Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music, Vol. 1

�Here, once more, is that immaculate, lightly pedalled brilliance, unfaltering stylistic assurance, warmth and flexibility. Few pianists could do more for music that too often suggests a composer going through predictable paces...Hyperion's sound and presentation complement Shelley's admirable performances.� --Gramophone Magazine, May 2013

�the piano sonata in E, written by a boy in his mid teens, is a work of striking beauty and no little depth, a tribute to Beethoven that the latter would surely not have hesitated to perform. Howard Shelley gives an account that would have impressed both men, light-fingered and showing a dignified restraint in his pedalling.� --MusicWeb International, 9th July 2013

 

�it's good to see Howard Shelley embarking on a six-volume reappraisal of these works, so often seen as lacking the depth of Chopin and the fire of Liszt. Fans of fireworks won't be disappointed though...With playing of this quality this is going to be a series to treasure.� --The Observer, 24th February 2013

�Technically, this is a tremendous disc. All the evidence tells us that Mendelssohn was something of a speed merchant and when...he asks for Presto, Shelley takes him at his word, with a fleetness and control that command admiration, not to mention envy...I particularly like the sparsity of his pedalling, leaving the composer's lines to do their own work� --BBC Music Magazine, April 2013 ***

Beethoven, Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos

"This is a very distinguished performance indeed [Beethoven]. It is one where one's senses tell one from start that nothing will mar the enjoyment; how this should be I do not know, but immediate distinction is already apparent and it is never lost." --Gramophone

Mendelssohn: Works for cello & piano

�The Watkins brothers play Mendelssohn's life-enhancing Second Cello Sonata with an infectious vitality and lyrical radiance that is unforgettable...The Variations concertantes receives a desert island performance that brims over with infectious bonhomie.� --Classic FM Magazine, February 2012 *****

�The two sonatas lie somewhere between Beethoven and Brahms but still have Mendelssohn's own stamp of fresh individuality...There have been plenty of recommendable recordings of this music...but this finely balanced and recorded Chandos CD now stands high on the list of recommendations.� --Gramophone Magazine, December 2011

�This glittering, calm sub-oeuvre fits compactly on a CD and is beautifully performed by the versatile Watkins brothers...The cellist�s tone in Op 109, as throughout the sequence, combines the most immediate speaking quality (though absent, words seem imminent) with an immaculate shining loveliness� --Sunday Times, 27th November 2011

�The Watkins' extraordinary fraternal partnership resonates with Mendelssohn's own relationship to his cellist brother, Paul. Here, Huw (a composer and pianist) and elder brother (a cellist and conductor) combine to create performances of warmth and intelligence. Their Variations concertantes are irresistably ebullient: there's real fire in the belly of the fourth variation...these are good performances with a true Mendelssohnian spirit.� --BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 ****

�The fluency of Mendelssohn�s ideas, his polished craftsmanship and the music�s generally sunny disposition are matched by playing that has real verve, expressive finesse and an infectious romantic spirit.� --The Telegraph, 2nd December 2011 ****

The Wigmore Hall Recital: Schubert, Brahms, Mendelssohn, J.S. Bach

Over four decades since securing worldwide recognition as one of the finest musicians of her generation, Maria Jo�o Pires continues to transfix audiences with the immaculate integrity, eloquence and vitality of her art. With Pires partnered by Antonio Meneses, cellist with the Beaux Arts Trio and artist of great wisdom and imagination, this recital is clearly a red-letter event for chamber music connoisseurs. "[Meneses's] warmly eloquent understatement matched Pires's own, and grave us something close to perfection" --The Telegraph, Jan 2012

"Portuguese pianist Maria Jo�o Pires shared her recital with cellist Antonio Meneses, in a performance which brought a real sense of community, of intimately shared music-making." --The Times