Somm

the finest, most technically secure singing in the recital comes from baritone Roderick Williams, whose outstanding diction in no way compromises the evenness and sustained tonal plenitude of... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2016, 4 out of 5 stars More…

The energy and abandon [Spicer] gets from his young singers is impressive, stretching the emotional canvas of these miniatures with an unexpectedly mature sound. — Gramophone Magazine, December 2013 More…

this account of the Russian’s Opus 57, composed in 1940, from Martin Cousin and the Villiers Quartet doesn’t force the pace or the emotional content, but rather lets the score speak for itself... — Classical Ear, 9th November 2016 More…

Bate acknowledges Mendelssohn as a passionate improviser whose personal style won him many friends during his ten visits to Britain; if more passion might occasionally be welcome in these performances,... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2005, 4 out of 5 stars More…

A programme of well-contrasted approaches to the notion of virtuoso transcription…Taverna is possibly at his best in the most suave and delicate numbers. The pianistic candelabra in the Strauss... — BBC Music Magazine, March 2020, 4 out of 5 stars More…

The whole disc is great fun, and there is enough good musicianship behind the arrangements and the performances to sustain interest on repeated hearings. Well-balanced recorded sound and informative,... — Fanfare, Sep/Oct 2023 More…

Lively, catchy and imaginative …The beautifully wrought Missa Brevis is a model of concise, integrated and well contrasted writing, with some inspired moments. — BBC Music Magazine, July 2020, 4 out of 5 stars More…

All told, this is another feather in the cap for the increasingly impressive Vann-Royal Hospital Chelsea partnership. — BBC Music Magazine, July 2022, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars(Recording) More…