“…Performances are highly accomplished. Wallin is accurate in pitch, even in his highest range, which his part constantly visits. Andrew Manze and the Helsingborg Orchestra add good support. CPO’s sound is lifelike.”

“This young Frenchman’s recital of opéra-comique rarities is exquisitely delivered… his vocal pliancy, ringing top notes and flawless diction are best heard in the lovely Berceuse from Benjamin Godard’s opérette Jocelyn.”

Album of the Week

“…Noseda’s broad, intense unfolding of the opening adagio builds up to a shattering climax, while the lighter succeeding moments drip with the composer’s anti-militaristic parody and bitter sarcasm. The largo — with brilliantly disciplined playing from the band — evokes a shocked reaction to the horrors of war, while the finale ebbs away into an exhausted nothingness. A graphic, questioning, ultimately despairing performance.”

“… with such vivid sound, it’s arguably as satisfying a version of Monteverdi’s penultimate masterpiece as any available on disc.”

Classical Album of the Week

Performance ****      Recording *****      Programme ****      Presentation ***

“… a large range of musical styles to be enjoyed throughout, making it a well worthwhile purchase for fans of the Queensbury ensemble.”

Excellence Award

“.. High-quality playing, soul and ebullient fun are combined under their world-class direction, providing consistently stunning performances, also allied with world-class production values.”

Winner of Band CD of the Year 2018

“… Throughout these recordings, the SACD sound evinces admirable depth and perspective …” *****

“… Here we have a cross-section of music styles that should appeal to most moviegoers. Dirk Brossé is himself a composer of nearly thirty scores for films and television, as well as concert works. He knows his way around film music and elicits the best from the London Philharmonic.”  ****

****

“…These are fully committed and generally playful readings by Rachel Harris that do justice to the music’s inventiveness and melodic vitality…. This is a captivating release, providing an attractive point of entry to little-known repertoire…”  ****

“…Gábor Takács-Nagy makes it [K451] vivid and dynamic, the Manchester Camerata incisive and lyrical, complemented by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s scintillating playing, brilliant and bravura, and perfectly balanced with the ideally captured reach-out-and-touch orchestra, this K451 really speaks to the senses. So too the whimsies of K450, formalities with a flounce in the first movement, enjoyed by the performers and – with no sound barrier in the way – shared with us… As for the Piano and Wind Quintet, once again the recording preserves every note and nuance, friends making civilised conversation, mostly intimate, always intelligent, a lively and considered discourse, give and take, changes of colour and character. *****

Recording of the Week

“… the latest volume of a cycle that stands up favourably against Bernstein’s own Copland recordings, and surely ranks as one of the finest orchestral series of the past few years.”