This is joyful music. Waley-Cohen savors the beautiful and mysterious melodies of the solo and Andrew Litton embraces the richness of Harris’s orchestral textures. Pairing the Harris piece with John Adams’s Violin Concerto is enlightening for both pieces.
— Jeff Zumfelde, CPR

This is a perfect disc. This performance has passion, color, and drive aplenty.
— David Hurwitz, classicstoday.com

Wait till you hear the combination of Litton’s clear thinking and perfect pacing and the orchestra’s razor-sharp response . . . it reminds you why this Litton-Prokofiev cycle has been such a consistent pleasure.
— BBC Radio 3

With this golden performance of the revised Fourth Symphony, Andrew Litton’s already fine championship of [Prokovief] scales new heights.
— BBC Music Magazine

Both of these symphonies fare very well in Andrew Litton’s hands and his conception of the scores is backed up by terrific playing by the Bergen Philharmonic. 
— John Quinn, Musicweb International

Critics’ Choice 2016
— Roger Hecht
American Record Guide

This new Copland collection grows in stature the more one listens to it; I doubt you’ll hear more illuminating or idiomatic accounts of these American classics any time soon. Litton leaves his rivals choking in the dust; the same goes for BIS’s exceptional recording.
— Dan Morgan
musicweb-international.com

This is a brilliant collection, made an essential purchase by Andrew Litton’s decision to give us the uncut versions of the ballets Billy the Kid and Rodeo. You’ll be playing it to friends and family for weeks. Both ballets are dispatched with supernatural precision and polish.
— Graham Rickson, The Arts Desk

This is “meat and potatoes” repertoire for a conductor like Andrew Litton, and he doesn’t disappoint. He has the Colorado Symphony playing at the top of its form.
— David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Five Tuning Forks
— Rémy Louis, Diapason

...a vibrant take on a composer whose works are representative of the American West.
— Brad Turner, Colorado Public Radio

...Litton has certainly teased out many of his music’s finer qualities.
— examiner.com

Litton has the orchestra stylistically just right, moving seamlessly and organically between moments of cowboy-style local colour – piping tin whistle and sleazy trombones – to the “proper”-style playing.
— Erica Jeal, The Guardian

Litton’s delightfully infectious and margelously balletic reading sings and dances like no recording since Bernstein’s of the suite.
— Roger Hecht, American Record Guide

Critics’ Choice 2015
— Geoffrey Norris, Gramophone, Dec 2015

Critics’ Choice 2015
— James Harrington, American Record Guide, Jan/Feb 2016

BBC Radio 3 CD Review’s Disc of the Week. Though this work has received a number of fine recordings on CD, Subdin’s incendiary account recorded in superb BIS sound will prove irresistable for many.
— Andrew McGregor
BBC Radio 3 CD Review

Litton, called one of the best orchestral accompanists on the planet, continues an impressive and extensive track record with piano concertos – bursting with energy, broad melodic lines, and perfect ensemble.
— James Harrington, American Record Guide, July/August 2015

Litton’s alive to all the work’s complex colours, which he calibrates with great care — a wholly recommendable release.
— Dan Morgan
musicweb-international.com

Litton’s alive to all the work’s complex colours, which he calibrates with great care — a wholly recommendable release.
— Dan Morgan
musicweb-international.com

An absence of glutinous thickness in this performance amounts to genius. I find myself noting details along the way I’ve never heard so beautifully put. Every moment means something. There’s an instinctive sense for the music’s fine points one doesn't often encounter. Every phrase has thought behind it. 
— Steven Kruger
New York Arts

Not only does Andrew Litton draw a terrifically agile response from his combined Colorado Symphony forces, he masterminds a reading which in its expressive urgency, arresting conviction and dramatic bite grabs the listener at the word go.
— Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

Highly recommended and a want list no-brainer!
— Merlin Patterson,
Fanfare, Sep/Oct 2015

One of the finest performances of the Fifth that I can recall hearing.
— John Quinn,
musicweb-international.com

Litton’s account is even better, to these ears, than Gergiev’s [and] the playing of the Bergen Philharmonic is exemplary. This should be in the collection of everyone who likes Prokofiev, fine orchestral playing or simply great recorded sound.
— SA-CD.net

Litton’s careful attention to detail highlights the interesting textural aspects of Prokofiev’s orchestration often overlooked in other performances.
— Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine,
August 2015

Rutherford is at his best in Amfortas’s final lament, Jai Wehe, so moving that it’s a real jolt when the scene is abruptly cut off at the end. Litton and the orchestra are most supportive, and they get two tracks to themselves: the Dutchman overture and the Meistersinger Act 3 Prelude. I was even more impressed by the gorgeous orchestral passage that precedes Der Augen leuchtendes Paar in Wotan’s Farewell, where the Bergen strings sound fairly sumptuous.
— Ralph V. Lucano
American Record Guide

Some of the passages are cool and thoughtful, others abruptly breathtaking, but never are Oscar’s shimmering cascades of notes left wanting nor his Romantic leanings. The entire disc is just Litton and a piano...non-stop top-shelf pianistics in commemoration of a giant whose acumen is studied and admired to this day. 
— Mark S. Tucker, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange

That said, if you can’t have Peterson playing Peterson, Litton, a classical conductor and soloist, is a worthy substitute. And if he isn’t primarily a jazz pianist, he is a pianist with talent who understands how to interpret a piece of music. He understands color and harmony, but must importantly he understands Oscar Peterson.
— Jack Goodstein, Blogcritics

These performances are spot on. If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then Peterson should be smiling in heaven.
— C. Michael Bailey, allaboutjazz.com

Solo piano is the most daunting format in music. Solo piano as a tribute to Oscar Peterson kicks it up a notch. Andrew Litton pulls it off with style, flair and a harmonic reach not as an imitation but as his own riff on the master. That is why this release works so well, it is from the heart.
— Brent Black, criticaljazz.com

Andrew Litton’s Bergen forces project the score’s steely punch and spare scoring with aplomb. Litton generously provides bonuses in the form of spry, witty performances of the suites from Lieutenant Kijé and The Love for Three Oranges.
— Graham Rickson, theartsdesk.com

BIS has a winner here. No Prokofiev disc has better sound quality than this and with performances of the highest quality, purchase is not a difficult decision.
— Dave Billinge
musicweb-international.com

Prokofiev’s Sixth Symphony seems to be a tough work to pull off, and it’s a credit to Andrew Litton and his team that they do it so well; it’s expertly paced and well-contrasted, the bittersweet lyricism very effectively projected. The finale remains at a high voltage straight through the elegiac coda; the final pages are properly explosive.
— David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Listening to this disc is an immensely satisfying experience. As good as his earlier Rachmaninov recordings were, I found Litton far more compelling here.
— Mark Pullinger
International Record Review

Litton’s shaping of [The Isle of the Dead] in huge organic paragraphs of mounting and then relaxing tension is utterly convincing and inherently dramatic.
— Calum MacDonald
BBC Music Magazine

Litton achieves a highly expressive response from his Bergen musicians throughout [adding] to the value of both The Isle of the Dead and The Rock. I’d put their achievement up against any other versions of their respective works in the catalog, old or new.
— Barry Brenesal
Fanfare September/October 2013

Gramophone Choice/February 2013

Andrew Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra bring a freshness and clarity to the music.
— theclassicalreviewer.blogspot.ch

The success of the performance is helped by the BIS recording, which offers vivid, realistic sound and which balances the soloist very satisfactorily against the orchestra. Poltéra is a highly persuasive soloist and the accompaniment from Litton and his orchestra is first rate.
— John Quinn
musicweb-international.com

Litton’s Adagio creeps in at the start from nothing. Then it’s all beautifully paced, spacious and warm. Recorded quality throughout is top-drawer in a truly winning CD.
— Peter Dickinson
Gramophone Online, Jan 2013

Kempf dispatches the trademark repeated-note passages with brilliance while showing more heart than he is used to, and Andrew Litton is evidently keenly attuned to the era. Unmissable.
— HiFi News, October 2012

Kempf deploys an impressive pallet, while Litton makes the most of the flavor of the original orchestrations of both Rhapsody in Blue and Second Rhapsody. A great success, despite the numerous brilliant predecessors.
— Diapason, October 2012

First things first, this is the finest Firebird I’ve ever heard. From the eerie introduction to the final tableau, Litton and the orchestra’s performance is a model of precision, color and drama.
— Craig Zeichner, ariama.com

Andrew Litton and his venerable Norwegian orchestra have provided a perfect companion to his much-acclaimed Stravinsky Rite of Spring in this luminous, lyrical and uplifting Firebird.
— Ronald E. Grames, Fanfare

Litton works his orchestra with phenomenal dexterity, graduating dynamics with precision, balancing to create atmosphere and tease the imagination.
— Dominy Clements
musicweb-international.com

Any Litton recording is going to be well-executed, well-thought out, and immaculately performed–this one is no different. Litton has a formidable voice in this work, and his shaping of the various sections is effective and consistent. All in all a laudatory release, coming from a known conductor who rarely disappoints.
— Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition

Wave after wave of gorgeous music, vividly conducted by Andrew Litton.
— Lawrence Devoe

Andrew Litton has the Bergen Philharmonic playing at a world-class standard, turning in high-voltage readings of both works, full of excitement and textural nuance. He reminds us that despite the extremes of volume and dissonance this is still a folk-music-based work. The tunes really sing, with such vibrancy and freshness that you might think you are hearing them for the first time.
— David Hurwitz, Classics Today.com

...the original 1911 version of Petrushka[whose] rhythmic intricacy Litton palpably finds so intriguing – few conductors nail the narrative jump-cuts in the opening so clearly. His Rite of Spring...has a menace that keeps dancing through your imagination long after the last chord sounds. An essential modern alternative to the classic accounts.
— Philip Clark, Classic FM

Recording of the Month. With Pétrouchka you get all of the character from the 1960 Columbia Symphony Orchestra recording, but far better ensemble and discipline from the Bergen Philharmonic. Both through the accuracy of the playing and detail in the recording there is much new to be discovered under Andrew Litton’s baton.
— Dominy Clements,
musicweb-international.com

This third and final disc to this series is every way up to the high standards of its predecessors...It’s easy to see why any orchestra would play its heart out for a conductor of such musical intelligence.
— Roger Nichols, BBC Music Magazine

May 2010 Gramophone Editor’s Choice & 2010 Gramophone Award Nominee

This new [Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto] from Freddy Kempf with the Bergen Philharmonic and Andrew Litton has a lot going for it. Kempf, Litton and the Bergen players are bursting with life; this is one of the most persuasive versions I’ve heard of this piece in recent years.
— Nigel Simeone,
International Record Review

BBC Music Magazine February 2010 Disc of the Month.

This is one of the most enjoyable discs I’ve listened to in a long time. Litton, for my money, gets it right every time.
— Roger Nichols, BBC Music Magazine

While it’s absurd to talk of an outright winner in such a congested field, this is an exhilarating, thoroughly enjoyable Italian, superbly played and recorded.
— Richard Wigmore, Gramophone

Winner, BBC Music Magazine’s Technical Excellence Award

Litton’s live recording is outstanding: observant of Mendelssohn’s tempi, with beautifully detailed orchestral textures and lithe but robust choral work.
— Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian

Litton’s performance, recorded live with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and its specially augmented chorus, is suitably glowing . . . the emphasis is on mercurial invention and spontaneity.
— Andrew Clark, Financial Times

...Richer and warmer...my own preference is for Litton’s version, reflecting my own Romantic tendencies.
— Roger Nichols, BBC Music Magazine

With remarkably instinctive deftness, the Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Andrew Litton provides a welcome gift for all opera lovers who have an interest in unexplored, completely forgotten finds. The recording has fire, drive and brilliance.
— Egon Bezold, Klassik.com

Opera Rara’s cast is uniformly strong. The Geoffrey Mitchell Choir’s stylish singing and the virtuosity of the Philharmonia under the highly-motivated Andrew Litton make this an unreserved recommendation.
— Dominic McHugh, MusicalCriticism.com

Classic FM’s May 2008 Disc of the Month.
Litton’s Bergen Philharmonic is exquisitely detailed from the opening bars; While Litton keeps things opaque and tight when required, at the right moments he pulls irresistibly at the concerto’s tempi and unleashes considerable tutti power, never foregoing detail.
— Andrew Mellor, Classic FM

Violinist Vadim Gluzman plays magnificently throughout; Andrew Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra provide superb support. This is a reference-quality recording, with near-definitive performances. Very highly recommended!
— Tom Gibbs, Audiophile Audition

These are excellent performances in every respect: magnificently played, beautifully recorded, and conducted with unfailing intelligence. For all intents and purposes, Litton stands in a class of his own.
— David Hurwitz, Classics Today.com

The performance of the Fourth is rightly the pinnacle of Andrew Litton’s superb Ives cycle... Litton has the work’s measure perfectly, balancing the visionary with the prosaic, and teasing out the most complex textures of a huge orchestra and a chorus with an exemplary clarity that is flawlessly captured by the recording.
— Andrew Clements, The Guardian

Litton wrings the full range of Ives’ no-holds-barred approach in these works.
— John Sunier, Audiophile Audition

Andrew Litton’s set of the four Ives symphonies is notable for its physicality. The First gains from Litton’s swift baton. Cherish the endearing Third for its alert phrasing; cherish the Fourth for the transcendental finale.
— Geoff Brown, The Times, London

As good, as individual, as deep, and in far better sound... I forgot what it felt like to be proud to be an American until I heard Andrew Litton’s hair-tearingly wonderful new live recordings of the Charles Ives Symphonies...
— Tim Pfaff

A top European orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, comes together with Andrew Litton, an American conductor well versed in the Russian repertoire, and the result is brilliant, colorful, spirited, striking, dynamically layered and of impressive, detailed precision...
— Hartmut Lueck, klassik-heute.de

There’s a considerable amount to admire in Andrew Litton’s version. I think that interpretatively he yields to his two rivals on a few occasions but overall he conducts the music with great insight and with a fine sense of drama. If you want just one recording of the suites from Prokofiev’s masterpiece then Litton’s comprehensive collection, very well played and in excellent sound, will give much pleasure.
— John Quinn
Musicweb-International.com

Both Hamelin and Litton bring the music to life in a remarkably complete and refreshing way. Hamelin attacks...with plenty of passion. Litton responds in kind with some of the most sharply rhythmic (but always unaffected) phrasing that the music has received on disc. The result has exactly the right kind of tension, a fierce energy that never turns hysterical or loses focus.
— David Hurwitz, Classics Today.com

Winner of the 2005 BBC Critics Award
2005 Editor’s Choice
— Gramophone

2004 Record of the Year
— London Sunday Times

Five Star Choice
— The Independent

2004 Recordings of the Year Selection
— MusicWeb International

2005 Classical Internet Award
— Classics Today.com

The best set of Rachmaninov Piano Concertos ever recorded.
— David Hurwitz, Classics Today

A brisk and rigorous performance, where Andrew Litton’s forthright conducting stresses the music’s symphonic orientation, and admirably anchors Hough’s frisky fingerwork. These live concert recordings stand out in a field jam-packed with first-rate Rachmaninov cycles.
— Jed Distler, BBC Music

"Exhilarating performances, freshly conceived and textually pristine."
— Hugh Canning, Times Online

"Stephen Hough and Andrew Litton cut a swathe through the decades-long undergrowth of bad tradition, revealing leaner, more potent works in the process...A terrific achievement."
— Barry Millington, Evening Standard

"A must have. A revelation. Get it."
— Kevin Sutton, Musicweb.uk.net

Hough and Litton have cleaned half a century of Hollywood patina off these works to show them how Rachmaninov surely intended: fresh, ardent and passionate, full of a youthful, heart-on-sleeve innocence.
— Emma Baker, Classic FM Magazine

Hough and Litton have not slavishly recreated Rachmaninov’s recordings; they make the works live and breathe with their own impetus. That they work extremely well on their own terms can immediately be evinced by the ecstatic reaction of the Dallas audiences’ cheering at the end of the four concertos.
— Nick Breckenfield, Classical Source.com

One of the Top 10 Classical Records of 2004
— Stephen Pettitt, Times Online

I am now of the firm belief that Hough and Litton have recorded the definitive set of the Rachmaninov Concertos. This is the 2004 classical recording of the year.
— Wes Marshall, Soundstage!

[Hough and Litton] make living, flaming music from the ebbing and flowing speeds, the soloist’s improvisatory airs, or the strings’ willingness to revive the old portamento slide. The waves of energy at the finale’s end are very exciting; no wonder the Dallas audience breaks out in cheers.
— Geoff Brown, The Times

I can’t think of any other cycles of these works, even the composer’s own, that draws quite so much musical interest from the scores. It’s not that the performances are excessively busy, much less ornate; for all the stunning range of their articulation, for all their attention to secondary voices, Hough and Litton never let the details interefere with the flow of the music....simply breathtaking.
— Peter J. Rabinowitz, Fanfare

These are live recordings, and they crackle with life...Legions of great pianists and orchestras have recorded these concertos, but Hough and the Dallas musicians may have outdone them all.
— Alex Ross, The New Yorker

Conductor Andrew Litton draws rainbows of colour from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and the communication between soloist and conductor is seamless.
— Claire Jackson, BBC Music Magazine