SACD, Debussy (composer)

Both La boîte à joujoux and the similarly enchanting Children’s Corner are performed with deft panache by this quality orchestra, whose subtly shaded tone and style sound much more like those... — BBC Music Magazine, May 2022, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Think of La belle époque and I’m not sure Johannes Brahms necessarily springs to mind...Wauwe plays the sonata/concerto well though, her chalumeau register suitably juicy, and she floats the... — Gramophone Magazine, November 2019 More…

Denève still summons a sensuous bloom in the Prélude, and thanks to his influence, the RSNO proves better than the French at their own game: these are among the most seductive Debussy performances... — Financial Times, 9th June 2012, 4 out of 5 stars More…

The four canonical pieces need no puffs from me and, like everything else on the disc, are played superbly...Ogawa is both self-effacing when required, and unfailingly prompt and sympathetic... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2021 More…

Harp recitals are almost bound to be appealing, such is the instrument’s seductiveness, but this one has substance, too. — Sunday Times, 20th September 2015 More…

Rysanov has previously demonstrated that there is far more to the instrument than Romantic brooding, but this disc finds him exploring that cliche...and the playing is utterly sublime, especially... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2013, 4 out of 5 stars More…

A delightful and thoughtful debut disc from the Orsino Ensemble...Supplemented by Pavel Kolesnikov’s insightful pianism, the Orsinos draw on its core quintet of leading wind players. The entire... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2021, 5 out of 5 stars More…

The textural smoothness works well in the outer Nocturnes (especially in “Sirènes,” where the Philharmonic Chamber Choir of Europe shares the same silkiness), while the central “Fétes” lacks... — Fanfare, January/February 2020 More…

Tailleferre’s String Quartet may not measure up to its companions here in quality, but even so it’s interesting to hear how, at the end of World War I, she was absorbing Satie’s influence…Its... — BBC Music Magazine, August 2019, 4 out of 5 stars More…

If IKEA were to make a cello, this would be it…Sow how does it sound? In Steven Isserlis’s hands, remarkably fine – though he only uses it for a handful of evocative miniatures…On Isserlis’s... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2018, 5 out of 5 stars More…