Reviews

A veritable treasure trove… Overall, the digital transfers are good… it seems like a good deal of effort was put into this package in keeping with its historic import.

This is a most enterprising set in that it includes a goodly proportion of virtually everything that Peter Warlock wrote during his short life. Roy Henderson’s delightful accounts of eight of [the solo songs]… some really outstanding items. A valuable issue… a comprehensive celebration of the music of a man who was lightly touched by genius.

Desirable collection of recordings… comprehensive booklet contributes some interesting information on the provenance of the recordings… essential listening for all Warlock enthusiasts, given especially the quality of its transfers. All the performances are ‘of their time’ and these recordings retain their value as documents of artistic achievement and undoubted historical importance.

Those looking for a corpus of early recordings of Peter Warlock’s music….will find their wishes granted. The transfers are first class and so is the documentation. This generous-spirited production hits all the right notes and the corpus of recordings it contains will enlighten, stimulate and encourage Warlockians for a good, long time.

Expertly compiled… a roll call of British singers of the 1930s and 1940s – a collection of outstanding and well-loved English songs

Barbirolli’s … Serenade… beautifully terraced and tapered. Two Purcell Fantasies… are each superb. With eight songs by Roy Henderson, we find a singer fully in command of his material. Transfers are generally good.. The set is recommended… for its omnium gatherum qualities

Enjoyable stylistic ground…[the Sonata] announces Fortmann as an unstuffy admirer of the colloquial American muse.. Fortmann is no stuffed shirt, no long-hair merchant, and no purveyor of tone-rows. His music is locked into jazz, and rock back-beat and the sinuous song of of saxophonic yearning. His musicians serve him finely, and they’ve been well recorded.

This album gathers together for the first time all of Fortmann’s works composed for the saxophone… [they] show Fortmann’s development as a key composer for the instrument. The outstanding performers include Marco Falaschi and the Berlioz Saxophone Quartet.

a fine sax tour de force – a composer who … deserves a wider audience. A real treat for the open eared.

This is an excellent disc of well written and imaginative repertoire. Christopher Redgate’s playing is dazzling throughout, and the ensembles with whom he performs are similarly excellent. RECORDING OF THE MONTH DECEMBER 2009

A stimulating recital of challenging recent pieces…all played by Christopher, the masterly virtuoso. Excellently recorded with clarity, this is a recital to capture a wide range of interest

[The title track by Finnissy is] fascinating. The other works are so good that the disc title is warranted none the less. Redgate plays with tremendous zest.

A stylistic survey of the demands that British music can make today… Redgate’s command of the whole spectrum of effects is extraordinary; the disc is sometimes challenging, but always engrossing.

What links [the diverse works] is Christopher Redgate’s virtuosic oboe playing

For a composer it is the greatest gift one could receive when an oboist of such artistic fervor and intellectual vision as Christopher Redgate proclaims his occupation of this fresh and vital new territory. This CD is a remarkable statement and an example of oboe playing for a new age. With an ambassador as brilliant as Christopher Redgate, the oboe has become a leading instrument in the evolution of classical music

If [in the Finnissy], the point is to reclaim authenticity from material expressively blunted through over-exposure, it’s a point powerfully made… Christopher Fox’s elegant Oboe Quintet weaves enigmatic note patterns…

This program makes high demands on listeners… not for the faint of heart, not for the timid. As a musician and performer, I recognize the high level of technical achievement here but this is the type of music that demands more of us that just passively expecting beauty to arise from a work of art. Worth finding. The music challenges us, and everyone needs to be challenged now and again.

the Trio is superb and in itself worth the price of the disc.. here is a real find

These artists know by nature than the text is as important as the music: all the principals play with the words in a way quite lost . The excellent transfers added to my pleasure in a set I had never encountered before. I recommend it as a second version in any reputable collection of French opera.

This classic recording… truly takes its place amongst the great Carmens of all time. It is hard to find a better version. The aura of Francophile experience permeates every single note… you cannot really go wrong. The orchestral playing truly comes alive in the fine remastering. Divine Art’s new Historic Sound Series is fast becoming one of the major labels in this much sought after genre and this Carmen deserves every success.