Reviews

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.

While broadly tonal in design, Hughes’s music is not averse to more aggressive or hostile styles: listen to the vibrant third and fifth Bagatelles, for example. The composer [shows] chameleon-like stylistic diversity. Matthew Mills performs throughout with virtuosity and undeniable understanding of the idiom, and Divine Art’s sound is first-rate.

The instrumental spec [of the Clarinet Quintet] raises lyric expectations. These are handsomely met by Stevens… We must look forward, with some hope, to recordings of his other more resource-demanding works. There are satisfyingly full booklet-notes on each work by the composer. A composer profile and essays on each of the works completes the picture.

This is a most enjoyable and interesting album offering the listener insight into the breadth and variety of Bernard Hughes’s compositional output and his kaleidoscopic musical personality. But perhaps what makes this album truly special is the culmination of many years of collaboration between Bernard Hughes and pianist Matthew Mills, resulting in a deep understanding of each other’s artistic vision and an unparalleled ability to bring Hughes’ compositions to life on the piano, which [Mills] does masterfully with colour and vigour, humour and warmth.

The composer has every reason to feel joy in what is heard here. This is by and large music deliciously balanced on the edge of the void… . it’s a mark of the man’s creative engine that none of these pieces resort as a name to ‘symphony’ or ‘quartet’ or ‘sonata’. The liner-notes could hardly be more authoritative. These musician-collaborators, champions and, of course, Métier, should all doff the hat.

It would be hard to find a more sympathetic interpreter than Murray McLachlan. He consistently channels his masterful technique toward musical ends. It’s difficult to pigeonhole Allen’s style [which] at first may evoke Hindemith’s pan-tonal harmonic yet the increasingly full-bodied and sequence-driven piano writing is loquaciously “un-Hindemithian”. [An] excellently engineered and informatively annotated release.

The Six Suites for Solo Cello by Bach are generally regarded as the first and greatest masterpieces ever written for the instrument and here, they’re played magnificently. Tarasova plays highly technical sections with aplomb. We like the album a lot, and it ranges in tone from the timeless gravitas that only the cello can provide to lighter sections, and from the dramatic to the more playful.

This quality programme [is] a delightful album that showcases the range and virtuosity of Ysaÿe, with violinist Sherban Lupu a specialist in his work. All but one track is a world premiere recording and it’s well worth buying.

This is Bach, so this is classy music for people wanting to achieve a sense of calm. It is indeed calming and relaxing; It’s also got a nice organic feel.

Jenny Q is being lined up as the Nigel Kennedy of piano. This is her first album of classical pieces, after previously releasing more modern music. An impressive album.

There’s something very English about it all – a satisfying collection that strikes the right balance of being slightly challenging yet without being off-putting. A warm selection of works, varying, rich and complex.

English pianist Roderick Chadwick loves nothing more than a musical challenge, and he has consistently found it over the years in the music of Olivier Messiaen. Catalogue d’oiseaux is not so much music for its own sake as it is the application of musical technique, in the way of harmonic progressions and Messiaen’s unique concept of musical time. It seems to embody the essence of all Messiaen was striving for.

Roderick Chadwick’s 2020 ‘La mer bleue’ set a notable marker for the pianist’s credentials in Messiaen. These are amply consolidated in [this] follow-up. Chadwick projects [virtuosity] with unfailing assurance. An impressive achievement such as warrants urgent investigation.

The appealing ballet music of Sergei Prokofiev lends itself extremely well for a transcription for clarinet and piano. This CD is magnificent, if only for the always surprising twists and atmospheres which Prokofiev derives from his ballet music. The music in combination with the arrangement – because of its great impact of melody and rhythm – remains very strong, so this version will take some beating.

Testament to John Turner, whose work for the recorder has helped to put contemporary English music for the instrument on the map. Ensemble is impeccable, and there is a wonderful sense of play from Turner, who is also clearly a consummate master of the recorder. The programming is carefully considered. This is a massively varied twofer, then, and a testament to Turner’s devotion to and command of his instrument. The recording quality is splendid throughout.

The music of Ed Hughes rarely fails to impress; this is a superb disc. More proof, if proof were needed, of Hughes’s stature as a composer, all held in fine performances. Beauty and affection are present in bucketloads here. Hughes’s musical vocabulary is wide, and [he] very much has his own voice.