«Le belle chaleur de timbre de Martyn Hill rehausse la sensualité de ces pages. Un miracle de beauté» (Diapason, France)

‘There is no doubting the sweep and passion, or the tenderness and intimacy, of their performance. These two outstanding musicians give an equally fine account of the earlier E minor sonata. In both works, and in some pleasing miniatures by Dvorak and Suk, they interact with the combined sensitivity and freedom of true chamber-music players’ (The Sunday Times)

‘[Isserlis's] current recording with Hough displaces all others: at last two musicians have taken this work and delivered a spontaneous stream of musical dialectic that makes perfect sense’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘An evocative performance by Isserlis and his partner Stephen Hough, which marries effusive warmth and inward eloquence’ (The Evening Standard)

‘Deeply considered, immensely satisfying accounts. Isserlis and Hough make a formidable team and I look forward to more duo sonatas’ (Gramophone)

‘You won't find a finer or more intelligent partnership than Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough to play these mainstays of the cello repertory, nor perhaps a more imaginative or generous supporting programme. This is Brahms at its best’ (The Strad)

‘Isserlis and Hough are perfectly matched here, offering poetic, tender and generous spirited music-making. Both have a distinctive luminescence of tone, enabling them to place emphasis on beauty, intimacy and phrasing that really speaks’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Mr Isserlis molds his sound with a heartbreaking delicacy. You've never heard a cellist dare to take the lyrical opening of the first sonata so quietly, or inflect it so subtly. This player can also cut loose and raise the roof when it's needed. You can't pussyfoot through a movement in Brahms, and Mr Isserlis doesn't try’ (The Dallas Morning News)

‘One of the most happily balanced chamber music discs I have auditioned in some time, this partnership between Steven Isserlis and Stephen Hough, provides some thoroughly idiomatic Brahms sonatas, played with alternate tenderness and fury, as each piece requires. Hough's piano part proves as ravishing as Isserlis' commanding cello; and in a medium in which competition abounds … that is saying something. The Adagio affetuoso of the F Major Sonata may warrant your attentions at repeated hearings…this disc, while not specifically designated SACD, packs a resonance and liquid punch competitive with the finest sound imaging. Ravishing playing from the first notes, these collaborations testify to a meeting of kindred spirits on all levels. The liner notes by Isserlis capture the tenor of the pieces with a propriety bordering on veneration’ (Audiophile Audition, USA)

‘Highly recommendable … Brahms is fortunate here’ (Gramophone)

‘The New Budapest are outstanding for the mellow warmth and refinement of their corporate sound. Hyperion's distinguished new issue was needed … this is a top recommendation for all these works’ (Classic CD)

«Le Nouveau Quatuor de Budapest est véritablement en phase avec Brahms» (Répertoire, France)