Poltera meets [the Concerto's] technical demands with almost complete ease, and projects the more lyrical moments with subtle inflections of line and beautifully centred tone...Poltera and pianist Kathryn Stott bring out [the Sonata's] Brahmsian ardour and its contrasts between tranquillity and restlessness.

There are three hits here on one CD...[Poltera] is outstanding and invariably well-supported by the Bergen players under Litton. His high positions are effortless, as are the nasty double thirds...Poltera's duet with the oboe in the slow movement is magical...A feature of Litton's Adagio is the way it creeps in fat the start from nothing. Then it's all beautifully paced, spacious and warm. Recorded quality throughout is top-drawer in a truly winning CD.

Christian Poltéra is ideally suited to this music, not least because he obtains a gloriously rich and full tone from his 1675 Guarnerius cello. Kathryn Stott, faced with a very full piano part, matches the ardour of his playing...[in the Concerto] Poltéra is a highly persuasive soloist and the accompaniment from Litton and his orchestra is first rate.

The Zurich-born cellist champions — with masterly elan — the unjustly neglected concerto by the American composer...With the pianist Kathryn Stott, Poltera gives us the ideal coupling...and Litton’s excellent Bergen players round off this outstanding disc with an encore in the form of the Adagio for Strings.

as Christian Poltéra's fierce, theatrical performance demonstrates, [the Concerto is] a ruggedly impressive achievement in its own right...And while we don't need another recording of Barber's Adagio for Strings, Andrew Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic's is wonderfully refined.