Reviews

enterprising programming…[the Wood].is boldly set out..fearlessly elucidated. [Brahms] is a careful, intimate performance… the players’ meticulously thought-through performance of Beethoven’s Op.11 trio springs to life in the finale’s theme and variations

This is a beautifully reflective interpretation. (Brahms Trio)… Hugh Wood’s finely crafted piece is a nicely chosen foil. As for Beethoven’s much neglected Clarinet Trio in B flat, op. 11, it is performed with excellent appreciation of its open structure and graceful lyricism. The recording does justice to an excellent team of artists.

The playing is exemplary and it is recorded in a warm acoustic. The disc is well presented, with good notes.

Bewitching -Modern Music RECORD OF THE MONTH March 2000

this is a very fine disc and well worth seeking out – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Donald Swann (1923-94) is particularly remembered for his shows with Michael Flanders (At the Drop of a Hat, etc.) but his genius was many-sided and this CD will extend the knowledge of his music for many people. Swann got to know the Greek islands at the end of the Second War, especially Casos in the […]

In [the Casos Sonnets] the island is personified, and the eight sonnets constitute a questioning, probing and existential dialogue between the island and Swann. They are, collectively, the key to his whole experience and to the rest of the music on this release. I suggest that you turn first to the last eight tracks, where […]

Barnard gives a striking account of the Piano Sonata, the capricious nature of the score captured with playing of mercurial agility. The remainder of this generously filled disc contains a brilliant reading of Busoni’s 24 Preludes, Barnard’s crisp articulation bringing an admirable clarity to the most complex passages. Recording ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Performance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

An outstanding CD

An unusual and welcome disc… [The Preludes are] inventive, well-varied pieces set within Busoni’s generally rugged pianistic style; the Bliss sonata is ….. a tremendous piece, its three movements full of dynamic argument, rhetoric and élan. Barnard’s playing is full-bodied, with generous pedal, a weighty tone and a fine ability to control atmosphere and emotional temperature. Performance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sound ⭐️⭐️⭐️

An important disc… it is good to have [the Busoni ] available.. the Bliss is very welcome. Recording ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Performance ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The sympathetically elegant Trevor Barnard’s your man… this is indispensable, and you are best advised to pick it up sooner… Sound is transparently immediate.

The individuality and allure of Camilleri’s brief set of variations [on the Paganini Caprice] serve as an accessible introduction to the unique music on the balance of the disc

an enterprising collection… excellently played by Murray McLachlan and well recorded – ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (outstanding)

To hear young musicians sing about love is nothing too very remarkable, but to hear such an accomplished young choir as this take on such a ranging wealth of music demands extraordinary attention. The Aberdeen Youth Choir (in partnership with a commercial sponsor) has provided youth aged 16 to 25 throughout Scotland the opportunity to […]

Young in fervour but mature in musicianship – dynamic control is especially impressive ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bach Transcriptions and Modern Australian Piano Music may not be the kind of title to bring in the curious outsider – it sounds rather like something for the specialist – but you’ll find this disc repays investigation. Trevor Barnard, British-born, briefly US-resident, and Australian-based since 1972, dispatches his Bach transcriptions with aplomb, but the real […]

This is a fascinating disc… [Galuppi’s] music is very tuneful, unpretentious and untrammelled by ‘early music fussiness’. They are far more appealing than Scarlatti sonatas. I have to commend the recording engineer who produces a close, intimate and crisp sound. Peter Seivewright gives us a splendid example as to how to play cantabile which all students and fellow pianists would do well to emulate. The ‘sleeve booklet’ gives an excellent introduction to the life and times of this gifted composer and whets our appetite for further helpings. Performances ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Recording ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Highly recommended

A revelatory disc… Galuppi’s invention is rich and fresh, and Seivewright plays these wonderful pieces with a sense of delight in discovery. Highly recommended. Performance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- Recording ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Here’s a project that better-known pianists and bigger companies will be knocking themselves for not having thought of first, for this is the first volume of what will be 10, containing all 90 keyboard sonatas of Baldassare Galuppi (1706-85) Here we have eight, in A Minor, C Minor (two), B I Major, A Major, G […]