LISZT
New Discoveries Leslie Howard (piano) [ Hyperion Complete Liszt Edition / CD - released 1/Feb/2011 ] 'Liszt at his most unpretentious, fresh and direct … Howard is here at his warmest, bringing out how Liszt's genius developed' (The Guardian) |
GERSHWIN / ROSSINI / REGER / LISZT / RACHMANINOV / etc
Rare Piano Encores Leslie Howard (piano) [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 7/Aug/2004 ] 'A delightful collection, beautifully played' - BBC World Service |
TRADITIONAL
Land of Heart's Desire (Songs of the Hebrides from the collection by Marjory Kennedy-Fraser) Lisa Milne (soprano) / Sioned Williams (harp) [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 1/Dec/2005 ] 'A treasure house of gems . . . This is as fine a solo debut album as I have encountered all year and deserves a cult following. It will come near the top of my Christmas list' - The Sunday Times |
LUIGI BOCCHERINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Boccherini: Six Symphonies Op 35 London Festival Orchestra, Ross Pople (conductor) [ Hyperion / CD - released 5/Mar/1995 ] 'The LFO's stylish account … sparkles with spirit and rings with beauty' (Romford Recorder) |
JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: String Quartets Op 64 The London Haydn Quartet [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 2/Nov/2018 ] "The London Haydn Quartet's chronological survey of the composer's quartets is nearing its completion: the most civilised music, delivered with immaculate technique, urbane humanity and perfect period manners." Sunday Times |
JOSEF HAYDN
String Quartets, Op. 17 (2 CDs) The London Haydn Quartet [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 20/Jun/2009 ] The quartets are performed here on period instruments by the dazzling London Haydn Quartet, whose disc of the Op 9 quartets drew the most extravagant praise from the critics. Their second disc has been eagerly awaited, and comes as part of Hyperion's... |
JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: String Quartets Op 20 'Sun' (2 CDs) The London Haydn Quartet [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 10/Oct/2011 ] Gramophone Magazine: Editor's Choice - Awards Issue 2011 - "their performances often seem strikingly austere, and will not be to all tastes; they sometimes have a rawness that harks back to the early hair-shirt days of the period-instrument... |
JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: String Quartets Op 50 'Prussian' The London Haydn Quartet [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 15/Feb/2016 ] The London Haydn Quartet turns to the six Op 50 quartets. More serious-intellectually taut-than the Op 33 'Russian' quartets which they follow in Haydn's output, these six 'Prussian' quartets dazzle in such committed performances as these. |
JOSEF HAYDN
String Quartets Op 9 (2 CDs) The London Haydn Quartet [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 2/Nov/2007 ] 'Without a doubt one of the all-time great Haydn quartet recordings … The original instrument London Haydn Quartet play Op 9 with such deep feeling, dynamic subtlety and phrasal sensitivity that even the simplest of ideas become things of wonder.... |
JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: String Quartets Opp 54 & 55 [performed from the 1789 London edition] The London Haydn Quartet [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 27/Jan/2017 ] "I never thought that a HIP (historically-informed performance) quartet such as the London Haydn Quartet would ascend to the level of the greatest quartet of our generation" AudAud Best of the Year 2017 |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Sacred Treasures of Spain The London Oratory Schola Cantorum / Charles Cole (cond) [ Hyperion / CD - released 30/Oct/2020 ] Music to illustrate the Golden Age: a selection of motets from sixteenth-century Spain culminating in Alonso Lobo's great funerary ode for Philip II, Versa est in luctum. |
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Debussy: Songs 4 Lucy Crowe (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano) with Jennifer France (soprano) & Christopher Maltman (baritone) [ Hyperion / CD - released 2/Mar/2018 ] "In wonderful voice throughout, Crowe very much makes this repertory her own. Ascents into the stratospheres are all beautifully and securely accomplished, and those long melismas are tautly controlled and always expressive, never vacuous" Gramophone |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV232 Lydia Teuscher, Ida Falk Winland, Tim Mead, Samuel Boden, Neal Davies / Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 10/Jul/2015 ] "Cohen's rejection of the generic, within a grand and ravishing overview, is what propels an overwhelming sense here that this reading deserves to be taken very seriously...The work infrequently speaks with such gracefulness, freedom or conviction." |
J. S. BACH
Bach: The Toccatas Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord) [ Hyperion / CD - released 2/Aug/2019 ] "Esfahani, who explains their complex history in a detailed essay, has made his own new performing edition and reveals these familiar pieces to have mysteries we may never have suspected." The Observer |
ALEXANDER MacKENZIE
Mackenzie: Violin Concerto / Pibroch Suite Malcolm Stewart (violin) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Vernon Handely, conductor / David Davies, conductor [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 20/Jun/2009 ] 'Stewart is the real red-blooded article, with a big sound and a bow that travels across the strings so fast that it must look like a blur in the concert hall. But not a single note is blurred or slighted here' - Fanfare, USA |
SAMUIL FEINBERG
Feinberg: Piano Sonatas Nos 1-6 Marc-André Hamelin (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 28/Feb/2020 ] "The more notes per second (Feinberg is up there with the notiest of them) the more the Canadian virtuoso is in his element. Hamelin does far more than tame these pianistic leviathans. He gives them momentum, character and individuality" Gramophone |
ALKAN
Symphony for solo piano Marc Andre-Hamelin (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 22/Jun/2001 ] This spectacularly virtuosic follow-up to Hamelin's first Hyperion recording |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: The Piano Quartets Marc-Andre Hamelin (piano) / Leopold String Trio [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 12/Dec/2006 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1851-1900) - 'A delight from start to finish: this is such cultivated and characterized playing, which becomes quite exultant in the finale. It's also beautifully recorded by Hyperion. Given... |
MORTON FELDMAN
Feldman: For Bunita Marcus Marc-André Hamelin (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 28/Jul/2017 ] "Hyperion has matched an ideal sound to a first-rate performance (and liner notes) by Marc Andre-Hamelin." AudAud Best of the year 2017 |
FRANZ LISZT / SIGISMOND THALBERG
Liszt & Thalberg: Opera transcriptions & fantasies Marc-André Hamelin (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 28/Aug/2020 ] "The execution is so incredibly neat and well ordered, and yet sounds completely spontaneous, like an inspired improvisation…This is a master pianist at the height of his powers" Gramophone Editor's Choice Oct 2020 |