Penguin Guide Rosette Winners

“As always, Mackerras keeps the livelier numbers moving along comfortably without ever a hint of rushing, while giving full weight to the tender moments and, above all, caressing all the details of Sullivan's delicious orchestration.
Right from the overture, with its beautifully shaped Andante section, this is music-making to perfection. Of the singers, Felicity Palmer's Buttercup truly oozes plumpness and pleasure, while Thomas Allen's Captain doesn't just do the crew of the Pinafore proud, but all of us.
If Rebecca Evans's Josephine is a shade lacking in colour, Mackerras has found in Michael Schade's Ralph Rackstraw a most elegant addition to his G&S team. As for Richard Suart's Sir Joseph Porter, this is surely as stylish a demonstration of patter singing as one can find anywhere on disc, while Donald Adams's Dick Deadeye is no worse for his 40-odd years singing the role.
Add orchestral playing of refinement, choral work whose perfection extends from the formal numbers to the varied inflexions of 'What nevers?', plus a recording that brings out the instrumental detail to perfection, and one has a Pinafore that's unadulterated delight from first note to last.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Gilbert Rowland's playing...can be both brilliant and expressive, with nicely formed trills which end firmly and under rhythmic control.” Early Music Review

“One of the marvelous things about this set is how fresh and personal each of Rowland's performances is (Nov/Dec 1996). Of course, Soler makes the job somewhat easier because his sonatas are so varied. In this volume I was impressed by No. 118 (with textures that sound as if they've come straight out of the orchestral music in the opera house) and the more intimate and lyrical movement from No. 95 (the only sonata on the disc that is in several movements). Rowland makes the right response to every emotional nuance of the music, and the harpsichord (by Robin Jennings after one by Taskin) is a great instrument for his artistry. Fine, concert-like sound.” American Record Guide, January/February 2000

“Rowland's Soler set has reached Volume 6, with Sonatas 4 (G), 56 (F), 70 and 71 (A minor), 96 (E-flat), 100 and 103 (C minor), 102- 104 (D minor), 109 (F), and 111 (D). His performance standards are still on a high level. The interpretations are lively and exuberant. Three high points for me: the F-major Sonata (109 in Rubio's numbering system), with its gracious, Mozartean lilt; 70 in A minor with its restless energy and sparkling passages in parallel thirds; and Sonata 71 with its unexpected but expressive rubato. The instrument is a two-manual harpsichord by Robert Deegan after Pascal Taskin. The sound is fine and there are informative liner notes.” American Record Guide, September/October 2000