Bach: Brandenburg Concertos

"…a constant delight. …Katie Debretzeni deserves the highest praise: her phrasing, punctuation and inflective charm contain all the communicative apparatus of the finest oratory, bringing, to my ears at least, something entirely fresh to this sublime music." BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2009 *****

"this disc stands up on its own quite simply as a smashing performance that has evidently been recorded for sheer delight in the music...The ensemble playing is a model of cohesive teamwork, but the players also shine as individuals in the many virtuoso solo passages" Charlotte Gardner, bbc.co.uk, 4th November 2009

"…these performances are recognisable enough as being in the Gardiner mould. There is the usual clarity of texture and detail; few accounts of Nos 3 and 6 have such chiselled edges and unobtrusively assertive inner parts. Tempi are brisk, and while they are not hard-driven in the way they might have been 20 years ago, the finale of No 2 charges to a startlingly abrupt finish. ...these are undeniably Brandenburgs of flair and understanding." Gramophone Magazine, January 2010

"Gardiner's Bachian zeal hovers over the performances: these are refreshingly unmannered accounts, brilliantly played... The Fourth - for violin and two recorders - and Fifth - with solo violin, flute and harpsichord - have rarely sounded more intimate, while the all-string concertos, the Third and the violinless Sixth, tingle with the spirit of baroque dance." Sunday Times, 15th November 2009 ****

"[Gardiner] lets his band get on with it and the results...are superb. The English Baroque Soloists, led by Kati Debretzeni, listen to each other like a jazz group, mirroring and echoing the other players, responding to subtle changes of dynamics or tempo." The Telegraph, 13th January 2010 ****