Awards & Reviews

Gramophone Award 2008 for Baroque Instrumental

Financial Times: 5/5 stars
FM Magazine: 5/5 stars

AVIE Records, UK 2007
Engineered and produced by Michele Gaggia / Digital Natural Sound
Recorded at the City Hall in Sheffield (UK) in December 2006/January 2007
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/2008/baroque-instrumental

Reviews:

• James Inverne, Gramophone, Editor's Choice – March 2008 "The playing, with an ensemble that brings together some of the world's leading Baroque specialists, is supreme."
• Andrew Clark, Financial Times: 5/5 Stars "It’s a revelation to find the allegros played with such brio, to hear the wind voicing in the second and fourth concertos so subtly balanced and articulated, to sense Bach’s daring instead of his order and discipline. This is now my first-choice recording of the Brandenburgs."
• Richard Lawrence, Classic FM Magazine: 5/5 Stars "Pinnock's direction from the harpsichord is a model of crispness, and the build-up to his big solo will have you cheering."
• Daily Express: 4/5 Stars "It’s a stunning recording and the ultimate vindication of Pinnock’s interests."
• Gary Lemco, www.audaud.com "These performances by the eponymous Brandenburg Ensemble enjoy a warm, intimate sonic patina that often reminds one of their antique antecedents."
• Andrew O'Connor, International Record Review "This new glorious set ... can be unreservedly recommended."
  

Gramophone Award 2001 for Baroque Instrumental

Stereophile online: "excellent sound ... rich, warm, and resonant ..."

Hänssler / Bachakademie Stuttgart, DE 2001
Engineered and produced by Michele Gaggia / Digital Natural Sound
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_Award#2001

Reviews:

• "... The warm, full, rather resonant recording beautifully captures the rich sound of his fine instrument – a David Way copy from 1983 of a Hemsch original – as well as the detail of his playing. ..."
• Stereophile online review: "The recorded sound is also excellent. If you speak while touching the case of a good harpsichord, you can feel it tremble, as if it were eager to sing. The sound of this set captures that feeling, being rich, warm, and resonant, without emphasizing the plucked attacks of the instrument (a 1983 re-creation by David Way of a Hemsch original). The occasional low bass notes have delicious weight, without booming, and when Pinnock uses a damped stop, the cascading notes illuminate the recording space in a most pleasing manner."

BBC Music: 5/5 stars sound quality, 5/5 stars performance

AVIE Records, UK 2006
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Michele Gaggia / Digital Natural Sound
Recorded in September 2005 in Crear (Scotland)

Reviews:

• BBC Music: 5/5 stars for sound quality, 5/5 stars for performance
• Classic FM Magazine: 5/5 stars
  "... the balance is excellent"
• Metro Newspaper: 5/5 stars
  "... Everything connects – the quality of the playing, the joie de vivre of the performers, the warmth of the acoustic – and it all adds up to something that hums with the mystery of the captured moment. [...] A performance of luminous beauty."

BBC Music (May 2005): 5/5 stars sound quality, 4/5 stars performance
Sunday Times (06 March 2005): 4/5 stars quality
RR (May 2005): "[...] a superb example of its type, rendered here in a recording of absolute clarity"
Toccata Press: "FANTASTIC recorded sound ... genuinely ear-boggling"

AVIE Records, UK 2005
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Michele Gaggia / Digital Natural Sound
Recorded in July 2004 in Scotland on the famous Goermans-Taskin harpsichord (1764-1783) of the Russell Collection (Edinburgh)

Reviews:

• BBC Music: 5/5 stars for sound quality, 4/5 stars for performance (May 2005)
  "The crisp definition of the recording faithfully transmits the unique qualities of the Goerman harpsichord […] Those who revere sophistication and sheer beauty of sound should choose Pinnock."
• Martin Anderson – Toccata Press/Toccata Classics www.toccatapress.com
  "It is astonishing, really astonishing: TP’s electric performances aside, the recorded sound is of an immediacy that has my ears out on stalks. […] FANTASTIC recorded sound, vivid, depth, everything you could want; genuinely ear-boggling."
• Sunday Times: 4/5 stars quality (06 March 2005)
• Music Week (12 March 2005)
   "Trevor Pinnock scooped a Gramophone Award a few years ago for his acclaimed recording of Bach’s keyboard Partitas. His latest release of Rameau harpsichord pieces on Avie is every bit the prize winner’s equal and often its superior. […] Prepare for a flood of five-star reviews for this outstanding title."
• RR (May 2005)
  "The Goermans-Taskin is a superb example of its type, rendered here in a recording of absolute clarity"

BBC Magazin: 5/5 stars

© 2019 Franz Halász | Published by BIS
Recording setup by Michele Gaggia | Recorded by Franz Halász
Mixed and mastered by Michele Gaggia

Reviews:

• BBC Music Magazine: 5/5 stars (October 2019)
  "This may be a studio recording, but Halász draws the listener in as if to a live recital…Expressive freedom is apparent throughout but is especially unleashed in the early E minor BWV 996, where..."
  
• The Classic Review (June 2019)
  www.theclassicreview.com
  "Halász's performance is so persuasive, any discussion about the origin or authenticity of these pieces becomes moot, so this can be recognized as one of the best versions of these pieces we have had in years. Closely and clearly recorded, whether played as a CD or SACD (this is a “hybrid SACD” which can be played on both formats), this is a highly recommended release."
• Music Web International
  www.musicweb-international.com
  "Recorded in a deliciously resonant acoustic but with plenty of close-up detail, this is a guitar recording to relish at every level. Halász doesn’t ‘baroque-up’ his playing, but manages to synthesise a timeless ancient feel with what feels like contemporary expressive weight."

BBC Magazin: 4/5 stars

© 2020 Franz Halász | Published by BIS
Recorded by Franz Halász
Mixed and mastered by Michele Gaggia

Reviews:

• BBC Music Magazine: 4/5 stars (August 2021)
  www.classical-music.com
  "Halász avoids cliché, the more familiar repertoire tempered by the lesser known, and contrasts of style and substance. Halász’s playing is deeply expressive, finding a huge variety of tones..."
  
• Music Web International
  www.musicweb-international.com
  "Once commenced, the quality of what one is listening to is rather fixating. The general standard of musicianship, technical facility and excellent recording parameters ensure that this SACD will enjoy wide success."

NRW Jazz: "Die lupenreine Aufnahmetechnik durch das ARS-Label gibt sämtlichen Klangebenen eine fast schon visuell greifbare Hör-Bühne [...]"

© 2023 Produced and Published by ARS Produktion
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Michele Gaggia

Reviews:

• NRW Jazz (March 2023)
  nrwjazz.net
  "Die lupenreine Aufnahmetechnik durch das ARS-Label gibt sämtlichen Klangebenen eine fast schon visuell greifbare Hör-Bühne: Das gilt für die brillanten Impulse der Schlegel auf den Metallzungen des Vibrafons, aber auch für die sphärischen Flagolett-Effekte, wenn Strobel mit dem Kontrabass-Bogen über die Metallplatten streicht. Ebenso für die sonoren Impulse auf den glasharten Hölzern des Marimbafons. Noch mehr für das in sinuston-artiger Reinheit schwerelos im Raum schwebende Bandoneon und auch für die dunkle Wucht von Katharina Treutlers Klavierspiel. Maximales audiophiles Hörvergnügen ist garantiert!"
• Kultur Abdruck (March 2023)
  www.kulturabdruck.de
  "Omar Massas titelgebende „Neotango Episodes“ sind zweifellos ein Höhepunkt dieses Projekts – drei Stücke mit ganz unterschiedlichen Charakteren, die eine Fülle faszinierender Klangwirkungen entfalten. Wer auf dieser CD für solche Effekte verantwortlich ist, lässt sich nicht immer eindeutig entscheiden, denn mitunter verschwimmen Strobels Vibraphon, Marimbaphon, Bongos oder Felltrommeln, Massas Bandoneon und Treutlers Klavier zu einem Gesamteindruck. „Der Idealzustand ist erreicht, wenn da drei Künstler sind, aber man hört nicht genau, von wem kommt diese Klangfarbe eigentlich und was passiert da genau“, so Kai Strobel."

Pizzicato Supersonic Award
MDR Klassik CD suggestion
WDR 3 (5/5 stars) Tonart suggestion of the week 

SONY Classical, 2017
Music by J. S. Bach
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Michele Gaggia / Digital Natural Sound
Recorded in Linz (AT) on ADAMS Marimba

Reviews:

• Pizzicato Supersonic Award
  www.pizzicato.lu
  "Enjoy goose bumps and shivers going down your spine when the marimba players get a maximum of expressivity from the slow movements in those well-fitting transcriptions of Bach’s harpsichord concertos. The dancing outer movements of the works are no less exciting due to the refinement of the Wave Quartet’s exquisite playing. […] The sound mesh of the solo instruments always remains clear and transparent, the balance with Michi Gaigg's orchestra is ideal."
  Review by Remy Franck (in German) / Pizzicato 27.11.2017
• MDR Klassik CD recommendation
  www.mdr.de/mdr-klassik-radio
  "It is wonderful, the way the musicians including a Baroque orchestra play with each other, the voices are interwoven and maintain an elegant sound."
  Review in German / MDR Klassik 06.01.2018
• WDR 3 (5/5 stars) Tonart recommendation of the week 
  www1.wdr.de
  "I do not want to go so far and say, who needs a harpsichord for Bach's harpsichord concertos? But I do not really miss anything in this recording."
• Rondo Magazine 
  www.rondomagazin.de
  "[...] The intimacy of the Marimba opens up completely new sound spaces."
  This article was published in Rondo Magazine in German.

MUSICA magazine (Dec. 2006): 5/5 stars
AMADEUS magazine (Feb. 2007): 5/5 stars

ARCANA, FR 2006 [3464858013372]
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Michele Gaggia / Digital Natural Sound
Recorded in June 2006 at Temple Farel, La Chaux-de-Fonds (CH)

Reviews:

• MUSICA magazine: 5/5 stars (Dec. 2006)
• AMADEUS magazine: 5/5 stars (Feb. 2007)
• Kemer Thomson: "This recording is outstanding on all fronts: the recording sound, the instrument and the performance."

Editor's choice in "CD Classica" magazine October '96

Stradivarius Dulcimer / MEC Records Milano, IT 1996
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Michele Gaggia / Digital Natural Sound
Recorded in Chartres (FR) on the "Delin 1768" Harpsichord from the Kenneth Gilbert instrument collection

Reviews:

• Editor's choice in "CD Classica" magazine (Oct. 1996)
  
• "...sound quality: excellent. Natural sound, well spaced..."
• received full marks for interpretation and sound quality in many other magazines