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“Sakari Oramo and the Finnish Radio Symphony fully appreciate its opportunities for meaningful orchestral display and are accorded spacious sound that lacks nothing in impact. Sculpture makes this a mandatory purchase for Lindberg's admirers, many of whom may well find in the Concerto more than incidental pleasures.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2009

“It is Sculpture however that seems most sure of itself stylistically. Its outrageously Romantic conclusion - huge, organ-enhanced orchestra singing out in unabashed heroic tones - is convincing in the end because it has been so well prepared. The performances are bracingly clean and alert, with no holding back in the big moments, and the recording very convincingly balances clarity and atmosphere.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2009 ****

“Magnus Lindberg has been dedicated in exploring the potential of the modern orchestra, as this disc confirms. Odd that Campana in aria (1998) was unrecorded until now, as its lively investigation of horn sonority makes for the composer's most entertaining concertante piece, especially when Esa Tapani is so in control of its virtuosity.
Each decade in his maturity has seen Lindberg pen an orchestral work as a statement of intent: thus the modernist outpouring of Kraft (1985), then the reconciliation of innovation and tradition in Aura (1994). Fine that the Concerto for Orchestra (2003) is a further step along this path, but quality is simply lacking – whether in the actual ideas or, especially, the interplay of textures such that the harmonies sound derivative of earlier works, while melodic lines are insufficiently defined. Ensemble writing in the latter half fails to sustain momentum, and the apotheosis is perfunctory by Lindberg's standards.
Fortunately, Sculpture (2005) seems intent on righting its predecessor's wrongs – not least in its skilful mediating between extremes of motion without sacrificing either harmonic or textural intricacy, with a final section that fairly saturates the sound-space.
Quite a piece with which to have opened the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Sakari Oramo and the Finnish RSO fully appreciate its opportunities for meaningful orchestral display and are accorded spacious sound that lacks nothing in impact. Sculpture makes this a mandatory purchase for Lindberg's admirers, many of whom may well find in the Concerto more than incidental pleasures.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“If you're new to Madetoja this is a good place to start; if you already possess the alternative versions...these are still worth investigating.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2013

“Perhaps Sibelius's finest contemporary...It's vividly performed.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2013 ****

“These Madetoja scores are conducted with sharp insight and unfaltering authority. Under Storgårds’ baton the impeccably prepared Helsinki Philharmonic exhibit their commitment to the music. The playing glows with expressive force and a palpable sense of concentration.” MusicWeb International, 21st May 2013

“When the lovely second subject of the first movement shyly, mysteriously, finds its voice here Eschenbach and his orchestra magically open up the imagination to a world of infinite possibility.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2009

"I hope that fresh programming concepts, realistic multichannel engineering, intelligent musicianship and world-class execution continue to define the formidable Ondine/Eschenbach /Philadelphia partnership." Gramophone

“The Philadelphia Orchestra's first recording of Mahler's Sixth Symphony may well be the Sixth of first choice, sonically and interpretatively. In the first movement and Scherzo, Eschenbach favours clear lines and chamber-like orchestral balances from his responsive musicians... Normally I'd prefer a fast Andante moderato with more characterfully contrasted themes. Yet the beautifully modulated string section plus a steadily flowing basic tempo helps Eschenbach justify his 17'23" timing (in the Karajan and Tennstedt ballpark). Inspiration climbs several notches for Eschenbach's assiduously integrated yet flexible Finale, and just about matches Bernstein's terrifying dynamism measure for measure.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2006

“Robert Kolinsky summons a truly heroic tone, and he flings off Martinu's taxing double octaves with real bravura. He also seizes the rare moments when the tumult abates and Martinu does something genuinely subtle” The Telegraph, 2nd December 2009 **

“…Martinu's Les fresques de Piero della Francesca… a score of impressionist colour and intensity… I have not been aware hitherto of Ashkenazy as a Martinu interpreter but he responds to its rich and radiant atmosphere with a reading of real verve. It separates two of the finest Martinu concerto performances to have come my way for some time. Robert Kolinsky... has...the measure of these works technically and emotionally, both the Parisian neo-classical chic of No 2 (1934) and the rawer, elemental power of Incantation (1956). The Basle Symphony Orchestra play superbly. Thoroughly recommended.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2010

“Kari Kriikku's basic tone is light and fluid, his articulation and dynamics inventively varied.
In the first movement of the Mozart he finds a hint of playfulness amid the music's familiar autumnal lyricism, enhanced by witty, spontaneous- sounding touches of ornamentation. But with his acute sensitivity to harmonic flux, he never underestimates the moments where the music seems to turn in on itself: say, in the shift to A minor in the first-movement recapitulation (for which he finds a haunting, withdrawn new colour), or in the melancholy shadows that flit across the bubbling surface of the finale.
Under John Storgårds, the Tapiola Sinfonietta (with violins properly divided left and right) provide typically polished, stylish support, and shape even apparently routine accompanying figures like the oscillating quavers in the Adagio with finesse.
Kriikku swaps basset-clarinet for a stratospheric D clarinet in three concertos by Johann Melchior Molter, written in the late 1740s when the clarinet was still in its infancy. The music, often sounding like a cross between Vivaldi and CPE Bach at his most complaisant, is agreeable, if hardly distinctive. But Kriikku draws miracles of delicate shading from his piercing, trumpet-like instrument, whether in the bouncy Allegros (though you may be fazed by his jokily over-the-top cadenza in the finale of No 4), or in the soulful minor-key slow movements of Nos 1 and 4.
In both Mozart and Molter, Ondine's recorded sound has an attractive transparency and glow, with an ideally judged balance between clarinet and orchestra.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“There have been first-rate recordings of the Mozart concerto on the basset-clarinet, with its wonderfully oily additional low notes, from, inter alia, Dame Thea King, Michael Collins and Wolfgang Meyer. Kriikku is at least their equal in vitality, subtlety and poetic insight. His basic tone is light and fluid, his articulation and dynamics inventively varied. In the first movement he finds a hint of playfulness amid the music's familiar autumnal lyricism, enhanced by witty, spontaneous-sounding touches of ornamentation. Kriikku swaps basset-clarinet for a stratospheric D clarinet in three concertos by Johann Melchior Molter, written in the late 1740s when the clarinet was still in its infancy. ...Kriikku draws miracles of delicate shading from his piercing, trumpet-like instrument... Ondine's recorded sound has an attractive transparency and glow... with an ideally judged balance between clarinet and orchestra.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2006