Reviews

a wealth of easy melodies… Monckton had a remarkable facility for catchy songs… it’s wonderful to hear [these musicals].. the wonderful score [The Arcadians] enchants in an attractive medley. Truly bewitching

London’s top selling musicals in the early 1900s… a trip down memory lane with such happy and chart topping melodies as Pipes of Pan and Come to the Ball

“It is seriousness of purpose that informs both of his [John Pickard’s] piano pieces included in Raymond Clarke’s latest CD for Athene (ATH CD15, following the excellent programme of the complete Brian piano music last year, ATH CD12) … Clarke – the Sonata’s dedicatee – plays both magnificently, as he does the two fine sonatas […]

This CD is almost unthinkable without [Clarke’s] expertise and persistence; the rhythms have to be acutely etched to keep the high-strung tensions tight and rewarding.  Clarke is the man here.

“Raymond Clarke’s superb performances are given a very fine recording perfectly suited to this highly idiomatic piano writing. Unreservedly recommended.”

dedication and virtuosic flair … First-rate recording: an excellent disc.

“Mathias’s Tippettian sonatas, the thorny No.2 in particular, make rewarding listening. John Pickard’s A Starlit Dome is an ‘astronomical nocturne’ of real imaginative resource; his sonata, whether in the smouldering intensity of Part 1’s closing variations, or Part 2’s sustained emotional energy, is the equal of any large-scale piano work this last quarter-century. Clarke’s playing […]

brilliantly played by Raymond Clarke, a pianist who combines an emotional commitment to the music with a prodigious technique.  The whole disc is enthralling… music-making of the first order … Intelligent and passionate music performed with great insight.

Raymond Clarke plays this very demanding program with spirit and dexterity… Mathias’s music makes a strong and satisfying impression and is well worth seeking out.

The playing is stunning… None of these works are easy – in fact they are all virtuosic pieces. There is no doubt that this repertoire is totally agreeable to Raymond Clarke. He plays this music with sympathy and technical aplomb. This is an important contribution to 20th century British Music.

superb performances… a very fine recording … a revelation.  The recording is spell-binding; the performances are staggering.  Clarke is in complete control – absolutely astonishing…  Unreservedly recommended.

stunning performance from Raymond Clarke… intense quality from a pianist who has that rare communicative gift to transcend the medium. Pickard’s Sonata is… a really important composition… profoundly impressive and deeply musical… Mathias’s Sonatas both exceptionally well written. The recording is excellent

This is a valuable reissue. The delicate sound of the instrument is a decided asset throughout… a good deal to enjoy in Katin’s undemonstrative and unfailingly musical playing. Performance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sound ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bliss’s Piano Concerto was first performed during the 1939 World Fair in New York by Solomon and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. (Vaughan Williams’ Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus and Bax’s Seventh Symphony were first performed during the same concert.). Bliss’s Piano Concerto is in the big romantic mould, as […]

Barnard’s playing is tremendously committed and he copes well with the many virtuoso demands Bliss forces on him. There is a great Romantic sweep to the first movement: the orchestra (inspired under Sargent) obviously enjoys letting its hair down. …Throughout, the orchestral detail revealed by Craythorn’s transfer is little short of miraculous. Barnard’s variety of touch comes to the fore in the last movement also, the effect almost spectral at times. …….Wholeheartedly recommended.

Jane Austen’s enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, music is well known and has formed the basis of previous recordings. This one, by the York-based Concert Royal, uses period instruments and presents excerpts from Jane Austen’s own collection of sheet music. This not only included British music. There is no Beethoven or Mozart here, but Haydn […]

This is a delightful idea for a recording… The non-musical items in the programme are done splendidly by the soprano Margarette Ashton… The performers are excellent. With original instruments joining a soprano voice that is small but admirably suited to the repertoire the concept succeeds. The well-recorded programme really does create images of the scene that we are intended to imagine. A recommendation then for an imaginative and enterprising CD

played with sprightly buoyancy and clean, crisp articulation, while the attractive final movements, often tunefully graceful minuets, are played with winning affection. Leader Simon Jones deserves high praise for some particularly elegant playing

Music that gives his contemporary Handel a run for its money

The music is so enjoyable… overall this is an attractive and interesting disc which can be fully recommended to anyone interested in early English music.