American Record Guide

Rob Haskins reviewed this recording on the Calico label (2004). I wrote down my own thoughts from several weeks of listening before reading his review – but I noticed the same things: pianism that sounds both old-fashioned and fresh. Crossland, an English pianist, is particularly good at the parts she has chosen to make quiet and delicate. There could be more drive in place of the phrases she has rounded off, but she makes pleasant effects.

Balances are fascinating: she brings out the left hand loudly sometimes, or picks some individual notes to accent in the right hand’s figurations. Her interpretive quirks include extreme ritardandos.

This is worth investigating if you are looking for spontaneous pianistic journeys through these pieces.

—Bradley Lehman