Felix Mendelssohn

“There are moments of sublimity here that make one wish one could hold on to them for eternity, so acuitous is The Lindsays’ combined vision” International Record Review

‘without doubt the finest Mendelssohn recital ever recorded’ (Classic FM magazine)

“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 give us the work's danger and mystery in full measure.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2005 ****

“This is a recording from a concert given in March 2005; a very good recording, too, combining intimacy with the warm ambience familiar to Wigmore Hall concertgoers. And the performances are splendid: there's no doubting the genuine enthusiasm of the applause at the end of each work.
The outer movements of the Mendelssohn have plenty of fire and spirit. The climax of the first movement's development section is grand and intense, with the following pianissimo full of romantic mystery and suspense. This performance isn't quite on a level with the account by Ensemble Explorations (see above), whose leaner tone and clearer textures (despite a less attractive, over-resonant acoustic) bring the work's rhythmic and expressive character into sharper focus.
The Nash Scherzo is beautifully precise and delicate, but its very fast tempo pre-empts, to some extent, the effect of the finale. (Ensemble Explorations, with a gentler but still fantastical Scherzo, leave room for the Presto of the last movement to increase the level of excitement.) The Nash's interpretation scores, however, through the immediacy of the recorded sound, and a live-performance sense of occasion, of joy in playing together. The Beethoven is just as impressive, the players seeming to inspire one another to make the most of this lively, colourful music. Particularly appealing is the way they bring out the character of each of the finale's variations without compromising the music's overall impetus.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“…the great Mendelssohn Octet… is… well played, with surging energy in the opening Allegro and a superb range of colours.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2005

“This is a whole concert from Szeged given by Richter in 1972, and one of his truly great evenings, where he played late Schubert and early Mendelssohn, Chopin and Debussy, with deepest insight and passion. Listen and wonder.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2006 *****

“This fizzing, multilingual Venetian 'Souvenir' slips down as gratefully as Prosecco on a hot day. Hahn's Venezia is a delicious epilogue.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2006 ****

“This is not exciting or showy playing, but solidly musical and utterly stylish.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2005