Reviews

Cowie has a strong Impressionist streak in this music but the coloristic elements of the music are everywhere present. Mead certainly plays everything quite adeptly, bringing out contrasts among the works to good effect; and the music is well-made, well-thought-out, and colorful – in a variety of tones, both visual and auditory – from start to finish.

Sheppard Skærved offers a full range of expressive and dynamic effects. Pienaar, meanwhile – as befits one who has recorded a ‘thoughtful, profound’ set of the complete piano sonatas (an Editor’s Choice) –approaches [these works], appropriately enough as keyboard works primarily, with all that implies in terms of rhetorical reactivity to the score. Sheppard Skærved and Pienaar respond in an appreciably volatile way to the burgeoning range of affects demanded by this music, and if you seek a compact presentation such as this of these six works, it could well fit the bill.

Birds… You may well be thinking “but Messiaen has already done it”. But Cowie’s approach is gentler, almost more loving. And what better way to capture such sounds than with a flute. The performances are astounding. This music is technically and musically challenging, not least in its need for a perfect ensemble.

From the first note to the last, listeners to this new release are drawn into the unique and distinctive sound world of the piano music of Graham Lynch. Music of the highest integrity, rich in imagination and harmonic, melodic and rhythmic innovation. A very welcome addition to the catalogue of one of the most original voices in 21st century British music.

Nonken joins the group of classicists who understand the character of ragtime and have the skill and temperament to enhance it in performance. Her playing is always ultra clean, precise, and well considered. I expect that Joplin would have been thrilled to hear Nonken play his music; I know that I am.

The proto-jazz form of ragtime is fascinatingly explored by pianist Marilyn Nonken. Other composers working on similar music sometimes collaborated with Joplin or sometimes had their works arranged by him, and Nonken’s disc provides an unusual opportunity to hear some of those collaborations and arrangements. What Nonken does so well in her performances is to differentiate the individual pieces, giving each its own character and distinctiveness.

Pure Cowie, and extraordinary Cowie at that. This is first-rate music, engaging the listener and always surprising him or her with the progression of his musical mind. I really enjoyed this album. The music is both complex and intimate, which sucks you in and forces you to pay attention to everything Cowie is doing.

From the opening crescendo of the first piece on the disc, Clarke proves herself adept at writing for massed voices. In all cases, Clarke’s settings fit the words well and allow the texts to come through clearly; and the fine pacing and clarity of the choir under Māris Sirmais show the music in its best and most-effective light.

Listeners unfamiliar with Östlund may be pleasantly surprised at the accessibility of his works and the consistent quality with which he produces them. And all the performances, by a very large number of soloists and ensembles, are engaging and effective. Inviting and pleasant to listen to, staying firmly in a tonal universe.

This disc will whet the appetite of listeners who are favorably inclined toward contemporary opera composition. There is not enough material on this disc to judge the worth of the two operas themselves, but there is enough to show that Cook knows how to handle various vocal ranges and typical-for-the-stage operatic concerns.

“Clarke here stakes a claim as a significant composer of choral music…. one of Ireland’s most cherished composers. {An} inviting recording pairs the composer’s choral music with the superb State Choir Latvija’s richly resonant sound.” – Liam Cagney (Gramophone)
Gramophone Editor’s Choice May 2022

The music here is suffused with a sense of loss and grief, impeccably performed by the Latvian choir. Beautifully done.

Exceptional release…: it would be difficult to imagine finer or more insightful interpretative performances than these. The individuality and approach of the French master is consistently revealed in these engrossing accounts.

There is no doubt that Tom Hicks is a serious musician, possessor of a formidable technique and has the intellectual capacity to master a relatively wide range of repertoire. Playing of consistent excellence supported by very fine recording quality.

Unique selection of music for clarinet and piano… almost all of it melodic and lyrical. Good playing from both artists. The recording quality is excellent.

I found Craven’s music admirably varied in mood and color, and thoroughly engaging throughout. Dullea continues her persuasive advocacy, playing with tonal beauty, textural clarity, and characterful phrasing. The recording provides a lovely, realistic, and intimate acoustic. A wealth of intriguing, stimulating, and inspired music making, both by Craven and Dullea. Recommended.

Soldano’s arrangements are very good. They don’t go over the top with virtuosic flair, but retain the musical integration of voice and piano. The creative aspect here is how well Soldano builds the complex sounds and voices of a full orchestra using just two hands. This great-sounding recording is well worth hearing.

For most of his life Eric Craven has kept a very low profile, concentrating on his teaching career and developing his “non-prescriptive” composing method, a style that allows the performer varying degrees of freedom. We like it — it’s interesting. He’s now released two volumes of easier pieces that are more accessible for both listener and performer. This second collection of pieces is quite lovely, a nice programme of gentle piano.

Peter Sheppard Skærved and Daniel-Ben Pienaar are ideally matched in presenting these works. Neither tries to outdo the other… these are intimate works pervaded by a sense of cordiality between the players – a sense of which Skærved and Pienaar are fully aware, and of which they take full advantage in these warm, congenial performances.

Kreisleriana, always highly expressive, gets a passionate and involving reading here: Chai is very impressive in the way she contrasts the hard-driving passages with the delicate, quietly lyrical ones. Chai makes The Alcotts a simple, genuine, rather straightforward movement expressing warmth, affection and a certain level of delicacy – a very strong contrast indeed to the Schumann heard afterwards.