"There is a lot of Brahms and Schumann in [Ethel Smyth's writing], but also a youthful lightness, in the Finale of the Sonata no.2, which Liang captures delightfully. The wryly-named Variations in D flat major on an Original Theme (of an Exceeding Dismal Nature) – are in fact far from dismal. After a quiet theme the variations have assurance in their development of the material and the piano writing. Liang is good in the stern second variation but the heart of the set is variation V, where she finds an emotional range that is impressive in the young composer ... The Smyth pieces are set against pieces by four living composers. Errollyn Wallen’s brief I Wouldn’t Normally Say is spry and lively, which keeps feeling like it is going to burst into song. Sally Beamish’s Night Dances is unsettled and unsettling at first, the edgy evocation of a mind trying to sleep. The dances of the title are in the middle, wild and jazzy intoxicating. Chen Yi’s appealing Variations on “Awariguli” date from 1978, and are a nod to Liang’s Chinese heritage. The piece is based on a Uyghur folksong, which gives it an added resonance in the light the recent Chinese persecution. But the music has no hint of that, instead traversing a range of western musical styles with facility, including Bachian fugue and Debussyan wash. But perhaps the most arresting piece on the disc is the last, Eleanor Alberga’s Cwicseolfor, the ancient spelling of “quicksilver”. And mercurial it certainly is. By turns spiky, dreamy, liquid and punchy, it’s technically extremely demanding and Liang gives a highly entertaining performance"

This very interesting recording by fine pianist Hanni Liang features works of women composers ... Variations on 'Awariguli' by Chen Yi (born 1953) consists of a theme - an Uyghur folksong - then nine variations and a coda. This was composed in 1978 and first premiered by the composer's sister in Beijing in that year. The composer had discoved this folk song in a collection of Chinese folksongs she studied whilst completing her undergraduate degree. I really love this, and it is probably my favourite work on this disc ... I recommend this album, firstly because of the great musicianship and pianism of Hanni Liang, but also because of her thought in designing an interesting and varied release, the great accompanying notes by Katy Hamilton, the fact that two of the works - those by Sally Beamish and Eleanor Alberga - are premiere recordings, and last but least, the great work of the sound engineer Andreas Neubronner. I was very impressed with this prgramme's originality.

CLASSICAL MUSIC DAILY
read the full review here

"When Tchaikovsky met Ethel Smyth in Leipzig in the 1870s, he was impressed bythe quality of her compositions and fascinated by her eccentricities (her inseparable dog, her passion for hunting and her veneration of Brahms). For pianist Hanni Liang, nearly 150 years later, her first encounter with Smyth, in a book, made an equally strong impression. Not least, her fighting spirit and her voice sparked this unusual recital album ...The Variations in D flat Major on an Original Theme (of an Exceeding Dismal Nature) gives us a second dose of Smyth, though happily neither the theme nor the playing are exceeding dismal. Quite the reverse. And the variation thread continues with Chen Yi's Variations on Awariguli, from the late 1970s. A deliberate nod to Liang's Chinese heritage, she explains in the booklet note, these nine variations are based on a Uyghur folksong - and she plays them with lively characterfulness and authority ... Liang is clearly a thoughtful artist, and it's testament to her powers that a programme so disparate on paper hangs together in
performance. Three contemporary pieces are the golden links in the chain. Errollyn Wallen's I Wouldn't Normally Say swings, dances and bubbles with extrovert energy in Liang's hands, while Sally Beamish's Night Dances oscillates between stillness and tortured anxiety. W Eleanor Alberga's Cwicseolfor-an ancient spelling of quicksilver - is a fascinating finale: elusive, virtuosic, unpredictable"

"Try the second piano sonata in C minor. Composed in 1877 in a flush of passion for an operetta singer, the sonata inhabits a patch midway between Schumann and Brahms, but with a strong enough presence to express a spiky individuality. Smyth was 19 at the time, a student in Leipzig. The promise is there for all to hear. This is quite some sonata ... The conviction here is blazed by pianist Hanni Liang, an academy teacher in Munich. Between and around the Smyth works, Liang performs four modernities, of which Sally Beamish’s Night Dances is brilliantly evocative. The other pieces, more quirky, are by Erollyn Wallen, Chen Yi and Eleanor Alberga. Not a dull phrase among them. The Delphian label, by the way, is an Edinburgh indy with a knack for the unexpected. You’d never hear a recital like this on Warner, Sony or the other classical codgers. Five stars for initiative ... Review written, I’m relistening now for pure pleasure ... "

★ ★ ★ ★ ★
read the full review here

"Very Brazen from her, Hanni Liang takes us on an exciting musical journey to discover women composers who are as different as they are committed. The pianist brings her lustre and enthusiasm to the proceedings. Go listen to it!"

full feature here

"Liang schlägt dramatische Funken,beweist Temperament, enorme Spiel-freude und Gestaltungskraft. Per-kussive Energie, zarte Töne, virtuoseNervosität und Duftiges, Wolkiges,ein breites Ausdrucksspektrum decktdie Pianistin mit ihrer gelungenenZusammenstellung ab. Alles ein-drucksvoll interpretiert ..."

"Hanni Liang's celebration of women's voices was motivated by Ethel Smyth's political activism - but its aesthetic heart lies in Eleanor Alberga's Cwicseolfor ('Quicksilver'). Starting off in the no-holds-barred spirit of early Prokofiev, Cwicseolfor shape-shifts as ideas expand, contract, fuse and explode, throwing you off balance like an amusement-park ride. It's a distillation of the eclectic exuberance marking all the contemporary works here. Thus, we hear a comparable ferment in Sally Beamish's depiction of insomnia, Night Dances ... The modern works get plenty of dash, colour and rhythmic resilience - and for them, this recording is recommended'