Penguin Guide Rosette Winners

“Pletnev dazzles in the Mussorgsky, caressing its sublime poetry with a velvet-gloved sensitivity while throttling its chilling angularities into piano-shattering submission. His Tchaikovsky is no less mesmerising. A real classic.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2005 *****

“John Tomlinson has made the part of Boris his own, and this generous, 75-minute selection of excerpts from Boris Godunov is highly recommendable, even when compared with current Russian versions of Mussorgsky's masterpiece.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“The centrepiece here is Ockeghem's L'homme armé Mass. It may be one of his earliest Masses, dating perhaps from the early 1450s. It's also one of his most curious. For the most part it lies in a relatively high register, belying his usual predilection for low bass ranges; but every now and again the basses descend in spectacular fashion. In the third Agnus they hold down the tune in very long notes, while the other voices seem to float above them. Seldom before in the history of music can the articulation of time have been so clear a feature of a piece's design: it seems almost to have been suspended altogether. It's an extraordinary moment, difficult to pull off in performance, but here the singers seem to have got it right. Elsewhere, Summerly's approach is nicely varied, but on the whole more meditative than emphatic. The performance grows in stature with each movement, as though keeping pace with the cycle's ambition. The reading isn't without the odd glitch, but taken as a whole it's a fine achievement. The accompanying motets work very well, but it's a shame that the choir's richness of sound isn't quite matched by the acoustic. But the overall impression is resoundingly positive: those new to Ockeghem should find this disc too good an opportunity to pass up.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“[L'Homme arme] is superbly sung here and is marvellously paced...the recording, made in the Chapel of Hertford College, Oxford, could hardly be bettered.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“This is a wonderfully refreshing set. The story emerges crystal-clear, even the black ending to the Giulietta scene in Venice, which in Bonynge's text restores the original idea of the heroine dying from a draught of poison, while the dwarf, Pitichinaccio shrieks in delight. One also has to applaud his rather more controversial decision to put the Giulietta scene in the middle and leave the dramatically weighty Antonia scene till last. That also makes the role of Stella the more significant, giving extra point to the decision to have the same singer take all four heroine roles. With Dame Joan available it was a natural decision, and though in spoken dialogue she's less comfortable in the Giulietta scene than the rest, the contrasting portraits in each scene are all very convincing, with the voice brilliant in the doll scene, warmly sensuous in the Giulietta scene and powerfully dramatic as well as tender in the Antonia scene. Gabriel Bacquier gives sharply intense performances, firm and dark vocally, in the four villain roles, Hugues Cuénod contributes delightful vignettes in the four comprimario tenor roles, while Domingo establishes at the very start the distinctive bite in his portrait of Hoffmann; a powerful and a perceptive interpretation.
The recording is vivid, and the listener is treated to some first-class playing from the Suisse Romande Orchestra.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Joan Sutherland gives a virtuoso performance in four heroine roles. Impressive in each role ... producing beautiful singing. Domingo gives one of his finest performances on record, and so does Gabriel Bacquier. It is a memorable set in every way.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“This is a totally Italianate performance of both high drama and moving pathos...Alessandrini's instrumental support could not be more telling, and the recording is made in an ideal acoustic.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition