'Dass Valery Gergiev mehr als andere Dirigenten aus der Strauss-Oper Elektra einen musikalischen Hexenkessel machen würde, war vorauszusehen: Das tragische Drama mit seinen Leidenschaften, seinen Grausamkeiten und seinem ganzen Grauen ist bei ihm in kochenden Händen. Wie kein anderer arbeitet er die Kontraste und Dissonanzen heraus und entzündet im Orchester eine Klangexplosion von ekstatischer Gewalt' (Pizzicato, Luxembourg)

'Valery Gergiev was clearly born to conduct Elektra, and not just because of his trademark animal energy. Whatever the technical complexity behind the score, Gergiev has the LSO sailing through metre- and key-changes with almost effortless fluidity, and Strauss’s dramaturgical acumen has never seemed clearer' (Gramophone)

„Das Klavierquartett des 21-jährigen Strauss ist ein dankbareres Stück für das Nash Ensemble, das ungeheuer viel Energie in dieses Stück einbringt, in dem der Komponist für sich selber einen besonders brillanten Klavierpart schrieb, den Ian Brown hoch virtuos spielt“ (Pizzicato, Luxembourg)

‘The Nash members are really under the skin of Strauss’s music and bring out desperation and beauty in equal measure … with recorded sound that puts the listener in the middle of the action without intimidation—how well the piano is balanced with the string trio – and scholarly notes from Michael Kennedy, this is a quite superb issue’ (Classical Source)

‘This is one of the most delicious discs to come out of the Hyperion stable … [Metamorphosen] Each line shines anew here, each crushing harmony showing Strauss pishing at the barriers of tonality with effervescent gusto. This performance is breathtaking, with The Nash Ensemble understanding direction and phrasing, interlocking Strauss's ideas seamlessly’ (HMV Choice)

‘There's certainly every reason to hear this glorious and desperately sorrowful lament for a lost civilisation … in this version, especially when it's as beautifully played as by the Nash Ensemble members represented here’ (Manchester Evening News)

‘I am lost in admiration at The Nash Ensemble's achievement here in capturing the music's noble intensity with an emotional flexibility and glowing textural fluidity denied even Karajan's sensational Berlin players at their most refulgent. Captured in immaculately balanced, velvety sound by producer Andrew Keener and engineer David Hinitt, this is a performance that gets right to the heart of this glorious score, tantalizingly retaining its chamber-scale purity even when Strauss is at his most super-heated. There are magic moments galore along the way, but to hear Marianne Thorsen and her fabulous team soar aloft with the pulsating phrases the briefly resolve at 16'48" is an unforgettable experience … there's also an exemplary booklet note by Strauss scholar Michael Kennedy. Highly recommended’ (International Record Review)

‘The Nash's performance, angry and grieving, is faultless [Metamorphosen] … The real treat here is the Piano Quartet, dating from 1885, when Strauss, then aged 21, still considered himself a Brahmsian … the best of it anticipates the chamber-oriented scoring of such later works as Ariadne auf Naxos and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. The over-dominant piano part—Strauss wrote it as a showpiece for himself—is played with tremendous panache by Ian Brown’ (The Guardian)

‘[Piano Quartet] An enjoyable piece … expansively dramatic and genuinely expressive with that touch of spontaneity which signals Strauss at his best’ (Gramophone)

‘This captivating disc from the Nash Ensemble features music from both ends of Richard Strauss's long and productive life. The Piano Quartet in C minor … is a remarkable piece … The Nash players certainly give it their all and make one wonder why it's not better known. More familiar is Strauss's great late lament Metamorphosen, but it is played here in a realisation of his original draft for seven strings rather than the 23 he eventually settled upon. With a performance as searing as this, it makes just as much of a mark as the better-established "orchestral" version—the textures sound just as full, yet the intertwining lines emerge with greater focus and the whole is underlined by the tonal solidity of Duncan McTier's double bass. An equally seductive account of the string sextet Prelude to Capriccio completes the programme’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘The music's autumnal soulfulness suits the Nash Ensemble's house style to near-perfection … the same classy artistry shines through their performances of the string sextet prelude to Strauss's last opera Capriccio, and of the much earlier Piano Quartet— Brahms and Schumann-influenced and very attractive’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Reducing the string size of Strauss's Metamorphosen from 23 to the seven of the composer's short score … might seem to be going light on the tragic force of this great wartime elegy. Not so in the hands of The Nash Ensemble. If anything Strauss's most private moments of grief have even more eloquence … the recap almost breaks the heart in its restored purity of expression [Prelude to Capriccio] … truthful recording does full justice to the warmth, poise and integration of these marvellous performances’ (BBC Music Magazine)