Reviews

Palestrina sounds terrific under [the choir’s] care, as do contemporary works. Not every work here is a masterpiece, but the choir does its commendable best to make them sound that way. Maestro Johnson is the Director of Choral Activities at Northern Illinois. He obviously knows what he’s doing.

Clavichords are notoriously difficult to play well. Terence Charlston’s performance is miracu­lous, with everything perfectly in place; yet it does not sound cautious. This is top-level work. The result is one of the best clavi­chord albums I have ever heard. The sound, historical essays, photography, and the booklet production are deluxe in every way. There is nothing more to say… buy this.

This is a very important disc, one which deserves to be taken very seriously. The performances are beyond criticism, as is the clear and natural recording quality.

This is a unique recording in that for the first time we hear a clavichord in French keyboard music. It is also a groundbreaking recording … because of the possible impact on the approach to French harpsichord music in general. The programme is well put together, including many pieces which are unknown and are played according to the performance habits of the time. Charlston once again proves to be a very stylish and sensitive interpreter. His performances here are simply superb. I should not forget to acknowledge the efforts of the technical staff which has managed to make the clavichord sound very natural. Ample reasons to label this disc Recording of the Month.

Terence Charlston’s new CD of 16th and 17th century French keyboard music combines delight and illumination to an uncommon degree. Charlston’s playing is sure and vivacious throughout; the recorded sound is detailed and warm. The liner notes are unusually generous. Highly recommended!

Throughout the recordings, Charlston’s careful attention to details of articulation and ornamentation is impressive, and the range of dynamics he draws from the instrument should convince the most sceptical of the potential of the clavichord. This CD is an excellent introduction to this repertoire, much of which is still largely unexplored and unrecorded; it will appeal not only to the specialist performer but also to those non-players who are keen to expand their knowledge of less familiar repertoire.

This is a remarkably entrancing disc. Charlston extracts so many fine sounds, lovely sonorities and ear catching timbres from this remarkable instrument. This is a terrific survey of French music of the 16th and 17th century refracted through an instrument of many fascinating and attractive qualities. The recording is ideal; the microphones set perfectly with much detail and intimacy. There are excellent detailed notes by Terence Charlston as well as a beautifully produced and illustrated booklet full of facsimiles of the music and photos of the instrument. It is terrific that Divine Art continues to bring us such treasures as this.

Charlston’s playing throughout is sensitive to the music as well as to the instrument, drawing maximum expressive power from each on every track. The sound of Bavington’s instrument is lute-like, with marked differences in the various registers, the whole blending into a color spectrum that provides great clarity and definition to the music presented on this recording. The recorded sound is clear and lifelike – indeed, the entire production is a model for recordings of this kind.This disc is not only beautiful, it is important.

Peter Bavington has made a splendid specimen [of the clavichord]. One can not remain indifferent to the enveloping sound of this instrument. Passionate and at the same time reflective in his playing, Terence Charlston expresses in this recording a total act of love towards this so delicate and particular keyboard.

This is more than just an historical documentation, for the various works are drawn from a wide variety of sources. The result is a slow meandering of over a century and a half of music that is rarely, if ever, on a program. Charlston’s playing is skillful and interesting, with discrete and appropriate ornamentation and a knack for never obscuring the melody, no matter what sort of counterpoint is going on.

This CD by Terence Charlston is more than just a recording: it reflects a research project in a field which has been to date largely neglected. The sound of the clavichord is impressive. This is clavichord playing as it should be. A highly recommended landmark recording.

The important thing about this disc is that the instrument used is a reconstruction of a clavichord as it was described by one Marin Mersenne in 1637. This pleases me because what I hear on this CD is as close I am going to get to hearing what they heard back then. The booklet is packed with information about the instrument, the composers, and the selections. I can picture music departments wanting a copy of this very interesting collection.

I confess that I’m a sucker for the clavichord. Its sound is limited and idiosyncratic but definitely charming … clavichordist Terence Charlston uses the instrument’s radically limited expressive range to full effect.

This pleasant album is more important for scholars of music and keyboard buffs than your casual listener, though it’s a nice enough collection. It’s got a nice early music feel to it…it’s a music geek’s delight, as Charlston plays music of the period, recreating a sound that has probably not been heard for several hundred years: it’s how early French keyboard music would have sounded to the audiences of the day. You’ve got to admire the energy behind the enterprise.

This is an instantly enjoyable CD which will give much pleasure. Lydia Kakabadse writes in a spirit obviously based on both the serenities of Gregorian chant and Orthodox music. Add to this a mastery of counterpoint and a richness of ideas, and there is a distinctive voice. I look forward to hearing more from this very gifted and accessible composer.

Lydia Kakabadse has a melodic gift, and is able to present an interesting meld of musical traditions into immediately appealing music. The singing by the Choir is outstanding. They’re helped out by an excellent instrumental group, and some expert sound engineering. This disc is highly recommended; I look forward to more music from this fascinating composer.

A genuinely inspired vision of early sacred music with a movingly original modern flair that takes you back many centuries yet de facto and in its encompassing totality belongs to our contemporary present. Lydia Kakabadse is a phenomenon and a virtual reincarnation of an early music master. Her music is impressively singular. Graham Ross, the Alumni Choir and all the rest give us wonderfully mysterious and detailed performances that one does not forget after several hearings. Anyone who revels in early sacred music will find this program surprising and very worthwhile. Heartily recommended.

Even the briefest of encounters with these piano works will prove that [the advertising blurb for this CD] is not an exaggeration. [Statkowski] is yet another one of many ‘forgotten’ composers who deserves to be rehabilitated. Virtually all these pieces are attractive, post-romantic and ‘imbued with lyricism, poetry and noble tenderness.’ Polish-born pianist Barbara Karaśkiewicz has taken Statkowski’s music to heart and clearly has a great love and understanding of all these pieces. They are beautifully played.

An entertaining and lively collection of piano music. It’s got a real sense of energy about it; there’s nothing serious about this and no dark tones. We were a little surprised, listening to it more intently, at how complex the playing is. . The virtuoso Polish pianist Barbara Karaskiewicz has championed her countryman’s music, and she’s a formidable player. This collection will be enjoyed by proficient pianists, who can appreciate the complexity of the playing, and people who just like piano music.

One of the most brilliant successors to the Romantic genres popularised by Chopin. Hardly known outside Poland, Roman Statkowski’s music is full of sparkling energy, rhythmic vitality and a mass of wonderful melodies. The virtuoso Polish pianist Barbara Karaskiewicz brings a formidable technique to the glittering fast passages and is the ideal interpreter.