(Martinu’s violin sonatas) “The sonatas” differing demands could hardly hope to find a more persuasive advocate than the Czech violinist Hana Kotková. The subtlety she brings to the jazz aspects of the First Sonata is perfectly complemented by Simon Mulligan. (...) There is a slinky charm in Kotková’s playing and she fills those passages where Martinu musically doodles with infinite charm. The vast spectrum of tone colours that she draws from her 1775 Gagliano violin is particularly valuable in creating the chic atmosphere of the outer movements of the Second Sonata. (...) Yet Kotková and Mulligan can also produce the necessary impact for the Third Sonata, the finale being a superb display of her left-hand dexterity. While Kotková remains faithful to the score, these are also wonderfully pliable readings, full of imaginative touches; her large dynamic range is capable of producing passages of hushed beauty. (...) Most highly recommended.”

David Denton