Reviews

This is a great resource for representing British contemporary music. Ronald Woodley should be congratulated on actively expanding the music available today for the basset horn and bass clarinet.

I did smile to see the conductor was Shea Lolin…so even before I pressed play, I knew I was in for a treat. I was not disappointed; the recorded sound is great and the ensemble playing is superb with lovely dynamic contrasts, great articulation…All five pieces on the album are world premiere recordings and all are deeply descriptive in nature.

The recording quality is second to none and compliments the often intimate nature of these improvisations…I enjoyed this release immensely…The impact is sensuous, inventive and often fantastic.

Beville’s playing is excellent, fast yet delicate and agile, capturing both the whimsy of the shorter pieces and the reverence of others.

This is an approachable album of American choral works…the variety…makes for an enjoyable programme.

Without invoking the names of poets Coleridge and Poe, nor the contemporary musician Berlioz, Schliessmann raises the deliberate ambiguities, harmonic and structural, in Schumann’s oeuvre that invoke the darker hues of imaginative expression.… Schliessmann’s realizations of the Schumann scores, therefore, bear the agogic and polyphonic textures that invoke menace and uncertainty, even while an otherwise placid surface presents itself, as in the familiar Arabeske in C. The recording from Berlin’s Teldex Studios, utilizing the Dolby Atmos process, has done Schliessmann’s keyboard good service.… Highly recommended, both to read and to audition.

With Robert Schumann: Fantasies, Burkard Schliessmann has opened up new horizons for Schumann interpretation. His performances combine the intellect necessary to understand Schumann’s music, the highest level of poetry and just the right instinct for timbres, agogics and tempo.

Captured in superlative sound, his Steinway instrument is caught magnificently…Under Schliessmann’s fingers, the music seems to strive for an unknown other, and yet the search emanates from a heart at peace. Burkard Schliessmann, in his finest offering yet, offers a homage to Schumann for the ages.

“…an exceptional performance here…This is an impressive recital that ’parallels’ old and new favourites.”

Burkard’s pianism is, as always, a thing of beauty to behold, at once limpid and limned, while always equally as constant in attention to the demands and details of the score as to the emotions and expressive gestures the written notes imply. In my experience, Burkard Schliessmann’s Schumann may be equaled by two or three pianists past—Richter, Horowitz, and especially Arrau—but he is not surpassed by any of them.

…music that lives in its own fleeting dimension, and which is superbly recorded in glowing detail.

Carmichael writes in an accessible post-Romantic style. The tonal structure of his music is easy to follow — but never cliche. What I found most appealing about Carmichael’s music was its honesty. Carmichael is straightforward in his intent. And the clarity of that intention makes his music appealing.

This is the kind of release that excites me…Because it’s a document we’re privileged to have…artists can learn from Muresanu’s informed performances. These works push the limits of the instrument, and a little beyond. And yet they have a lyrical quality to them. These are indeed definitive performances. And ones not to be missed.

The playing of both performers [Andrew West, Ronald Woodley] is beyond reproach. Given a crystal-clear recording, this excellent Métier disc makes the perfect case for some striking, challenging and ultimately rewarding music.

Do you have to warn against music about which a violinist declares: “She has discovered tones and sounds, that they think don’t exist on the violin?” The danger of shock is obvious with contemporary music – but not when it is by Violeta Dinescu. For all the complexity of her music, Dinescu doesn’t technically falter.

A highly impressive recording project has been realized by Gilbert Rowland and his team. Rowland performs the suites with great attention to detail, and…very tasteful and artistically…

Trevor Alexander has a pleasant, light, tenorish baritone and he has excellent diction…one appreciates that it was obviously a labour of love for the two artists involved…there are some interesting discoveries (and re-discoveries) here.

The large woodwind ensemble is a rare beast in Europe (there are more in the United States); the members of the Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble are wonderful advocates of this music with their dexterous and bravura playing. All of the works are receiving their world première recordings. This colourful collection is warmly recommended.

…a delightful selection of contemporary works…the clarity of articulation and precision of the players is in evidence…As an exceptional demonstration of the often neglected range that wind music can deliver, and with such commandingly expert performances from [Shea] Lolin and the Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble, this has to be highly recommended.

This is a generous recital of 21 songs composed by English composers…Trevor Alexander’s voice is one I can listen to without hesitation, and with much pleasure, and he is aided and abetted by the very sensitive Peter Crockford.