Isabelle Faust

“Few collections of Satie's music have captured this much misunderstood, multi-faceted composer remotely as well as this marvellous two-disc set from Alexandre Tharaud. His approach is more intelligent than the usual anodyne offerings… Tharaud is able to make the leaps from visionary to flippant, sublimely beautiful to downright silly with ease, but it is his willingness to take risks that really impresses… it is hard to think of a better introduction to Satie's music than this truly enjoyable collection.” BBC Music Magazine

“Few collections of Satie's music have captured this much misunderstood, multi-faceted composer remotely as well as this marvellous two-disc set from Alexandre Tharaud. Tharaud is able to make the leaps from visionary to flippant, sublimely beautiful to downright silly with ease and his willingness to take risks really impresses.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2009 *****

“It's carefully planned and never dull, largely thanks to Tharaud's exquisite keyboard shading.” The Guardian, 6th February 2009 ****

“The popular first Gymnopédie and Gnossienne are here, beautifully played by Tharaud. Real interest lies in the second disc, with a mix of duets for piano with violin, voice, trumpet, plus veteran chanteuse Juliette, in "Chez le docteur", celebrating intestines, liver, kidney and spleen in sardonic chanson. All highly visceral.” The Observer, 1st March 2009

“The whole performance [of the horn trio] has a lightness of touch and an athletic exuberance that are totally convincing.” Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 22nd August 2008 ****

“It's a superb version of the piece by any standard, the slow movements absolutely saturated in intense Romantic melancholy but fleet and agile in scherzo and finale. Faust and Melnikov and scarcely less revelatory in the G major Violin Sonata… Very generous in terms of its duration, this is a disc where one truly feels every note has been given the space to make its effect.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2008 *****

“Teunis van der Zwart used a natural horn from Lorenz built in 1845. He is an astonishingly accomplished and musical player, and he has a superb supporting team.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2008

“This is a unique performance [of the Horn Trio] and the result is a triumph, with 'stopped' notes adding to the range of colour, as the composer intended.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“The song-variations at the heart of the Fantaisie put on a good show of polite drawing-room charm, but the strange tremolando introduction strays close to a very late-Schubertian emotional cliff-edge. Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov are particularly successful in that strange, haunting opening.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2006 ****

“In nearly every respect this is outstanding. The Rondo and the Fantasie, both written for the virtuoso duo of Karl von Bocklet and Josef Slawik, can sound as if Schubert were striving for a brilliant, flashy style, foreign to his nature.
Both are in places uncomfortable to play (when first published, the Fantasie's violin part was simplified), but you would never guess this from Faust's and Melnikov's performance; they both nonchalantly toss off any problem passages as though child's play.
The Fantasie's finale and the Rondo are irresistibly lively and spirited, and this duo's technical finesse extends to more poetic episodes – Melnikov's tremolo at the start of the Fantasie shimmers delicately, while the filigree passagework in the last of the variations that form the Fantasie's centrepiece have a delightful poise and sense of ease.
The Sonata's more intimate style is captured just as convincingly; in all three performances Faust and Melnikov observe Schubert's often very detailed, careful expression marks, not as a matter of duty, but as a stimulus to the imagination, as a way of entering more deeply into the music.
The one slight reservation concerns Isabelle Faust's manner of expression. She makes the most of any passionate phrases and is equally convincing at cool, mysterious or dreamlike moments.
But the lyrical phrases in the Rondo's introduction surely demand a more heartfelt utterance.
In the Sonata, too, there are places where one longs for more warmth. This quibble aside, it's a lovely disc, one to listen to over and over again.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The Fantasie's finale and the Rondo are irresistibly lively and scripted, and this duo's technical finesses extends to more poetic episodes - Melnikov's tremolo at the start of the Fantasie shimmers delicately, while the filigree passagework in the last of the variations that form the Fantasie's centrepiece have a delightful poise and sense of ease.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006

“Alexander Melnikov's bright, at times almost puckish, piano playing is perfectly matched by the violinist Isabel Faust. She is one of the few violinists who virtually always hits the note dead-centre, and her rapport with Melnikov is clear.” Rob Cowan, The Independent

“The accompanying performance of the Dumky Trio is completely captivating; indeed their rendition of the four middle movements is among the finest available” BBC Music Magazine

“what really makes this disc a winner is a thoroughly exciting reading of the Dumky Trio… There's a clarity and intelligence in this performance that puts it up with the very best.” The Independent on Sunday (Outstanding)

“Faust's exultant solo playing, magnificently matched by the orchestra, is hugely infectious; in short, a performance to treasure and one very close to the head of the field.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2004

“In the past two years appealing new recordings have been issued, although the most recent, with Isabelle Faust in a magnificent ensemble performance with Jirí Belohlávek and the Prague Philharmonia, is far the best” Gramophone Magazine

“Isabelle Faust is a lyrical soloist, and also finds plenty of energy to convey the rhythmic play of the finale. The other concertante work here is for piano, and Cédric Tiberghien is receptive to its neo-Baroque sensibility. The Prague Philharmonia under Jirí Belohlávek provides idiomatic support, and the strings shine in the one other work here, the short Serenáda No 2 from Martinu's playful Paris years.” The Telegraph, 7th June 2008

“Martinu's Second Violin Concerto is one of his greatest works in the genre. From her very first entry, Isabelle Faust shows a strong feeling for the work's dramatic ebb and flow, and in the supremely beautiful slow movement achieves heights of eloquence. Belohlávek provides magnificently flexible accompaniment and a clear vision of the work's broadly developed structure.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 *****

“… this brilliant new account of the Second Concerto (1943), played with verve and a real feeling for the idiom by Isabelle Faust. … her sweet, precise tones allows Martinu's angular lyricism… open out for maximum appeal.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2008

“Hot on the heels of Hyperion's series of Martinu's works for violin and orchestra (see above) comes this brilliant new account of the Second Concerto (1943), played with verve and a real feeling for the idiom by Isabelle Faust.
What a fine player of the modern repertoire she is and her sweet, precise tone allows Martinu's angular lyricism – or is that lyrical angularity? – to open out for maximum appeal. Superbly supported by the Prague Philharmonia under Belohlávek, this is as brilliantly played an account as has appeared on disc.
Orchestra and conductor are heard to excellent effect in the other major work, the Toccata edue canzoni (1946). Written for Paul Sacher, this invigorating cross between chamber symphony and concerto grosso (though with an extensive piano part, played with nicely suggestive power by Cédric Tiberghien) is both a product of its time – catching the relief, horror and war-weariness in equal measure – and a timeless classic.
Yet through its many dramatic moments Martinu's radiant humanism, overtly displayed in the Concerto, shines through. Despite some slight scratchiness of ensemble and tuning in the upper strings in the opening pages, this is a strong performance, taut and purposeful.
Sandwiched between the two is the delightful Second Serenade (1932), scored for string orchestra and inhabiting the joyful folk world of the ballet palícek. Thrown off with élan, music and performance spotlight the splendid engineering that is an unobtrusive delight of this excellent disc. Recommended.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010