“Joseph Haydn and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet: all-round geniuses. Special listening abounds in Volume Seven of Bavouzet’s Chandos series devoted to this wonderful and innovative composer’s keyboard Sonatas, each movement bringing a feast of design and invention, surprises galore, Haydn an ideas man who takes them on a journey of subtle, sly and, sometimes, downright fanciful twists and turns; even the simplest gestures have a magic to them…” *****

“… These Toronto performances are consistently fine … In the wonderful oboe Concerto, Sarah Jeffrey is more than immaculate: her musicianship is very fine …” *****

“A very impressive traversal of the Second Symphony.”

“… All in all, this is a very good release.”

“…These are satisfying, insightful accounts of Mendelssohn’s Ossian-inspired masterpieces. It’s not a competition at the end of the day and there are many other fine accounts of these works. What matters is that Widmann certainly has something to say about them and these accounts deserve to be heard on their own terms. Throughout, he favours a chamber-like approach which ultimately illuminates the finer details of Mendelssohn’s masterly orchestration. The playing of the Irish Chamber Orchestra is first-class and the recording is spacious and elegantly balanced. Prospective purchasers should not be put off by the inclusion of Widmann’s own youthful confections. Both are attractive, unusual and brief, and provide an invigorating contrast to the Mendelssohn works.”

“…For me, this new offering from The Brook Street Band – as intoxicating and spirited as it is sensitive and feeling – will now be the new benchmark for others to aspire to. For no sooner had I started to play the CD, but through the imagined wonders of time-travel I felt as if I was there right in the front row along with the other members of an eighteenth-century audience, sitting back and enjoying what Handel’s Violin Sonatas really – or probably - sounded like at the time. With Paul Marc Mitchell’s simple, yet remarkably eye-catching, cover art-work, this is altogether a superb new CD release – whichever way you look at it. “

“… A very short disc of attractive and thoughtful music, magnificently performed.”

“… A clear record of the year.”

“Three powerful works from the Concertgebouw composer-in-residence, superbly performed and recorded.”

Recording of the Month

“… this is a masterly rendering of the main work, Falstaff … Sir Andrew Davis exceeds oven his own high standards in moulding this most subtle and complex of scores to perfection… The rest of the SACD is a very satisfying find… Roderick Williams is at his magnificent best here …”      Dave Billinge – February 2018

“… The playing is warm, refined and responsive throughout as expected… Williams is a distinguished artist with an impressive baritone voice which he deploys with both subtlety and power, when and as requires. He characterises the songs superbly. It is hard to imagine them better done.”   Rob W McKenzie – 21 June 2018

“… A very fine and enjoyable experience to listen to this well planned collection of British sacred music …”

“… An interesting musical exploration that is both compelling and satisfying.”

“…An excellent disc of rare Schumann, with wonderful performances by all those involved.”

“… The acoustic (of the Chapelle Royale at Versailles itself - during two two public concerts… there is no audience noise, though) is warm, rich and yet suitably sombre. It reflects the seriousness of this music. The CD comes with a booklet providing background to the world of late C17th Versailles, de Lalande’s compositions; the full texts in Latin, English and French; and - at the front of the nicely-produced and designed 48-page booklet - pictures and performers’ lists of Ensemble Aedes, Le Poème Harmonique, Dumestre (responsible for the essays) and Romano (their respective directors) and soloists. If de Lalande is little more than a name to you, this CD is a great place to start exploring his vivid and bracing music. If you are already ‘hooked’ you will want to add this to your collection - and by no means just because it appears to be the only CD containing these works which is available. It’s a significant gem.”

“…Two fine works, extremely well performed and recorded.”