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BBC Music Magazine said that “Yablonsky and company dispatch them [Galops] with decent glee.”

“Kliegel manages to convey a feeling of spontaneous improvisation and her command of the instrument is impressive. Naxos's recording is nicely ambient.” Gramophone Magazine

“Michael Houston is a clear and characterful soloist.” Gramophone Magazine

“Dmitry Yablonsky’s reading brings this wonderful music fully to life.” The Independent

“Curdled can-cans; minced marches; wobbly waltzes; acrid quotes from Offenbach and the French Revolution: Shostakovich presses them together in a collage alternately dizzy and desolate, spiritedly performed by Mark Fitz-Gerald and the Basel Sinfonietta. Fitz-Gerald uses his own edition of the score, prepared after careful research. The joy of it lies in the light instrumentation for 18 players” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ****

“this superbly performed rendition...enhanced by vividly realistic sound and extensive booklet notes from four Shostakovich specialists, makes the strongest case for a score that, in terms of the film medium, its composer equalled only rarely and which he arguably never surpassed.” International Record Review, January 2012

“[The New Babylon] was the last gasp of this anything-goes era, and boasted a blistering score by the 22-year-old Shostakovich. So blistering, in fact, that nobody could perform it, and it was “lost” for decades...it is sardonic, brittle and laden with saucy Offenbach quotes. But two discs’ worth of dazzling freneticism is too much.” The Times, 17th December 2011 ***

“The vocal quality is first rate: leading soprano Irina Mataeva, jolly tenor Dmitry Voropaev and a lovely imitation of folk-lullaby from mezzo Anna Kiknadze. Orchestral solos, especially high-lying oboe and grunting contrabassoon, are superbly done…” BBC Music Magazine, August 2008 ****

“The brief vocal items are attractively done, and Fitz-Gerald secures playing exceptional vitality from the Frankfurt orchestra. Vividly recorded, with a detailed note from Russian film expert John Riley, Odna is engrossing and pleasurable in purely musical terms.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2008

“Although long known through various selections, Shostakovich's second film score Odna ('Alone') is only now available complete. This 1931 Kozintsev/Trauberg collaboration – in which a young teacher finds herself transferred to the remote Altai region, incurs the wrath of the local peasantry and is left to die in a snowstorm, only to be rescued by a Soviet plane – emerged on the cusp of 'silent' and 'sound' cinema. Lack of suitable venues meant the film received few showings with its soundtrack and, while it received considerable acclaim abroad, it was allowed to fall into obscurity until the 1960s.
Even now, the film – reconstructed after the master was destroyed in wartime Leningrad – is missing its 'snowstorm' reel. Luckily, the score has now been reclaimed in full – due in no small part to Mark Fitz-Gerald, who has assembled it from numerous sources and presented it in live showings around Western Europe. The result is one of Shostakovich's most innovative scores: the ebullience of his early theatre music being combined with music anticipating the emotional intensity of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, alongside some of his most startling experiments – with cues for overtone singing and a contribution from the theremin (an early electronic instrument).
The brief vocal items are attractively done, and Fitz-Gerald secures playing of exceptional vitality from the Frankfurt orchestra. Vividly recorded, with a detailed note from Russian film expert John Riley, Odna is engrossing and pleasurable in purely musical terms. Those wishing to investigate Shostakovich's film music should start here.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Russian singers and Frankfurt’s radio orchestra lap up Fitz-Gerald’s reconstruction; a job well done all round.” The Times

“Sensitive and technically brilliant playing that is captured in a recording of outstanding clarity and perspective...” BBC Music Magazine