Artistic Quality 9        Sound Quality 9

“…The sound, from the Nikodemuskirche, Berlin, is excellent, adding to the confirmed distinction of this well-managed, competently presented project.”

“… The singing is good throughout … The driving force behind the Naxos disc, and indeed the whole series, is the pianist Klaus Simon. As in Volume 1, he gives a first-class performance, which gets the best out of the singers. The recorded sound is very good… An interesting and welcome release. I look forward to further releases in the series.”

“A deeply impressive performance of a deeply moving work.”

“… This album is extremely well performed and I will definitely return to it …”

“…Established collectors will probably have multiple performances of these works in their collection. They may not have them coupled together, however, and that is a bonus, especially for those lucky youngsters coming new to these works and for whom this disc is the perfect choice. Superbly recorded and with an excellent insert note by Philip Borg-Wheeler, it carries a most convincing performance of The Planets and a revelatory one of the ‘Enigma’ Variations. Why hesitate?”

“… a disc of real musical treasures.”

“… No, Henriques’s little pieces aren’t going to set the world on fire but their modest aims and unpretentious warmth, allied to an engaging sense of character, should provide nearly 80 minutes of fun and sentiment.”

“…These excellent transcriptions are full of these kinds of detail, and you can have lots of fun comparing orchestra with piano and enjoying a skilled artist’s solutions for music with which he had a clear and abiding affection. Ivan Ilic’s performances are of course highly sensitive and appealingly lively, creating plenty of contrast but without any kind of artificial forcing of an orchestral sound from the Potton Hall Steinway D. These are concert performances of chamber music scores, and very much in scale to the realistic ambitions of both publisher and arranger.”

“Gergiev’s passion for Rachmaninov is evident in his recordings of the three symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra...The early Symphony No 1 (1895), so dismally received at its first performance, sits jubilantly and ambitiously in the Russian tradition, equally as stirring as the popular Second Symphony.”

“… The performances by Christina Bjørkøe are excellent – touching, warm, well-scaled - and she has been finely recorded too. Henriques’ pieces make few real demands on the listener but offer good material for a pianist young in spirit.”

“... Be prepared for this very fine reissue to lead you to discover more of Telemann’s music.”

Artistic Quality 8      Sound Quality 8

“…Darell Ang and the Malmö forces play with verve in all of these works, and the performances convince—even in the Pathétique Overture…”

“… Ang makes a strong case for Symphony No. 2 …”

“The First Symphony was composed in 1932 and the Second in 1934. Both works, like the brilliant Colas Breugnon and Pathétique overtures, are solidly crafted and brilliantly orchestrated. The fast movements are very virtuosic, the slow ones appealingly melodic. Darrell Ang’s conducting focuses on orchestral brilliance and rhythmic conciseness, so that we can hear a welcome program with truly exciting music.”  ****

Classical Album of the Week

“…Everything is beautifully played, and in true conversational style – for this is definitely duet music rather than cello solos accompanied by piano … “ ****

“Segerstam delivers a massive and monumental performance of Beethoven’s oratorio.”