“… Her [Yates] playing is a delight, demonstrating great understanding of both music and instrument, and the recorded sound is very fine… This is a lovely recording, highly recommended.”

“… Sophie Yates is, as ever, excellent throughout and makes a very strong case for these neglected pieces from the Fitzwilliam Collection. Her touch is wonderful and the way she adapts it to suit the differing aspects of each of the different styles presented here is magnificent. Yates also provides the introductory note to the disc as well as the brief notes on each of the pieces. Add to this the notes by Huw Saunders on the beautiful Boni Harpsichord, which itself is a part of the Fitzwilliam Collection and sounds as good as it looks, and the usual Chandos sound quality, and this disc is a real winner.”

“…This is then an unusual and cleverly planned recital. It throws light on a little known repertoire. It is elegantly and exquisitely played, and beautifully recorded.”

“… The Fitzwilliam connection is clinched by Yate’s use of the Museum’s early 17^th-century Tuscan harpsichord by Boni, a crisp, full-throated and deep-coloured beauty. Her playing is strong-fingered, buoyant and well-paced … this is an unusual and well-conceived programme, appealingly performed.”

Performance ****      Recording ****

“… It has been rightly said that virginals music can be played on any instrument that happens to be handy, though of course some pieces are better suited to one instrument than to another. Yates has chosen a single-manual Italian harpsichord, dating from the first half of the 17^th century and housed in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. She has chosen well, for its distinctive sound beautifully assists the linear clarity of the music, especially rewarding in the pieces by Peter Phillips and Domenico Zipoli, as well as preserving something of the characteristic warmth of virginals. All-in-all this is a fascinating musical journey, clearly and elegantly signposted by Yates’s accompanying notes …”