Villa-Lobos: Piano Music

'Magnificent. Easily the most sophisticated Villa-Lobos piano disc currently in the catalogue.' --International Record Review

'Marc-Andr� Hamelin�s transcendental sheen and facility bless everything he plays. He makes As tr�s Marias wink and scintillate with an inimitable verve � leaves all others standing.' --Gramophone

'Hamelin presents another hour of hair-raising (not to say spine-tingling) music in performances few could match � awesome.' --Classic CD

'An impressive disc' --BBC Music Magazine

�Enough technical dazzle to satisfy even the most virtuoso-hungry listeners� --Fanfare, USA

'Revelatory. In short, this is a must-buy release. It�s thrillingly exciting. Recommended with all possible enthusiasm' --Fanfare, USA

'Hamelin grasps [the music�s] sprawl clearly and delivers it with unrivalled perfection of pianistic mechanism. He relishes the delights of the lighter pieces with equal virtuosity' --Irish Times

�Marvellously iridescent in these magnificent interpretations � a fantastically varied succession of miniatures that will hardly fail to please� --The Magic Flute

Villa-Lobos: Symphonies Nos. 6 & 7

�Karabtchevsky keeps this bustling music firmly under control at all times. It�s certainly a promising start to this cycle, even if the writing is competent rather than outstanding. No quibbles about the playing or recording though; both are splendid.� --MusicWeb International, December 2012

�Karabtchevsky and the orchestra are on home terrain...Karabtchevsky makes Villa-Lobos's zig-zagging, lopsided melodic line sound as boldly and brashly scultped as Mount Rushmore...To continue the mountain-based metaphor, Karabtchevsky's performance has a sense of ascent: you can hear the different strata, feel air blowing through the structure� --Gramophone Magazine, January 2013

�The language of both works is essentially neoclassical, but the shapes of the melodies and the ways in which they are coloured are entirely Villa-Lobos's own. The SPSO make a good job of them� The Guardian, 20th September 2012 ***

�Written for a huge orchestra, his "Symphony No. 7" opens in striking fashion, the Allegro vivace grabbing the narrative and dashing forward with it to its imposing climax� The Independent, 10th November 2012 ***

Spirit of Brazil

��there are gems such as the successful arrangement of Villa-Lobos's Bachianas Brasileiras No 5 by former Aquarelle member Richard Safhill, and the incredible six-movement Br�sils by Roland Dyens, in which the AGQ manage convincingly to sound like an Amazonian rainforest and a marching band at the Carnival de Rio. Guitarquartetophobes - your cure has arrived!� --Gramophon, May 2009

�With outstanding playing an infectious spirit, this is no mere niche guitar CD, but a luscious and lively general-appeal winner.� --BBC Music Magazine, June 2009 *****

�If one guitar quartet can give a traditional string quartet a run for its money in terms of abundant technique and breathtaking artistry, it is the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet� --INternational Record Rewiev, June 2009

��this is the best Brazilian program I�ve heard in quite a while.� --American Record Guide

Villa-Lobos: Complete Works for Solo Guitar

Finally this collection offers a complete set of Villa-Lobos solo guitar music performed by Anders Miolin who brings his own beautiful sound to this enormous undertaking. Anders Miolin is an unflinching virtuoso of great sensitivity. I have no hesitation in recommending his contribution to this magnificent box set as worthy of addition to the great tradition of Villa-Lobos performers which includes, inter alia, Segovia, Bream, Williams, Yepes, Santos, Fernandez, Fisk and Zanon. --CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE (GRAHAM WADE), England