ICSM Records

it is the clarity of Lee’s playing that first strikes the listener. Despite the impressionistic intent of Debussy’s piano pieces, their shifting harmonies and open pedal passages need clear... — The Guardian, 8th May 2016, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Varbanov plays [the Brahms] with the firmest and most definitive touch, and not a trace of ingratiation. The rest of this interestingly-conceived CD coheres impressively, with a warm glow cast... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2015, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Varbanov lets the beauties of Brahms's First Sonata unfold gradually, but the young Brahms emerges with exuberant swagger in his account of the third movement...this CD radiates the right sort... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2015, 3 out of 5 stars More…