Reviews

Beware: this opera may take you hostage with its ability to get under your skin. As with any good opera, this one convincingly creates its own logic. Roger Morris’s libretto gains much of its entrancing quality through the leeway of ambiguity. The 12-member ensemble reveals much effective compositional strategy … and just plain alchemy. The question is not if you like it but if you can tear yourself away from it.

The device with video and light projections is the best possible approach to this beautiful piece. Brilliant, energetic music, whose most immediately noticeable quality is its clarity… the language is open and attractive, very harmonically inventive. Five young singers, all excellent … an instrumental ensemble very precise and directed with great attention and we have here all the ingredients for a production of high standing.

It is the exciting orchestral treatment which wins through in this short chamber opera, with the shimmering timbres of the twelve instrumentalists of New Music Players, often bolstered by electronics. Edward Grint, recently seen at the Musée d’Orsay in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, proves very comfortable in the main role, while Lucy Williams [as Princess Death] leads the game with authority. Andrew Radley, as Raymond Radiquet, gives a good performance and is rewarded with a long soliloquy near the end of the work.

A Tour de Force, while at the same time functioning as a self-contained, portable festival… an impressive selection of works with various collaborators [results in] wide-ranging excellence.

Music’s most forward-looking, technically mind-blowing oboist. Anyone who’s ever heard Redgate’s playing knows how unbelievable it is, & throughout Electrifying Oboe he demonstrates again & again why he’s the most celebrated oboist of our age.

Just about every kind of extended technique is explored, the wacky accompaniments adding to the novelty. The result, however, is highly engaging.

I will gladly ac­knowledge that Christopher Redgate, who has for years specialized in avant-garde works for oboe, has amazing technique, and will tip my hat to the ingenuity of the six composers represented here. It is well recorded and marvelously played by all involved—no question of that.

The What’s new? factor is foremost… Kate Halsall has done a fine job coming up with exciting new music and guiding the live performances to a satisfying fruition … the results are stunning. The musical soundscapes-panoramas give us a sort of state-of-the-art window on ultra-post-modern-modern worlds. It makes for a beautiful listen. This set breaks ground and stimulates the musical ears in rather profound ways. I do not hesitate to recommend it highly. An essential offering for what, indeed, is new out there right now.

Eloquent, rhythmically taut performances… as long lines persistently implode inside obsessively florid detail. Finnissy’s supple clash of base diatonicism against microtonal encryption is powerful, weighty and unsettling.

Finnissy’s Singular Voices impressed me. The recital is remarkable. Clare Lesser has a pure voice that is used to good effect. Music is nothing if it is not about adventure, new discoveries and challenge. I am privileged to have been introduced to what are clearly striking vocal works that cover a huge range of musicality and emotion. [Finnissy’s] indeed is a ‘Singular Voice’.

The main attraction here is the astounding soprano Clare Lesser, who handles Finnissy’s nearly impossible vocal demands without blinking, while still maintaining beautiful tone and flawless intonation. A couple [of the songs] are vocalises, and those are particularly mind-blowing.

Intriguing… there is a great deal of sense in composers working in compact, tightly-knit communities of sympathetic musicians with electronics which have the potential to turn an instrumental solo into something symphonic in terms of sonic depth.

Most of the tracks on this disc are by Jim Hoke and they’re all delightful. Fauré’s Pavane is really lovely, and the Satie and Milhaud miniatures readily lend themselves to this kind of arrangement. This disc has been one of the most unusual and enjoyable experiences this year. There’s nothing but good feeling here, and it’s very laid-back and cool.. the kind of disc you might return to when you want cheering up. Purely for enjoyment.

Hoke and company let the good times roll. This is a delightful new side to one of the hardest working men in show business.

Spirited Estonian performers, charming British theatre music: a delightful mix. Selections from Decameron Nights show Hermann Finck at his best. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

As with the companion Monckton album the cast and orchestra provides crisp pleasure. We hear right from the opener that the small band is well attuned to the Light Music theatrical genre. You will enjoy this album of Herman Finck’s easygoing music. It certainly deserves to stand alongside the better known Monckton.

As with the companion Monckton album the cast and orchestra provides crisp pleasure. We hear right from the opener that the small band is well attuned to the Light Music theatrical genre. You will enjoy this album of Herman Finck’s easygoing music. It certainly deserves to stand alongside the better known Monckton.

Finck’s music and the sounds of the voices are very pleasant indeed. The orchestral and vocal interpretations are true to that era [when the music was written].

A musician worth hearing… an album of high-grade easy listening

Beautifully played… a wonderful testimony to the talent and spirit of a very remarkable musician