Mark Padmore sings Beethoven, Mozart & Haydn

" highly refined recital by the ever-sensitive Mark Padmore in what appears to be a richly rewarding dialogue with the South African fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout: the tenor's sweet, heady and youthful lucidity of tone is beautifully complemented by the percussive resonance of the accompaniment. One senses two true musicians in deep harmony with each other." (Telegraph)

"In his Haydn and Mozart songs Padmore sings with an extra delicacy ... His Beethoven is stronger and more forthright, culminating in a heartfelt performance of the cycle An die ferne Geliebte. Bezuidenhout draws the maximum colour and contrast out of his fortepiano throughout." (Financial Times)

"Mark Padmore combines an acute intelligence with an unvarnished directness in all he sings. In symbiotic partnership with fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, Padmore 'lives' all of these songs, noticing everything, exaggerating nothing ... Padmore is an eager and touching storyteller ... In An Die Ferne Geliebte Padmore and Bezuidenhout catch naturally, unfussily, the oscillations between stillness and excited anticipation, dream and desire. This is a true dialogue between voice and keyboard, as it should be." (Gramophone May 2015)

"From urgent declamation to whispered despair, Padmore expresses all with directness, clarity and tonal variety. Bezuidenhout is an equal partner: engaged, lively, with a wonderful brio which never overwhelms the singer." (Observer)