Chopin: Prelude Op. 28 No. 13 in F sharp major

“The best of it, especially the B flat minor Scherzo, is superb, the virtuosity effortless, the grip on the formal structure utterly secure, but elsewhere...there's sometimes a chilly relentlessness about the playing, an impatience almost, that keeps the music at a distance.” The Guardian, 1st November 2012 ****

“His sense of phrasing, structure and pacing is undimmed...There are other accounts of the 24 Preludes that are more impassioned, more vividly imagined and coloured, but few are more pure or devoted. Recorded sound is excellent. The fingers are not entirely all they used to be in terms of nimbleness, but that isn't too intrusive.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2013 ****

“you only have to listen to the Scherzo No 2 to realise she remains a supreme Chopin stylist, combining temperament with an unsentimental touch.” Financial Times, 19th May 2012 ****

“to an even greater extent than before, her performances blaze and challenge with a potent and highly individual sense of drama...For Fialkowska, Chopin can take on something of the dark-hued austerity of late Liszt...there is never any doubting her strength of purpose. All this is a striking advance on earlier recordings, with their earlier recordings, with their more conventional notion of interpretation, and to crown it all Fialkowska has been superbly recorded.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2012

“This is a rich and illuminating find. From the outset you sense Janina Fialkowska's innate, developmental grasp of drama - of the connection between phrases and their dynamic character. Then there's the sheer life in her playing, reflected in the perfectly nourished and shrewdly apportioned sound...her pacing and exceptional graps of musical narrative is a masterclass in the art of pianistic rhetoric.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2012 *****

“The sum effect of these performances is exciting, deeply personal and often moving. I doubt that anyone who knows and loves Chopin’s music will find Francois’s approach less than absorbing.” Gramophone Magazine

“Immense, yet light-fingered keyboard power from Richter, whose mastery opens out great vistas of space around the music.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2012 *****

“The revelations stem from the admirable restraint of Planès's playing...The Nocturnes... combine elegance with profundity, while the selection from the Op 25 Etudes is exquisitely done.” The Guardian, 7th January 2010 ****

“…Planès himself works poetic magic, with wonderfully paced phrasing and a style of rubato replete with beautifully judged elasticity and grace; and he has explored Chopin's approach to improvised ornamentation to tasteful effect. There's not a meaningless note in the whole disc.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2010 *****

“Alain Planès...is obviously at home with the instrument, and plays finely. He also makes a gallant attempt at recapturing Chopin’s famously fluid style of playing. The A flat ballade is particularly pleasing.” Sunday Times, 28th February 2010 ****