What people are saying.

  • "Each player's performance is impeccable, not only on an individual level but also together. They have realized an exquisite and selfless work of chamber playing, executing a performance as a compact trio both precise and balanced."

    — Ritmo ★★★★★

  • “Delightfully inventive... The trio prove themselves a well attuned team, always alert to the music’s mercurial nature.”

    — The Strad

  • "Spiritedly performed and superbly recorded."

    — Classical Music Daily

  • "Colourful playing brings a Haydn byway alive....the Valencia Baryton Project sounds more stylishly 18th-century than its rivals on record "

    — The Strad

  • "These performances are the best I have heard of this repertoire"

    — American Record Guide (2024)

  • "Highly Recommended”

    — Stretto

  • "An absorbing hour or so’s musical pleasure"

    — Gramophone

  • "The performance of the Valencia Baryton Project was delightful. And their contribution, in the field of historicism, was as interesting as it was surprising for a large part of the audience. It is an ensemble not to be missed.

    — The Bachtrack

  • "Very elegant music, highly worth listening to"

    Overture - Das Klassik Blog

  • ★★★★½

    — All Music (2024)

  • "A deep and stylish sound"

    — American Record Guide

  • “A superb recording by the Valencia Baryton Project of Haydn’s rarely heard baryton trios.”

    — All Music

  • "An absolute success"

    — El Periodico del Mediterreneo

  • “A preponderance of smooth elegance"

    — Dave’s Review Corner

  • "I know that the people in attendance could not stop talking about the baryton either during the intermission or after the event itself. The Valencia Baryton Project made their mark on those of us lucky enough to hear them"

    – Hyde Park Herald

  • "But to those of us newly enlightened to the format, it exerted a hypnotic effect, juggling a fresh texture and Haydn’s unmistakable craft and wit…. Suffice to say, the project inducted a new 805 demographic into the baryton fan club"

    — Santa Barbara Independent

  • "The three musicians play music passionately with audible enthusiasm and introduce the listener to an instrument that is as rare as it is interesting. A discovery for curious ears!"

    — Online Merker

  • "Matthew's Baryton Project has much to commend it...We were privileged to be treated to some marvellous historic examples today."

    — Julia Price, Review for Gloucester Music Society

  • “The sensuality of sound, freshness and transparency of the recording inspire from beginning to end.”

    — Südweste Presse

  • "In this return to the past, the group achieves a rare result: evoking an instrument and an unfamiliar sound and, at the same time, sounding modern”

    — Concerto

  • "The six works that you hear on this recording by the Valencia Baryton Project demonstrate what Haydn was capable of. We hear charming elegance and deep colors within a beautifully finished counterpoint. An instrument that is put in the spotlight through this music in all its possibilities and that arouses curiosity about what other contemporaries may have written for it, or about the possibilities for a number of other string scores within this unique instrumentation."

    — Cultuurpakt

  • "Both these effects are heard to good advantage in these performances by Matthew Baker, one of the world’s very few baryton specialists. He’s ably accompanied by the viola player Estevan de Almeida Reis and the cellist Alex Friedhoff."

    — BBC Music Magazine

  • “One can maximize the minimal without driving out the elegance, the dance-like, the intimacy and the immediacy, for which there is no better instrument than the baryton. Which in turn is perfectly demonstrated by the Valencia Baryton Project. … Apparently small music can be this big. You can’t get enough of it.”

    — Die Welt

  • "Sometimes innovation begins with a look to the past… the Berklee instructor is working to bring the baryton out of 18th century obscurity and into 2020”

    — Berklee Now

  • "Matthew Baker offers many wonderful touches as well as a subtle and tranquil interpretation, as the music deserves…..If you ever had any curiosity about these works this is a great place to start”

    — Tarraco’s Culture Club

  • "[They were] especially excited about the enthusiastic reception they received at the auditorium...the music students in attendance peppered them with questions and they didn't even have time to answer them all because there were so many"

    — Times - Republican

  • "The members of the Valencia Baryton Project, thoroughly versed in Haydn’s style, play the trios with all the elegance and poise they deserve"

    — Infodad

  • "The Valencia Baryton Project filled the hall with its virtuousity"

    — Peñiscola.es

  • "Virtuosic"

    — WDR 3

  • "The interplay between the trio entertained the audience throughout the evening with gorgeous harmonies woven beautifully together with delicate precision"

    — North Okanagan Concert Association

We are pleased to announce that the Valencia Baryton Project has been selected as a Finalist for Best Classical CD of the 2021 Carles Santos Awards

A wonderful article in The Strad featuring interviews with our barytonist, Matthew Baker

We are very excited to be the front cover for Ritmo Magazine - you can find the link to our article here!