Both works receive fine, committed and sensitive performances and are well recorded.

Nick Barnard

MusicWeb International


The Villiers Quartet gives it a fine first recording, captured in warm and well-balanced sound.

The Strad
Convivium’s recording comes across absolutely beautifully. Every minute detail of the performance, and particularly the gorgeous acoustics of the St John the Evangelist Church in Upper Norward, are replicated in my listening room with astonishing authenticity.
​
​Expressive Audio
'Somm’s sound is unobtrusively superb.'
Gramophone Magazine
The Complete Quartets of Peter Racine Fricker

Villiers Quartet/BMS/Naxos


"..the Chilingirian’s performance of the Third was much praised by the composer. But these are outclassed by this new recording from the Villiers. Naxos’s sound, engineered by Michael Whight, is beautifully balanced and the best these works have enjoyed. Highly recommended."

Gramophone Magazine April 2017

"a well-appointed, atmospheric open recording"

​MusicWeb International

"I was particularly pleased with the sonics on this recording, clear and crisp with just a bit of ambience around the instruments to give them color."

Artsmusiclounge

​
The London church acoustic lends bloom and a sense of space to Fricker's never quite atonal harmonies without occluding them.

The Strad

​
"The playing of this highly talented quartet, champions of British music, is superb throughout and augurs well for their forthcoming release of Delius and Elgar."

The Guardian

"The instruments are ideally placed, well balanced, and the string tone lifelike. This release will appeal to those looking for some challenging music as well as any audiophiles among them."

Classical Lost and Found


 MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL RECORDING OF THE MONTH AND ONE OF THEIR RECORDINGS OF THE YEAR

"Naxos’ warm recording is first-class"
​
​http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2017/Apr/Fricker_quartets_8571374.htm
Delius and Elgar String Quartets

Villiers Quartet/Naxos
Ripely captured by the microphones, the Villiers Quartet are on dedicated form..essential listening..

​Gramophone Magazine June 2017
EUROPADISC CD OF THE MONTH.
If you’re looking for a version of the Delius Quartet for your library, this is now a clear front runner for a work that has been undeservedly neglected...Anyone looking for a British alternative to the ubiquitous Debussy-Ravel coupling would do well to acquire this disc, which adds yet another feather to the Villiers’ cap, as well as providing unusual added value in the form of the recovered early version of the Delius. There are helpfully detailed notes on both works by Daniel Grimley, and the presentation is attractive, complementing Michael Whight’s fine recording.
http://www.europadisc.co.uk/…/Delius_and_Elgar_-_String_Qua…
..the playing is excellent. So too are the recordings: a warm but textured sound, with the individual voices emerging clearly.

BBC Music Magazine
The Villiers Quartet, formed in 2011 and specialists in English music (among other things; they are an inquisitive ensemble), play the Delius with zest and passion. Their Elgar, too, is febrile and bold. Fresh playing all round..

​The Guardian


The Villiers, undoubtedly one of the finest young British string quartets to have emerged in recent years, have an in-born feel for the music of Delius, and here breathe life into a gorgeous score that is seldom heard in the concert hall...In every way this is a superb release in Naxos’s excellent recording. 

Yorkshire Post
Successfully recorded at St. Silas Church, Pentonville, London, the players benefit from vividly clear, well balanced sound.

www.musicweb-international.com
"this disc has given me more listening pleasure than any other this month. What else is there to say? Charming music, in uneccentric yet musical performances, delightfully presented in the spirit of the 19th-century salon, recorded in beautiful sound and all on a warm-toned Feurich. Grab it and enjoy!"

Scott Noriega, Fanfare magazine

...these are now my favorite recordings of the Mendelssohn pieces.
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Lynn René Bayley - Arts Music Lounge
Chamber Music By William Sterndale Bennett

Villiers Quartet/Jeremy Young/Leon Bosch/Naxos



So let me, without bias, commend this disc to you. The String Quartet is full of pleasing thematic material, expertly constructed in four movements, Bennett’s interweaving of instruments a constant joy. Four years later he wrote the Sextet, a score little short of forty minutes, and scored for piano, string quartet and double bass. A generally happy and pleasing score that at times becomes a virtuoso piano concerto with string accompaniment. Finally a short Chamber Trio for piano trio. Brilliant keyboard playing from Jeremy Young with the outstanding Villiers Quartet being quite passionate Bennett advocates. Perfectly balanced sound engineering. © 2018 David’s Review Corner
All the performances brim over with personality, and these delightful scores could have no better advocates. The warmth and intimacy of the Manchester venue further adds to the recording's success.

Stephen Greenbank
music-web International
Performances by the Waldegrave Ensemble and associated musicians do full justice to this music’s distinctive qualities, abetted by a recording that affords clarity without undue closeness of perspective. Taylor himself provides the informative and amusing booklet notes.The performances of The Waldegrave Ensemble, along with eight friends, are outstanding, brilliant virtuoso and very funny. Recommended. arcana.fm
The Dumb Girl of Portici

John Sweeney/Milestone/BFI






​A score by John Sweeney that I played on and also mixed for Milestone/BFI






A wildlife documentary which I produced for composer David Mitcham and film-maker Michael Schlamberger with the Janacek Philharmonic in Ostrava for ORF.
 Kaleidoscope
Gary Kettel/Anna Noakes and friends 
Nielsen Clarinet Concerto

One Tree Hill Sinfonia/Adrian Varela/Mark Van De Weil