Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor for piano, trumpet & strings, Op. 35

“…is a notable debut disc from a very talented player.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2008 ****

“With this scintillating and eagerly awaiting recording, 19-year-old Lise de la Salle makes her concerto debut on disc. …performances are of the highest quality.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2008

“Everything about De la Salle's playing is astonishingly mature; technical challenges are met and never highlighted and she is always intent on seeking out the poetry beneath the teeming surfaces. This is distinguished piano playing.” The Guardian

“Liszt Piano Concerto No 1, S124 Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 1, Op 10 Shostakovich Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings, Op 35 Lise de la Salle pf Gábor Boldoczki tpt Gulbenkian Foundation Orchestra, Lisbon / Lawrence Foster Naïve V5053 (60' · DDD) F66” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Here's an excellent, multi-faceted programme which reflects both Shostakovich's madcap humour and his more "private", expressive side. A truly charismatic and exhilarating experience.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2008

“This excellent disc, consisting of live performances from the 'Progetto Martha Aregerich' at the 2006 Lugano Festival, has a spontaneity and sheer pleasure in music-making one doesn’t often hear in Shostakovich.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2007 *****

“Recorded at the 2006 Lugano Festival, Argerich's virtuosity is breathtaking. There's also a vivid, dramatic performance of the Piano Quintet.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2008

“Argerich's 1994 reading of the Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings is already a benchmark version among modern recordings… But now there is a more natural flow in the slow movement, some previously slightly forces rubato are smoother… So if anything Argerich's playing has the tiniest of edges even over her former self. More decisively, Sergei Nakariakov brings an extra dash of wit and soloistic presence to the trumpet part... the Piano Quintet also emerges as I have always dreamt of hearing it - vivid from moment to moment, yet with a long musical line and dramatic overall conception.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2007

“Martha Argerich's summers at the Lugano Festival are reaping a rich harvest of live recordings for admirers of this supreme pianist. … This is live music-making of the most exhilarating order, benefiting from the intimacy of the setting as much as the skills of these peerless musicians” The Guardian

“Argerich's 1994 DG reading of the Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings is already a benchmark version among modern recordings, complementing the composer's own technically fallible yet still indispensable 1958 account. But now there is a more natural flow in the slow movement, some previously slightly forced rubati are smoother, and although the textures are a fraction more richly pedalled, as often needs to be the case for projection to a big audience rather than the microphone, there is no more than an infinitesimal loss of clarity. So if anything Argerich's playing has the tiniest of edges even over her former self. More decisively, Sergei Nakariakov brings an extra dash of wit and soloistic presence to the trumpet part, not to mention an astonishing feat of (circular?) breathing in the slow movement. There is a fraction more flair from orchestra and conductor too, while the recording brings everything further forward, so that the electricity of the playing crackles around the room.
The two-piano Concertino is a little piece of high-quality Gebrauchsmusik for the then 16-year-old Maxim Shostakovich son to romp around with; Argerich and Zilberstein give it a wonderfully characterful rendition.
Much of the Piano Quintet also emerges as one has only always dreamt of hearing it – vivid from moment to moment, yet with a long musical line and dramatic overall conception. Occasionally the nervous energy of the playing is too much of a good thing, as in the tricky bridge from Intermezzo to finale – from darkest profundity to deceptive easy-going cheeriness – and as in the piano's first statement of the fugue theme in the second movement. So, recommend ed alongside the safer Ashkenazy/Fitzwilliam recording rather than above it. As for the disc as a whole: a sure-fire winner.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Marc-André Hamelin is a superb advocate for all three pieces - the zip and zest of much of the writing presenting no difficulty to this extraordinary virtuoso.” Gramophone Magazine

“one of John Ogdon's best records” Penguin Guide

“Marc-André Hamelin is a superb advocate for all three pieces—the zip and zest of much of the writing presenting no difficulty to this extraordinary virtuoso” Gramophone Magazine

“Hamelin earns a top recommendation here, and he’s sympathetically supported by Litton and the excellent Scottish ensemble … those looking for their first recordings of the Shostakovich concertos won’t go wrong with Hamelin” Fanfare

“…Alain Lefèvre, whose discography includes a number of other works by Mathieu, makes the best possible case for this attractive music, delivering a brilliant and flamboyant performance. Lefèvre, together with violinist David Lefèvre, also offers playing of great bravura and expressive intensity in Mendelssohn's youthful Concerto for piano and violin... in the Shostakovich Concerto. ...Lefèvre tends to emphasise the darker undercurrents of the score at the expense of its moments of biting sarcasm and uproarious humour.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2010 ****