Reviews

Lore Amenabar Larrañaga has quite clearly mastered this accordion and its quirks…for listeners already interested in up-to-the-minute compositions, and with a taste (or an ear) for solo playing on a less commonly heard instrument, the CD will certainly be of considerable interest.

This is a fine collection of American choral works. There is sufficient variety of style in the program to hold the listener’s interest, and the choral singing is beautifully balanced. Alban Voices is a British choir who convincingly capture the spirit of these American pieces.

There is no denying that beautiful music is played and recorded beautifully on this CD…this is gorgeous, sensitive playing. Phillips can play Bach’s music for me whenever he likes.

Listeners… will find surprises here and there, as in the calls of the broad-tailed and blue-throated hummingbirds, the gentle swaying of the portrayal of the yellow crowned night heron, and the chordal quietude associated with the Virginia rail. In fact, anyone inclined to listen to this music with the same attentiveness that Cowie brought to its creation will find a great deal of diversity of sound and approach within the basic similarity of timing and instrumentation…this carefully made but highly rarefied bird study will prove very appealing…

Who knew there was a bird called the ‘Say’s Phoebe’ or the ‘Common Loon’? This two-disc survey of American ornithology is full of characters and each is brought to vivid life by Hashimoto with three different clarinets. Cowie is an endlessly inventive composer and this is a treat.

The music embraces the rolling landscape and its endless natural variety.  We can be in open fields and wooded valleys, beside fresh bright streams and rolling waves. The music is both evocative and grounded in this verdant environment. Listening to Flint Movement 2 on a dull and rainy afternoon, I was transported to a forest watching the sunbeams dance through the leaves – and then in the next movement I am on the bank of a fast-flowing stream. Such is the magical power of Ed Hughes’ music. 

Roderick Chadwick and Anna Hashimoto are inspiring in these recordings, both for the precision and clarity of their playing, and for their perfectly co-ordinated ensemble performances.

The musicians are specialists in this type of music – they would have to be – and present the music as far more than just notes.  Their endeavours are beautifully captured by the engineers.

Today we have an especially important new pairing in Romanian composer Violeta Dinescu’s Solo Violin Works as played with great finesse by violinist Irina Muresanu. The composer Violetta Dinescu fits right in with a long series of solo violin works that as experienced here really take on a lengthy and effective post-fiddle narrative, and at that violinist Irina Muresanu has a great feel for the music at hand and interjects an intuitive feel for the violin in its local excellence.

There is enough similarity among most of the cycles to make this disc a treat for aficionados of folksong-based art song and interpretations in general, and 20th-century British music in particular. Listeners who enjoy the chance to be immersed in this nation’s folk material and this compositional time period will be more than pleased by the disc

Shaw proves to have a very ‘natural’ tone and vocal manner; a way of conveying the folk-like directness and simplicity that he brings to his interpretations of these songs. His tenor has a distinctive and attractive tonal quality, and he sings with a directness and honesty that are by turns charming and moving. More than enough reasons to buy this lovely disc.

Edward Cowie is one of the most instinctively and naturally talented people I know of. Delicately scored for just two instruments, this music typifies Cowie’s approach. Clarinetist Anna Hashimoto really gets into the spirit of the music, doing her best to make her instrument “speak” like a bird. As a tour-de-force for the musicians involved I highly recommend it.

The remarkably poised, evocative Where the Wood Thrush Forever Sings is Edward Cowie’s third “epic cycle” of bird portraits. Clarinettist Anna Hashimoto and pianist Roderick Chadwick give a performance that is subtle, nuanced and always creative and revelatory. The duo are clearly committed to Cowie’s visionary, numinous achievement. The ideal recording enhances the recital.

Simon Mold’s ‘Passiontide’ is a masterpiece. It’s a strikingly accessible work that explores a range of emotions with a sure feel for word-setting and an irrepressible tunefulness capable of gravitas, poignancy and lingering beauty.

For modern music, this mostly sounds traditional. An enjoyable and interesting album with plenty of variation and not so modern that it will frighten easily-startled listeners.

Very good and anyone who wants an hour-and-a-half of relaxing and witty music should give it a try. Most of the music is melodic and tuneful. The tone ranges from gentle to the almost dance-able and on to the blues – everything from trad English folk to Braveheart-style Celtic whimsy/music. It’s not po-faced or serious, just some entertainment laid on for your delectation by skilled players.

Kurt Weill created a revolutionary kind of opera of sharp social satire. A collection of mostly less well-known songs drawn from decadent Berlin in the 30s, delivered by a world-weary vocal that is ideally suited for this.

A warmly produced and intimate-sounding collection of selections from Bach’s keyboard compositions. Phillips makes no sacrifices of rigor in his interpretations, which are both emotionally rich and stylistically thoughtful — a program that gently feeds the soul.

Mold takes the performers and listeners on a moving Passiontide journey, The music is accessible and would make a lovely alternative to the Stainer and Maunder pieces… The real stars of the show are the nine singers of the Knighton Consort who gave performances of maturity and sensitivity.

An imaginative programme, made up of many of the most attractive shorter American choral masterpieces. The Alban Singers sing expressively. Copland’s delicious I bought me a cat is done neatly, and makes an entertaining final track.