Reviews

Blake cites the strong influence of African musical techniques, melodic patterns, and rhythms in shaping these pieces. Australian pianist Antony Gray plays every piece with conviction and skill. The recorded sound is excellent. I can recommend this release to curious listeners interested in exploring new keyboard repertoire, but in a style still tethered to tradition.

This is a superb release, thought-provoking and utterly involving. Roderick Chadwick is a name to remember; his command and understanding of Messiaen’s use of gesture is complete. This is a commanding performance… one of the most perfectly programmed twofers I have ever heard.

Antony Gray’s achievement is not merely technical. He is able to sustain the attention throughout via what feels like deep saturation in Blake’s score. Structurally the set seems perfectly considered. This is one heck of a ride into a host of Africanisms, something truly different, truly engaging. It is probably heresy to say that I prefer Blake’s Afrikosmos to Bartók’s Mikrokosmos; but there we are, it is true.

Many things recommend this collection of American choral works… American Choral Classics earns its recommendation and then some, not only for solid performances by the choir but for working [Copland’s] In the Beginning into its varied programme.

She does bring much to these songs. At times there is a great depth of beauty, and an overall sense of understanding of her repertoire. I expect that many listeners will be impressed by Aylish Kerrigan’s sympathetic performances.

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.