Bryden Thomson

“The Cello Concerto is arguably Finzi's finest work, written at the very end of his life under the stress of knowing he was terminally ill. At just under 40 minutes it's planned on a massive scale.
The first movement brings the darkest music, an extended tutti establishing a brooding tone of voice. The slow movement is in more characteristically tender pastoral vein, with a poignant tinge of melancholy, music originally conceived many years before its actual completion in 1951.
Leighton's Cello Concerto is almost equally ambitious. Helped by full, warm Chandos sound, the Finzi receives a big, bold performance.
With a good balance for the soloist, the panache of Wallfisch's playing comes over more forcefully, and the tenderness of the slow movement is reinforced at a more spacious speed.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The finest of Hummel's Piano Concertos, dynamically projected by the young Stephen Hough.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2006

“The A minor is Hummel's most often-heard concerto, never better played, however, than by Stephen Hough on this prize-winning Chandos disc. The coda is quite stunning; it is not only his dazzling virtuosity that carries all before it but also the delicacy and refinement of colour he produces.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“Not top-drawer Bax, admittedly, but the LPO under Bryden Thomson relish both scores' undeniable period charm and they have been sumptuously served by the Chandos production crew. A really enjoyable disc.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2008

"The performances are excellent." American Record Guide