Reviews

A rich feast to get your teeth into. Gemini’s latest release is one to indulge in. There is a lot going on, and stimulatingly so. This is a beast of an album… gloriously rich process… expertly spearheaded by Gemini’s director and clarinettist, Ian Mitchell. There even seems to be a glowing, molten quality in Mitchell’s playing here, reflected in the fullness and momentum of Gemini’s playing throughout.

A number of first recordings of Saint-Saëns music, introducing a large body of keyboard gems to a new audience. These albums [vols 1 & 2] are a fitting tribute to a composer whose music remains unfashionable, underrated and long overdue for reappraisal.

Fine playing and sound make this unhackneyed tuneful 17-track selection a worthy addition to the Joplin discography.

This stylistically uniform and yet versatile presentation of Schliessmann’s pianistic work succeeds, which, through the pianist’s highly personal views, brings us closer to masterpieces from different eras in a very human way and invites us to explore them. In the recordings he shows himself to be a pianist with a strong character who knows how to shape the works according to his ideas. These older recordings shine with new mastering in fresh splendor, so that they are now given the soundworld they deserve.

Successive hearings could reveal [Sonata Romantica] to be one of the great Romantic cello sonatas in English music. Cellist Nicholas Trygstad and pianist David Jones are sympathetic to Stevens’s complex, technically demanding and often wide-ranging music. The recital is helped by a vibrant and clear recording. An absorbing and satisfying combination.

As always, with Cooman, very musical. An interesting CD.

White’s latest opera is a dazzling tour-de-force. Technically complex, dazzling in its confidence at writing for just soprano and saxophone, philosophically deep this is a work that eludes definition. Poukens and Vanderheiden impress with their performances, both the technical grasp of the music and their sense of White’s idiom Stand back and simply enjoy the sheer variety on offer here.

Gráinne Mulvey produces a captivating vocal piece handling with finesse the sculpturing of musique concrète. The composer handles electronics with a highly masterful inventiveness to create a universe of psychic compression presenting these vocal expressions in a grand sonority.

Extraordinarily imaginative and diverse sequence of pieces depicted with the same precision and strength of emotional response as in the composer’s beautiful illustrated graphic sketched notes. A fantastically vivid musical illuminated bestiary, or aviary.

Eric Craven is a composer who knows his own mind but doesn’t impose his own will. There are no key signatures and the performer can decide their own tempo, dynamics, phrasing, articulation and pedalling. Mary Dullea is a distinguished musician and recording artist who appreciates the freedom this gives but she’s keen to let the music speak for itself.

The eclectic nature of the composer means that something interesting is never far away. In many ways the album is defined by the closing piece A Birthday Trifle, as you think that anyone who can write something this joyful deserves a listen, helping the listener get over the more challenging modern sections. Well worth a listen if you like some modernity.

Soldano… is good. [He] is obviously a world-class player, and his piano expressive and vibrant. A nice collection of romantic piano music played really well.

Abundant monumentalism but also soft, rounded brushstrokes, made crystalline. Burkard Schliessmann is one of the currently most appreciated and interesting German pianists at an international level. Artistic interpretation 4/5; Technical value 4/5.

Skaerved’s imaginative accounts of the music on a wonderful 17th-century violin are lovely airy readings, lightweight but eloquent. a genuinely intriguing musical journey and a fascinating window opened on the world of the early violin.

Cowie seems to neatly sum up a bird’s personality and behaviour, before almost invariably closing with some surprisingly close and accurate evocation of its song, as though giving his birds the last word. The results are imaginative, captivating and really very moving. Cowie could hardly have hoped for more committed, persuasive interpreters than Peter Sheppard Skærved and Roderick Chadwick. This is a disc of quiet wonders, captured in close, detailed sound.

This is a pleasing way to spend 73 minutes. Peter Sheppard Skaerved plays with a warm intimacy; and, as usual, his booklet notes are models of musicological research but not dry.

The concert is very good. White serves up colorful, sparkling, and idiomatic arrangements; and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia executes them with great aplomb and panache. Scott is solid in his soloist role, offering excellent technique and nice phrasing.

The movements are quite short, and each is distinct and intense [but] the cycle creates a surprisingly satisfying musical whole.. There is always a recognisable musical voice and whilst a lot of the material is spiky and tonally free, Cowie certainly does not shy away from tonality and lyricism. The results can, at times, be remarkably visual. The performances from Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Roderick Chadwick are exemplary, sympathetic and committed, lyrical and virtuoso.

A collection of dynamite recordings… his Schumann recordings call for special recognition. An inspiring triumph of faith and art. For yours truly, a nice revelation.

A diverse, atmospheric album,, with excellent performances by Laetare, Denvir and the poets.