APR

Whatever charms and sparkles is here in super-abundance. Nothing is set in stone and it is easy to imagine the spell such playing exerted in the wealthier American salons...This is a box of... — Gramophone Magazine, April 2010More…

Fluent, unfussy and purposeful, Backhaus illuminates the music of some of his favourite composers. His playful understanding of the outer movements of Bach’s Italian Concerto and his gentle... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2021, 4 out of 5 starsMore…

Despite the swishing and hissing, her restlessly propulsive playing of Air de Ballet brings it to life. It's a relief to encounter a fuller piano sound in the later recordings, Mark Hambourg’s... — BBC Music Magazine, April 2025, 3 out of 5 starsMore…

Valerie Tryon meets all these challenges with apparent technical ease and considerable emotional intelligence. Perhaps her best playing comes in the three sets of variations. Her D minor ones... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2005, 4 out of 5 starsMore…

Igumnov founded an important tradition of Russian pianism, but he didn't record much himself, and the quality of sound on this carefully prepared disc is mainly poor. He seems to have been... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2008, 2 out of 5 starsMore…

The old and ill master-pianist sprays wrong notes about even more than usual. There's some scintillating Chopin nonetheless, and Cortot's trademark supple lyricism in Schubert's Ländler. — BBC Music Magazine, April 2011, 3 out of 5 starsMore…

You can hear how he enjoys performing Beethoven. Listen to the 'Pathétique', and it's like hearing it for the first time, and his Schumann sparkles with fresh thoughts... In a time where the... — Pianist MagazineMore…

Her playing is a revelation and shows her to be a far more charismatic player than her distant cousin Harriet Cohen...What charm and brio, what joie de vivre! If the fingers sometimes run away... — Gramophone Magazine, November 2012More…