[Bostridge] has surely done nothing finer than this immaculately recorded new release. He is superbly partnered by Antonio Pappano, whose balancing of textures and beauty of touch sometimes surpass - dare it be said? - Britten's own recordings...an essential addition to the Britten discography.

an intoxicating contribution to the composer’s centenary.

besides his usual intelligence and personality, Bostridge has acquired a richness of timbre that, combined with his control of vibrato, is invaluable in the Six Hölderlin Fragments...[Songs from the Chinese] becomes an unexpected highlight.

[in Winter Words] the singer seizes every opportunity the words offer for brilliant characterization...Such fine attentional is characteristic of the entire recital...Yang is, like Pappano, no mere accompanist but an admirable partner to Bostridge...as a contribution to the Britten centenary this indispensable disc may conceivably be equalled - but it will certainly not be bettered.

The combination of Bostridge and Pappano is nigh-on ideal [in the Michelangelo songs], with Pappano’s big-boned, virile pianism providing the perfect foil for Bostridge’s distinctive plangency...The other cycles on the disc are equally rewarding.

the English tenor has brought special qualities to Britten on disc: his cut-glass diction and an individuality of timbre that echoes the singer for whom the composer wrote most of his songs, his life partner, Peter Pears, without remotely resembling him...here he proves as compelling as this music’s creator

all of these are very fine performances, which at least match and in some cases better Pears's own recordings with Britten. Bostridge and Antonio Pappano define the sharply different characters of the three great cycles here quite superbly.