Reviews

spirited performances… beautifully characterised playing

This recording constitutes something of an event in classical music. A significant addition to the catalog. Good sound and decent notes.

No shortage of [virtuoso technique] on these discs…Pavlo Beznosiuk’s energy is combined with meticulous tuning and an ear for a well-shaped phrase… should prove a benchmark recording

Avison’s arrangements preserve all of the fire and elegance of the original pieces, and the Avison Ensemble gives them brisk and lively performances. Highly recommended.

This work sheds true light on two aspects of the art and life of Avison – firstly that Avison was the foremost and most brilliant English composer of Concerti Grossi; and secondly his great admiration for Geminiani. Charles Avison was able to draw from the chamber sonatas a palette of orchestral colours which are among the brightest ever created in the baroque period. So: the brilliance, the fluent phrasing and tempi; the attention to tone and structure, delivered with creativity and grace, and a generous set of programme notes, make this an ideal benchmark recording of these Concerti Grossi. Admirable!

The Ensemble perform this attractive music with flair and intelligence

Charles Avison was one the most significant figures in eighteenth century English music. These are first-rate eighteenth century concerti grossi, and the Avison Ensemble plays them in a relaxed, very easygoing fashion. A worthy undertaking that whets the appetite for what might be in store with future instalments.

Two Avison Ensemble CDs are due to be released this week, one featuring the work of Charles Avison (12 Concerti after Geminiani) and the other one of his pupils John Garth (Six Concertos for Violincello). Charles Avison (1709-1770) was born in Newcastle and is considered by some to be the greatest English composer of his […]

The Avison Ensemble has already recorded Concerti Grossi, by Charles Avison, for Naxos and Hyperion, and now give us his arrangements for Concerti Grossi of the 12 sonatas for violin and basso continuo by Geminiani. These were discovered only six or seven years ago, and [Pavlo] Beznosiuk has finished no. 11, which was incomplete in […]

This set of concerti grossi is an important discovery. Not only is it a fine tribute to the art of Geminiani, but it also reflects the admiration for the master, not just by Avison, but by English music-lovers at large. These concertos give plenty of evidence of Avison’s great qualities as a composer, and one can only hope other compositions – such as his chamber music and vocal works – are to be explored in due course.

Avison’s Opus 9 and Opus 10 ‘Concerti Grossi’ are sweetly melodic, succinct and conservative. Led by Pavlo Beznosuik, the ensemble does its composer proud in a stylish series of sturdy allegros, graceful largos and delicate, attractive arias.

The concertos are utterly delightful for their serene beauty and melodic invention.[The Avison Ensemble] play this music with the necessary phrasing, tempi and stylistic rightness that brings this music to life. It is hard to see how these concertos could be better played. The sound quality is rich and reverberant.

The ensemble performs with simplicity, freshness and lovingly tended, authentic ornaments sighing into cadences. The concerti tumble out like pristine toys from a long-locked cupboard. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goldstone’s overall approach is convincing… it is D593 No. 2 that emerges as an unexpected highlight of the set, with its positively glittering right hand. In fact, Goldstone holds a special affinity for these shorter pieces: the Valses nobles, D969 are characterised by good, clean playing, a fine sense of the underlying rhythm and not a small amount of cheek on occasion!. The Adagio in E, D612 of 1818 is another discovery, a lovely piece handled with great care in the present instance

…outstanding readings that easily compete with the best available. There is both joy and elation to the interpretations–and an intensity and natural flow that is not always easy to achieve… a recital that cannot be praised too highly. Schubert lovers will know how to proceed

… outstanding sound, and performances never less than excellent, round out Anthony Goldstone’s series of Schubert’s piano masterworks… Goldstone holds his own with the exceptional recordings by Kempff, Uchida and Cooper. An additional plus is that each of the 2CD sets can be had for just the price of one premium disc. I heartily recommend that Schubert piano enthusiasts find a spot in their music libraries for Mr. Goldstone.

Goldstone is a Schubert pianist of exceptional ability…his notes on the music illuminate it and are of the highest standard…magnificent performance [D899 Impromptus]…no one has presented better advocacy as in the beautifully plateed and presented set of which this is the third and final part. Recommended without reservation

I must confess an increasing admiration for the playing of pianist Anthony Goldstone. The final volume in the series of Schubert’s piano music continues to reveal new depths to his playing. There is a refreshing, almost down-to-earth quality in Goldstone’s musicianship which leaves it free of pretension, artificial poeticism, or over-dramatisation. The resulting naturalistic quality of pianism benefits the music, it seems to me, and is reflected throughout this double CD, which includes the famous Impromptus and Bagtelles [sic], a delicious set of Ländler, and three big sonatas – including the Reliquie in a completion by Goldstone himself (though there is no experience quite like that where Schubert’s music is allowed to stop in mid-breath, where the composer laid down his pen). No matter; at mid-price, a seriously good bargain.

Anthony Goldstone has done some marvellous work in piano transcriptions of symphonies… I find his playing to be consistently pleasing to these ears.. as an introduction to the piano works of Schubert , this set and its earlier companion volumes afford a nice place to start

Anthony Goldstone is quite the superb artist, and it is obvious from these recordings that Schubert is very near and dear to him… it becomes clear that Goldstone has lived with this music and brings to it a depth of understanding.