Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5

“Big-hearted Daniel Hope, backed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic under Sakari Oramo, seems equally at home in the wide open spaces of Bruch's violin concerto (which the master totally revised and improved) or the warm intimacy of Joachim's own delightful Romanze” The Observer, 13th March 2011

**** The Telegraph, 18th March 2011

“Hope’s way with the Bruch: Violin Concerto No 1 is lively, burning with gypsy passion. Temperatures calm down for Joachim’s own Romanze and his equally endearing Notturno.” The Times, 26th March 2011 ****

“The major offering here is Bruch's evergreen First Violin Concerto, which Daniel Hope plays with cliche-free, heartfelt intensity. He radiates espressivo allure in Joachim's own Romanza and Notturno...The Joachim connection is fascinating, and Hope plays each piece as a music gem in its own right” Classic FM Magazine, May 2011 ****

“The Bruch is finely and vividly recorded. In Oramo's hands the orchestration acquires a rich glow, with solo lines brought out most expressively. Hope brings to his interpretation glorious, full tone brilliance (in the finale) and expansive phrasing...The pieces with piano are all beautifully played” Gramophone Magazine, May 2011

“[The Bruch] receives a warmly committed account from the soloist and the hugely responsive Royal Stockholm Philharmonic under Sakari Oramo. As in his recording of the Mendelssohn, Hope never takes this over-familiar score for granted and has imaginative things to say at every juncture.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2011 ****

“This performance [of the Bruch] overflows with incident and rich musical detailing...[Oramo], as a fiddler himself, knows this piece inside out...The finale dazzles, rounding out a captivating and insightful reading” International Record Review, May 2011

“Throughout a work once dubbed "a symphony with piano obbligato", the Frankfurt orchestra play superbly for Paavo Järvi, the strings burnished and deep-toned, the woodwind gracious agents of tenderness and consolation. Though Nicholas Angelich commands ample Brahmsian heft, his playing tends to emphasise the music's lyrical pathos, rather than its turbulent heroism. Momentum can suffer in the first movement, especially in Angelich's ultra-dreamy treatment of the assuaging chorale-like theme. But he distils a mystical inwardness in the adagio - a wordless requiem for Schumann - and balances muscular stoicism with luminous delicacy, even a touch of playfulness, in the finale.” The Telegraph, 10th May 2008 (on Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor)

“Angelich's solo Brahms scarcely prepared us for the conviction and rapt intensity in this showpiece. With French pianist Frank Braley, Angelich also brings infectious zest to nine of the 21 Hungarian Dances for four hands, including the celebrated No 5 in F sharp minor.” The Observer, 13th April 2008

“A delight to encounter precise, hand-in-glove ensemble-playing that manages not to sound pre-planned. ” Gramophone Magazine, June 2008

“Both conductor and soloist take a lyrical approach to this Concerto. Paavo Järvi's tapering of the opening melodic gesture modifies its usually brusque, implacable drama, and Nicholas Angelich's expansive ruminations in the second theme, although expressive and dignified, borders on the languid.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2008 ****

“A rhythmically taut, finely structured reading with plenty of dynamism ad thrust, but giving full rein to the work's deep elegiac aspects.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2007

“It's a rhythmically taut, finely structured reading with plenty of dynamism and thrust, but giving full rein to the work's deep elegiac aspects and darker shadings.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2007 ****

“The LPO, London's finest Brahms ensemble, has been in vintage form during this cycle under Marin Alsop's measured and thoughtful direction.
Not since the classically incisive Loughran/ Hallé recordings of the mid-1970s has there been a more obviously collectable budget-price Brahms set.
Alsop's reading of the Fourth Symphony is not dissimilar to Sir Adrian Boult's 1972 LPO recording. Like Boult, Alsop is happy to establish a tempo and emotional trajectory for each movement and leave it at that – a plausible view given the astonishing degree of thematic integration that underpins the work.
As elsewhere in the cycle, tempi tend to be measured.
The Andante moderato is downright slow, though Alsop manages to maintain line and interest.
The Scherzo, happily, is a true Allegro giocoso, which is important. By acting out the role of a conventional finale, the Scherzo leaves the actual finale free to enact its own tragic destiny.
The recording sounds well if played at a decent level. In the Scherzo, the triangle (deliciously placed and recorded in the Hungarian Dances) is more an impression than a presence. There is also an editing glitch midway through the movement, not the first in this series. The seven Hungarian Dances, unorchestrated by Brahms, are heard in newly commissioned orchestrations by Peter Breiner. The thudding fairground timpani in No 6 doesn't appeal. Elsewhere, piquancy is the watchword, with stylish playing from the LPO, gamesomely led.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The LPO, London's finest Brahms ensemble, has been in vintage form during this cycle under Marin Alsop's measured and thoughtful direction.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2008

“Alsop’s triumphant cycle of Brahms symphonies with the LPO comes to a climactic end with this hugely impressive account of the Fourth. She has that ability, vital in music as dense as this, to hurry nothing, to make the most of the moment, yet always to maintain a sense of impetus.” Sunday Times

“Bax plays Brahms: Alessio Bax, that is. His Paganini Variations are a bit of a roller-coaster, the Op. 10 Ballades curiously inexpressive. Best is a thoughtful account of the Op. 76 Klavierstücke.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2012 ****

“I relished this recital programme by Alessio Bax from start to finish. Demonstrating such a high level of musicality there is no sense that Bax is distracting focus away from the composer to the soloist. Bax’s splendidly assured playing is satisfying and the recording has the benefit of splendid sound quality.” MusicWeb International, January 2013

“while others struggle to clarify Brahms's potential opacity, Bax makes light of every devilish demand...Signum's sound is excellent and the company is surely blessed to have such an artist on its books.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2013