First Hand

[Baines] shows us that familiar tunes being reduced to nubs or slots and then brought back to life by an artist can turn into gorgeous confections...Baines and Amyas brilliantly evoke the character... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2021, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Asako Ogawa explores the rich variety of styles [of 'The Harmonious Blacksmith') with rhythmic suppleness and a lively feeling for characterisation. — BBC Music Magazine, September 2023, 5 out of 5 stars More…

The arc of the title spans three albums, tracing a journey of before, during and after the two world wars. Here, in the second of the trio, we are at the peak – or more accurately down in the... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2023, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Kentner’s playing...is very strongly characterized. His tone is lucent, but with slowish tempi, allowing the music to unfold spaciously, the effect is of a dark lucidity...A souvenir of a conductor... — MusicWeb International, August 2012 More…

[Boult] sees the Second Symphony as a "bright and dramatic" work, and that's how he conducts it, with fast tempi in the outer movements...However, the middle movements, none of them rushed,... — Gramophone Magazine, January 2011 More…