Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

“John Wilson is probably best known for his light-entertainment orchestral work, especially his restorations of classic film scores – a background which, it turns out, equips him well for this anthology of British musical landscapes.” The Independent, 21st October 2011 ***

“The celebrated John Wilson brings his interpretative magic to bear on these pieces, which often transplant you so fully into the era you have to check you're not wearing a peplum suit or Oxford bags. The general mood is one of unhurried romanticism. The RLPO gently draws out every subtlety” Classic FM Magazine, December 2011 ****

“Rich, immaculate sound and impeccable orchestral playing too.” The Arts Desk, 3rd December 2011

“[Clark's] playing has rapturous firepower...John Wilson's conducting secures ultra-vivid, sparklingly finished performances that also respond memorably to the quieter moments” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ****

“a well-chosen programme of English orchestral miniatures very well recorded. He opens with Walton's portrait of the commedia dell'arte character Scapino, full of gusto yet bringing out tenderly the contrasting romantic episodes that fill out the character...Delius's sensuously romantic Walk to the Paradise Garden and Bax's lushly scored The Happy Forest are made glowingly radiant in John Wilson's richly textured evocations.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2011

“John Ireland’s Piano Concerto of 1930 receives a thoroughly sympathetic, lucid performance, as does the ominously darker Legend of three years later...A delightful disc.” The Telegraph, 29th September 2011 *****

“alert to the work's many changes of mood and wide range of pianistic demand. I particularly like [Lenehan's] musing, elegiac take on the haunting slow movement, and the orchestral playing is impressively responsive throughout...It's good to have new recordings of the Sea Idyll and the cheerful Three Dances, too.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 ****

“as John Lenehan's finely nuanced performance with John Wilson and the Liverpool orchestra shows, it's a pleasant enough work, predominantly introspective without extravagant displays of virtuosity, and which in its finale unexpectedly flirts with neoclassicism.” The Guardian, 22nd December 2011 ***

“a splendid new recording of what is undoubtedly the finest of all British piano concertos...Lenehan has already recorded a great deal of Ireland's piano music for Naxos with distinction and he is again at his finest here...the RLPO is on first-class form under the understanding direction of John Wilson, who is renowned as a passionate advocate of English music...A CD not to be missed by all lovers of English music.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2011

“the music is just a delight to listen to: not just as a pleasurable background noise, but for the way it entertains while elegantly dodging the predictable at every turn...The performances are lovely, with David Lloyd-Jones approaching each score...on its own terms.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2011 *****

“Lloyd-Jones, as you would expect of a past master in this repertoire, leads his polished Liverpool players in atmospheric performances of tender affection.” Classic FM Magazine, October 2011 ****

“No one would pretend that most of William Alwyn's music is anything other than light, but it is beautifully crafted and instantly engaging...it is No 3, written 18 years later, that is the highlight of this collection, so much more arresting in its dark and impassioned patina and splendidly played by the RLPO.” The Observer, 28th August 2011

“The serious stuff lies mainly in the tonal but astringent Concerti Grossi Nos 2 and 3. But Alwyn’s cinematic directness is also displayed in The Moor of Venice, orchestrated by Philip Lane from Alwyn’s brass-band original. His music doesn’t convey depths of emotion, but it is superbly crafted and often gorgeously lyrical.” The Times, 6th August 2011 ***

“Simon Trpceski, Vasily Petrenko and the RLPO bring understanding and instinct to their performances, and take to heart the different temperaments that each of the three works on this recording manifests...the judicious variety of touch and colour, and ability to reveal important details of the music, combine with an expressive maturity to make these performances utterly compelling.” The Telegraph, 16th June 2011 *****

“The virtuosi Macedonian Simon Trpčeski and St Petersburg-born Vasily Petrenko combine in taut, poetic performances with notably coruscating brass playing from an RLPO on impressive and expressive form.” The Observer, 26th June 2011

“Trpceski captures the music’s protean mood switches to perfection, his mercurial fingers dashing off the vivace flourishes of the outer movements and the most brilliant Paganini variations with insouciant bravura and brio...These performances are a meeting of dazzling musical minds, offering an untraditional approach that never sounds wilful, attention-seeking or eccentric.” Sunday Times, 3rd July 2011 *****

“Trpceski relishes Rachmaninov, thrilling his audience with virtuosic passages which easily demonstrate why these pieces in particular were important vehicles for Rachmaninov the exiled pianist. Petrenko maintains timing and tension, whilst never allowing lush lyricism to become stodgy or overwhelming...this is a musical combination which works superbly.” Classic FM Magazine, August 2011 *****

“[Nos 1 & 4] have never been such sure-fire crowd-pleasers, but Trpceski certainly plays them with fire and passion. No. 1 emerges as big-boned and compelling, while he plays up the leanly modernist aspects of No. 4...Trpceski is aided throughout by the unanimity of feeling produced by Vassily Petrenko's direction of the orchestra, conductor and pianist working hand in glove.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2011 ****

“Expectations are fully realised in performances of the highest order...Trpceski was put on this earth to play this music and Petrenko to conduct it...This is a riveting disc, another major landmark for Trpceski and one on which Rachmaninov finds interpreters thoroughly attuned to his emotional world.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2011