” The ‘Five Shakespeare Songs’ are a delight from beginning to end..Thwaites
has a voice of her own in these and creates something intriguing and original”
THE CLASSIC REVIEW.COM 2020

“The beautifully wrought ‘Missa Brevis is a model of concise, integrated and well contrasted writing,
with some inspired moments (the Gloria is irresistable); and the four psalm settings
and the Shakespeare Songs offer vivid responses to their celebrated words.”
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE 2020

Watch extracts from the recording sessions on Youtube.

A 4-CD box set of Grainger’s complete music for two pianos four hands. This includes the re-issue of her much admired recordings with John Lavender Volumes 1-3 and a brand new Volume 4 in which Penelope is joined by the outstanding Australian pianist Timothy Young.Released on Heritage Recordings November 2016

“It is hardly possible to fault this historic set of recordings, another milestone in the legacy of Grainger”

READ FULL REVIEW IN THE AUSTRALIAN HERE

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A Bach Recital Track 8 – Jesus Christus Gottes Sohn

“expressive,luxuriant playing and an intuitive  sense of the music’s architecture…. Thwaites’approach is refreshingly unfashionable, eschewing period style in favour of a Romantically–inspired pianistic approach. She exploits the instrument’s natural resonance and colouristic potential throughout the recital…there are moments too of sheer serenity”
from BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE REVIEW OF A BACH RECITAL, MAY 2014
Read the full review here.

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The Grainger Edition Solo Piano Vol 17 Track 6 – Klavierstuck in E

“As for the three volumes of solo piano music, Penelope Thwaites understands the idiom totally…One is captivated by the charm of the music…all the famous pieces, as well as all sorts of delightful surprises, all beautifully played and recorded.”
THE PENGUIN GUIDE TO THE FINEST 1000 CLASSICAL RECORDINGS, 2012 (Chandos Grainger Edition)

“Thwaites gives commanding performances of the piano works…she plays the Lisztian-style arrangements from Tchaikovsky’s Flower Waltz and Strauss’s Rosenkavalier with sensitivity and musical finesse” THE AUSTRALIAN, 2011

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Piano Volume 1 Track 25 – In Dahomey

“a major contribution to the Grainger discography”
Grainger Edition Volume 16: FANFARE

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Piano Volume 2 Track 2 – The Hunter in his Career

“A wonderful album of Grainger’s solo piano music.”
BBC RADIO 3, CD REVIEW

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Piano Volume 3 Track 6 – Bridal Lullaby Ramble

“I cannot imagine a more beautiful piano sound”
THE DELIAN, USA

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Works for Chorus and Orchestra Track 14 – Handel in the Strand

“Handel in the Strand struts and carols its stuff most life-enchantingly in the hands of Penelope Thwaites and the City of London Sinfonia.” MUSIC WEB INTERNATIONAL

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Works for Pianos Track 11 – Random Round

“inspirited and radiantly polyphonic performances”
THE TIMES

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Piano Music for 4 Hands Volume 1 Track 3 – Pastoral

“A Pair of Aces . . .It would be hard to imagine more sympathetic performances than these . . . . Thwaites and Lavender seem to breathe together.”
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

Not currently available

Piano Music for 4 Hands Volume 2 Track 1 – Children’s March

“Volume 2 of this highly accomplished series . . . excellent, zestful performances” GRAMOPHONE, 1993

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Piano Music for 4 Hands Volume 3 Track 1 – Symphonic Dance No.1

“These CDs set feet tapping and hearts bounding… buy and treasure them”
MUSICAL TIMES

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Shepherd’s Hey: Gems for Piano Track 17 – Paraphrase on Tchaikowsky’s Flower Waltz

“The strange whimsy within his setting of The Power of Love, The Nightingale and Jutish Medley is complemented here by classics such as Country Gardens, Shepherds Hey and Handel in the Strand, all of them uniquely telling”
GRAMOPHONE (Critic’s Choice)

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Chosen Gems for Piano Track 16 – Nell

“Grainger’s gems are poetry for Thwaites … her own individual style is marked by a genuine clarity and beauty of tone.”
THE MELBOURNE AGE

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Songs for Mezzo Soprano Track 2 – Died for Love

“This is a glorious disc.”
GRAMOPHONE (Quarterly Choice)

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Songs for Tenor Track 19 – A Reiver’s Neck-Verse

“… Thwaites is on terrific form …”
GRAMOPHONE (Editor’s Choice)

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Songs for Baritone Track 8 – Hard-hearted Barb’ra

“Penelope Thwaites has received great acclaim as a Grainger specialist and deserves every bit of it. She may be the best accompanist I’ve heard since Gerald Moore – a wide range of colour, dramatically suitable to the text, and so at one with the singer that you’d swear there was only a single performer. This entire enterprise rises beyond the level of song recital to real chamber music.”
Grainger Songs for Baritone – NET REVIEW

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Travelling Between Worlds Track 1 – Chopin Fantaisie Impromptu Op. 66

“Penelope Thwaites’ deliciously poetic approach to Chopin’s imaginative pianism has been regularly on my CD player”
MUSICAL OPINION

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Ride! Ride! Track 10 – The Whole Wide World is my Parish

“Wonderfully catchy tunes…splendid voices. Musicals on disc rarely succeed unless you have the stage presentation fresh in your mind, but here the strength of Thornhill’s libretto and the sheer variety of Thwaites’ music combine to create a compelling aural drama.”
GRAMOPHONE, 2000

 
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Grainger, Complete music for four hands, two pianos – Penelope Thwaites, John Lavender, Timothy Young

“It is hardly possible to fault this historic set of recordings, another milestone in the legacy of Grainger”
THE AUSTRALIAN, 2016

“Some passions flare, then fade. Others burn forever, and that’s clearly the case with Penelope Thwaites’s love of that maverick spirit, Percy Grainger…passion undimmed, along with dexterity, the playing’s flair and precision is unchanged..Grainger may not be a ‘great’ composer. but I can’t think of another who so quickly and quirkily enhances life”
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

READ GEOFF BROWN’S FULL REVIEW IN BBC MAGAZINE HERE