Penguin Rosettes, Romantic (era)

If Saint-Saëns's idiom once answered – and maybe still does – to qualities fundamental to the French musical character, it must be said straight away that Hough sounds the complete insider.... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010More…

Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra have come up with a recording that you can cheerfully measure against most others in the catalogue, before you consider its unique extra charms! — John Armstrong, bbc.co.uk, 20th November 2002More…

A real meeting of minds, these CDs capture perfectly the insight and poetry that de Larrocha brings to this quintessentially Hispanic music, and Decca's warm but not oppressively close recording... — BBC Music Magazine, August 2008, 5 out of 5 starsMore…

There have been a number of outstanding recordings of the Dvorák Concerto since this DG record was made, but none to match it for the warmth of lyrical feeling, the sheer strength of personality... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010More…

The Gramophone Good CD Guide awarded this its highest accolade, denoting "an unrivalled version, a cornerstone of the catalogue", adding that "this is surely the greatest, certainly the richest... — Gramophone Magazine, October 2007More…

faster, fiercer, yet more freely expressive than his 1990 version. — Classic FM Magazine, February 2012More…

Sumptuous of tone, supremely sensitive, Crespin was born to illuminate the art of French song. Whether floating the seductive allure of Ravel or revelling in the wit of Poulenc these recordings... — BBC Music Magazine, November 2006, 5 out of 5 starsMore…

Songs of the Sea - which includes the long-popular 'Drake's Drum' and 'The Old Superb' - and the later, texturally richer and more thoughtful Songs of the Fleet are superb baritone vehicles... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2006, 4 out of 5 starsMore…

Mordkovitch here transformed the elusive Elgar Violin Sonata. In rapt and concentrated playing she gives it new mystery, with the subtlest pointing and shading down to whispered pianissimos. — Penguin Guide, 2011 editionMore…