Kreisler: Liebesfreud

“It's unnervingly like raising Rachmaninov from the dead but it's undeniably fascinating to hear his own etudes and arrangements of works by Bach, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky in these 21st-century reincarnations.” The Observer, 6th December 2009

“there's little doubt Zenph's enhanced sound quality makes one appreciate the warmth and clarity of Rachmaninov's playing with its lightness of touch, sparing use of the pedal and avoidance of indulgent mannerisms.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2010 ****

“From beginning to end, we are in the presence here of a major, world-class artist – a fearless technician with an all-encompassing command of his instrument; a musical dramatist of exceptional acumen and sophistication; a poet who moves seamlessly between unbridled rhetoric and extreme intimacy; a stylist who catches the particular spirit of everything he plays.” Piano Magazine

“In the case of the very expansive Chopin Variations… Sudbin makes a persuasive case for this unjustly neglected work, demonstrating not only breathtaking technical control throughout, but also a capacity to extract the most wide-ranging character and textural variety from the music he plays here. Similar qualities abound in a tremendously riveting account of the revised version of the Second Sonata... an extraordinary disc by anyone's standard.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2005 *****

“After the richly deserved acclaim that greeted his debut disc of Scarlatti, Yevgeny Sudbin moves onto home ground. And here, surely, is a young virtuoso in the widest, most encompassing sense.
Sudbin makes an unforgettable case for the Chopin Variations, a florid and uneven work, though at its finest (in, say, Variation 21) as memorable as anything in Rachmaninov. Omitting the quickly aborted fugue of Variation 12 and choosing the quiet rather than rumbustious coda, he is breathtakingly fleet in Variations 7-8 and goes through Variations 9-10 with all guns firing. Hear him in the whirling measures of Variation 20 (complete with sky-rocketing ossia) in page after page of dark, lyrical introspection and you will be hard pressed to recall a more talented or deeply engaged young artist.
The Second Sonata, played here in Sudbin's own Horowitz-based conflation, is equally inspired, going out in a spine-tingling final blaze of glory. In the two song transcriptions he sounds warmly committed to their floral enchantment.
Again, whether in love's joys or sorrows, Sudbin evinces a deft and super-sensitive virtuosity; and even though competition in both the Variations and the Sonata is intense he creates an entirely individual aura. His own personal and informative notes provide a crowning touch to this well recorded, deeply heartfelt recital.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“‘In this well-chosen selection of Kreisler playing his own pieces and arrangements, the performances are as magical as ever and the original sound quality is very well brought out in the excellent transfers.” Gramophone Magazine

“Kreisler was in his sixties when these recordings were made in late 1930s. Although it would be idle to pretend that he is technically the equal of Perlman or Szeryng, his artistry carries authority.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2006 ****

“The Bach Partita movements and the Mendelssohn Scherzo are exuberantly executed with wonderfully shaded phrasing and clear voicing.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2006

“Ashkenazy - a long-time champion of Rachmaninov's music - rattles it all off with a technical ease that borders on prestidigitatious. But there's also an innate sympathy with the musical language...The reworking of Tchaikovsky's Lullaby embodies all that's best in the art of transcription - it's both a loving homage and a distinctly personal poetic statement.” Paul Cutts, bbc.co.uk, 25th November 2002