Serenade for tenor, horn & strings / Nocturne (with Finzi - Dies Natalis)

" Padmore proves to be a more convincing interpreter of Finzi than he is of Britten...there remains something rather neutral and restrained about his approach at moments when the music would really benefit from a firmer grip. In Dies Natalis, though, he shows that grip - it's a wonderfully muscular performance, beautifully judged and shaded, set off by suitably rapturous string playing." The Guardian, 3rd May 2012 ***

"This is quite simply a stunning album in spectacular surround sound that should be required listening for Britten and Finzi fans, as well as converting a whole host more. Usual fantastic HM production values along with full texts provided."
(Five Stars AudAud.com)

"so tender and piercing that you really do seem to be listening to these song cycles anew...Padmore's tenor audibly sports some family resemblances [to Pears], though he's less precious than Pears, with a conversational ease when singing pianissimo never mastered by Britten's love and muse. These are intensely sensitive and poetic readings, strengthened further by Stephen Bell's clean and lyrical horn" The Times, 4th May 2012 *****

"the sense of the poems across with extra immediacy, as if Padmore has read the texts many times over before fitting them to the music. There is much beauty - not perhaps in the purely vocal sense...but in the marriage of words and music...Highly recommended."
(Gramophone Award Finalist 2012)