Reviews

Presented in fine form by the label’s first class piano duo.  A solidly straight ahead set that has everyone shining in this worthy performance and discovery.

Chopin’s familiar Piano Concerto in F minor… is here refreshed in a previously unrecorded version. There is no scholarly dryness about their playing

The playing throughout is exuberant… certainly a unique disc.

This is a very fine performance of an attractive composition which is potentially of great significance. Guido’s composition compares very well with Vivaldi’s in quality: it is varied, attractive, graceful and colourful. The fascinating background history is outlined in the informative CD flier. Divine Art is to be commended for bringing to us this little-known music, which is both historically important and beautiful.

Four picturesque concertos for string ensemble… some of them are very striking. They’re a whole lot of fun, and the extremely talented players who make up The Band of Instruments are a pleasure to hear. Very skilfully played set of fun, vivacious, diverting baroque suites.

Resemblances to Vivaldi … are never embarrassingly close: I was reminded more of Rameau. Soloist Caroline Balding is superb, her backing Band of Instruments under director Roger Hamilton wholly admirable… I foresee much enjoyment.

The movements are like miniature tableaux, in which one element blends smoothly with the next. This is the anti-Vivaldi, a sort of characteristic work that focuses upon the drama rather than the soloist. Director Roger Hamilton runs a tight ship, with good contrasting tempos, nice phrasing and an ensemble that is very much in tune. Their performance is well executed and I can find no fault with it… a first-rate performance of works that really do deserve to be more popular.

Here is a beautiful work, vigorously played by ‘The Band of Instruments’, a group based in Oxford that accompanies Caroline Balding who shows herself to be a great violin virtuoso. Giovanni Antonio Guido’s ‘Four Seasons’ might not show the musical richness of Vivaldi’s work, but this is nevertheless music extremely pleasant to listen to, in a fresh and sharp reading by The Band of Instruments.

Guido’s seasons are French Suites with many movements, not Italian violin concertos. The performances by The Band of Instru­ments are completely engaging. They have mastery of all the effects Guido comes up with (chirping birds, marching warriors, laughing Bacchantes, and crashing storms among them) and they play with energy, imagination, char­acter, and poetry. The recording is a real find and a grand evening’s divertissement. The musicians of The Band of Instruments prove themselves extremely fine advocates of this inventive music.

[Guido] certainly knew how to write attractive music, full of invention and lovely sonorities. If anyone is tired of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and I suspect many will be, then this new disc provides a refreshing alternative with thrilling playing. The recording made in New College, Oxford, is first rate.

Guido’s concertos place less emphasis on the melodic element as compared to Vivaldi and differ fundamentally in form. The Band of Instruments conducted by Roger Hamilton plays the spring time coming to an end in a cheerful and swinging way. The dominating violin solo sounds fascinating and is accompanied by the ensemble with detailed nuances. Trembling due to winter’s cold is realized by the six instrumentalists in an outstanding manner. The sophisticated and virtuous figures … are reproduced very precisely. Overall we experience a balanced interpretation, which does not strive for big sound, but prefers the search for small details.

It is refreshing to hear another composer’s take on [The Four Seasons]. A bright, clearly defined texture… [the ensemble] bring commendable agility, shape and energy to their performances… demonstrating close empathy with the music’s rhetorical language.

A scintillating recital of colourful miniatures. To hear Goldstone affectionately shaping with effortless virtuosity his own skilful transcriptions [of Tchaikovsky] has one relishing these timeless phrases afresh. Exquisite poise and timing… beguiling finesse and tonal subtlety

Each new release from Anthony Goldstone presents us with something special. If one adds the pianist’s literate writing and the fine piano sound, this becomes another feather in the cap of a true keyboard explorer.

In splendidly assertive sound there can be no mistaking the grand manner. Goldstone delivers some superbly judged shadowy-misty textures [in the Busoni] – a miracle pulled off with consummate and evidently natural skill. The Chopin shines in poised finery. The effect is completed with de luxe production values for the whole package

Anthony Goldstone has been at the forefront of imaginative recital and recording programming for many years. The real bon-bon of the collection is Grünfeld’s Soirée de Vienne; sheer delight from beginning to end! Lovely music to end a brilliant recording. Anthony Goldstone has produced a gem of a disc with glorious melodies lovingly adorned by both composers and pianist. The sound is just right for my taste and the notes (by Goldstone) are rich in both information and enthusiasm.

Several [of the pieces], rarely heard, are especially welcome in Goldstone’s most musical hands. None are played as mere virtuoso vehicles, though he certainly does not lack the technical ability to wow an audience. A most likable and satisfying recital. Goldstone knows how to get to the heart of everything he plays, writes his own entertaining notes, and enjoys excellent sound.

Tony Goldstone rejoices in these cascading miniatures as gloriously inventive and musically satisfying pieces in their own right… played like this one would think them to be bona fide masterpieces. An outstanding collection performed with exemplary grace and style.

Some stunning paraphrases, transcriptions and variations… absorbing flights of fancy. Goldstone is in typically impeccable form throughout

Anthony Goldstone delights us with A Night at the Opera. This is entertaining stuff. Virtuoso playing is provided by Goldstone