Reviews

If I encountered any one of these sonatas on a recital program, I would be pleased. Allen’s music is free-form tonal, in the ambiguous way favored by Delius, seasoned by passing dissonance. He mixes traditional harmonies and unstable ones in a way that gives the music some degree of unpredictability.

Andrew Brownell’s program is, in some ways, conservative. That will make a lot of people happy, and Brownell plays these works very well.

Highly imaginative and captivating. There are moments of extraordinary delicacy along with moments of enormous power. The qualities that make Chadwick’s performance compelling include its beauty in quiet passages, Chadwick’s accuracy and clarity in the most rapid passagework and repeated notes, and the majesty of the mystical sections. Chadwick’s performance is a model of delicacy and phrase-shaping. The recorded sound is utterly natural. This is an extremely successful recording.

Andrew Brownell’s program is, in some ways, conservative. That will make a lot of people happy, and Brownell plays these works very well.

The music is steeped in the British choral and vocal tradition as it was before Benjamin Britten… beautifully sung by the nine-voice Knighton Consort.

This release is the kind of thing collectors live for: a large body of sophisticated work by a composer with a strong, personal voice, played with understanding and finesse. McLachlan is in total accord with Allen’s muse throughout, sound quality is first rate, and the music itself amounts to a major discovery.

These are pieces that one simply sits back and luxuriates in. I’ve been singing [Fritze’s] praises as a gifted composer mentally to myself and out loud to a handful of other people individually. I’m very happy to now be able to do so in print to a much wider audience. Peter Sheppard Skærved and pianist Roderick Chadwick make an exceptional team in bringing these works to light. Between the superb music and the equally superb music-making, this CD is catapulted to the “must own” category of recordings.

There is a sense of laser-like concentration everywhere. This disc of “music for mixed ensemble” by Robin Stevens is cherishable; the performances and recording are beyond criticism.

Recorded on the fine organ at the Pauluskirche, in Ulm, this disc presents a carefully chosen selection of contemporary organ music. Cooman’s command, both in terms of technique and musicality, is beyond criticism throughout. Recommended.

Bernard Hughes’ piano music is engagingly diverse with music ranging from the insanely difficult to that written for amateurs. Always intelligent and characterful, this is a disc of wonderful short pieces. Pianist Matthew Mills is clearly a marvel, his technique encompasses everything that the composer throws at him; thanks to Hughes’ intelligence and Mills’ skill, this is a recital to treasure.

It’s all marvellous… Gray is a persuasive advocate, and Divine Art’s engineering has atmosphere and impact. Begin listing your favourite numbers and you’ll need several sheets of paper.

So easy on the ear and relaxed, it at times just slips by. This is nevertheless an entertaining album, with top class playing on the piano and violin.

Second Child is a modern album that is both challenging and accessible, with some classical influences. Its more difficult sections are not all that hard and it’s an engrossing collection of music that rewards the minimal effort needed.

This is pretty easy to listen to; appreciating it and getting lost in the music may be a little harder. This is out on classical label Metier (part of Divine Art) but it’s practically sitting at the same table as Abdou Boni [a jazz album also reviewed]. The programme “contains much diversity and variety in its modernism” add the sleeve notes in something of an understatement.

The choir is in fine voice – the Whitacre sounds lovely. Copland’s In the Beginning [is] a discoverable highlight.

Bernard Hughes has a wide-ranging knowledge of music, married to an insightful and idiosyncratic sense of humour. Hughes and his virtuoso pianist Matthew Mills have been friends for years. The Bagatelles were composed for him. They are twelve piano studies, some of them fiendishly difficult demanding our full attention like the musical equivalent of plate spinning or complex juggling. Mills plays with joyful élan.

Jonathan Philips has carefully selected music that affords pleasure to listener and performer alike, ultimately giving rise to feelings of centeredness and well-being. There are 21 pieces in all in this album “Tranquillity,” all calculated to appeal to the inner man or woman in us all. And the performances are as treasurable as the music itself.

There are choices that stretch the imagination and avoid the “pops” elements so that this keeps an air of seriousness. The slow movement from Brahms Sonata 3 shows the thought that went into the program. With all of the interest in the choice of selections, these “Shades of Night” do what was expected of them, and do it quite well. Decent notes and good sound from the Bluthner.

Most of the selections are suites of short movements with descriptive written for playing as much as for hearing. What we encounter here is the even keel of the British temperament. It’s what makes it characteristic and distinct. The contents are practical, straightforward, pleasant, and consistently good.

Throughout her epic recital, Samsarelou is the capable and informed exponent of music that often gains from being heard in this narrative context. Of course, it is entirely feasible to enjoy each of the pieces on its own terms – yet however one chooses to approach it, an enlightening experience is there for the taking.