The ensemble brings an extraordinary range and depth of sound to Beach’s closely-worked score…Ohlsson and the Takács Quartet are vividly alert to the [Elgar]’s sense of story…This is a performance every bit as imaginative and expressive as Elgar’s remarkable score, rich in contrast and daring but never overblown and always precise…This is in every respect an outstanding disc.

[Beach] Takács Quartet convey its contours with astonishing clarity. The more familiar Elgar, written a decade later, makes a first-rate coupling—and it gets, like the Beach, a first-rate reading. The sound is up to Hyperion’s usual standards. All in all, an exceptional release.

[Beach's] Piano Quintet, the most widely performed of her chamber works...is a highly developed work which should be considered part of that canon of quintets led by Schumann and Brahms...This is highly accomplished writing and reveals Beach’s true imagination as a master of instrumental form...Ohlsson and the Takács are to be congratulated for the warmth of their interpretation and for their ability to encompass the challenging range of Elgar’s complex moods.

It’s a wondrous, enduring score, vividly and emotionally conveyed in this new recording from Garrick Ohlsson (power and nuance) and the Takács Quartet (intensity and vigour) … Both versions are committed, to be indulged.

Amy Beach’s Piano Quintet of 1907 was a new discovery for me, and Ohlsson and the Takács do it proud: following a shimmering, almost Ravel-ish opening, the first movement springs into muscular, athletic life, and the substantial central Adagio boasts one of the loveliest melodies that’s come my way in a long while. Ohlsson, quite closely recorded, knows exactly when to take centre stage and when to recede, and the strings emulate the brawn of an entire section when required.

[The Beach is] a richly atmospheric work whose Brahmsian echoes are completely absorbed into its own distinctive voice. Both the Beach and the Elgar quintet...receive powerful, expressive performances from the Takacs Quartet and Garrick Ohlsson.

The Takács Quartet and pianist Garrick Ohlsson, without excess or hysterics, plumb every emotional possibility.

An outstanding disc in every way.

...this is one of the most distinguished readings of the Elgar for many years. The Takács are wise to have Garrick Ohlsson as a partner. He listens and responds with passion. The piano part requires muscular virtuosity as well as care and Ohlsson is in his element.