number of treasurable versions of the C major Quintet from all epochs of recording history, there is always room for one that shows the typical Takács virtues of insight and intelligence, combined with an almost supernatural unity of musical purpose … a formidably satisfying performance’ (The Guardian)

‘A Schubert quintet from arguably the greatest string quartet before the public today will have been long awaited … the recording—wonderfully vivid and 'present'—is all that one expects from the producer, Andrew Keener, and the quality of the playing and musical insights is superlative … the sonorities the Takács players and Kirshbaum bring to this great music are quasi-orchestral, but they convey the intimate pages of the score in a manner that is both soul-baring and deeply moving. The famous Quartet Movement from an unfinished work in C minor has rarely been delivered with such febrile intensity’ (The Sunday Times)

‘The String Quintet typifies Schubert's late style at its most profound. Composed in the year of his death (he was unbelievably still only 31), it is difficult to associate music of such awesome harmonic boldness and innovation with someone who, in the last throes of syphillis, had just over a month to live. The Raphael Ensemble, led by Anthony Marwood, plays with an engaging freshness, simplicity and purity, tantalisingly suggesting that this was after all the work of a young man with plenty still to live for. It's a captivating reading that will blow away any Schubertian cobwebs and have one falling in love with this masterwork all over again’ (Classic FM Magazine)