Reviews

You know you’re getting quality with Sheppard Skærved, recognised as a leading interpreter of music new and old, and regularly let loose on old and valuable violins. You might like the album because of Sheppard Skærved’s virtuoso skills or because of an interest in historical violin but you can equally enjoy it for the warm, varied playing [and] the warm, fuzzy and happy mood it creates.

“Fascinating and very successful disc. Throughout this compelling programme, one can readily discern the inner intensity of Sawa’s invention. This release is fully recommended. The presentation, as always from this source, is excellent. (FIVE STARS)

[Lupu’s] understanding of Ysaÿe’s idiom is total. Bonamy is a sensitive partner and the sound is good.

It is pleasant to hear these familiar pieces in a way that is different from the usual, and Soldano certainly shows himself to be a careful arranger as well as a caring interpreter. The arrangements are pleasantly done and the performances are well-paced and sensitive.

The CD opens with a seven-part choral suite titled Odyssey: each movement is based on a historical period of Greek culture and uses a representative text from the era. The second section of the CD presents nine art songs, sung effectively by mezzo-soprano Clare McCaldin and accompanied gracefully by pianist Paul Turner. The musical settings range from darkly austere to sprightly with motifs based on jazz and parlor music.

This commanding, almost regal selection of recordings from Burkard Schliessmann is a shining example of integrity and intelligence in music, welded to a technique of gargantuan proportions. This is a most thought-provoking set, overflowing with performances of insight, and beautifully recorded.

To my sustained delight, Schliessmann reveals himself as a Romantic temperament deeply motivated by both intimacy and intuition, sustained by a wholesome and astonishing technical resource… let me assure possible auditors of the miraculous power of spontaneity that permeates these realizations.

Schliessmann plays all of this challenging repertoire with an impressively assured technique that is always at the service of the music. Schliessmann’s interpretations exhibit a convincing ebb and flow, and the ability to draw upon a wide range of colors and dynamics to create the appropriate sound world for the work at hand. All beautifully played, unfailingly musical, and masterfully structured and paced. I found this recital immensely satisfying, and I am delighted to recommend it for your consideration.

Unhesitatingly recommended. This is really quite remarkable. White seems to have created not just his own voice within opera, but his own type of opera as well. It is a magnificent achievement to do so, and its manifestation here in WOAD is the height of compositional magnificence, performed by two musicians at the very peak of their powers. Words cannot really express my admiration for Kelly Poukens and Suzy Vanderheiden. The recording is everything one could wish for: vivid, present, detailed.

The impact of nature and Cowie’s response to the specific birds and their habitat have created a musical language that is unique. Like all great composers, Edward Cowie has managed to create a synthesis of his influences, and has added to them, and pushed well beyond. The playing by both partners of this violin/piano duo is revelatory. Engineer Jonathan Haskell has provided the wonderfully sensitive and always vivid recording.

Performed with considerable skill and sensitivity. The Laetare Vocal Ensemble, a 36-voice Dublin-based chamber choir, has no problem whatsoever with the genre-mixing elements that are pervasive here. Composers heard here appear to be steeped in Irish tale-telling traditions and accomplished at setting words appropriately. An immersive experience in elements of contemporary Irish music and mostly contemporary Irish poetry and tale-telling, its sincerity and authenticity beyond reproach.

This latest release from Romanian violinist Sherban Lupu whets my appetite for Ysaÿe’s compositions still further. Both the work and interpretation hold the attention. The technical demands made of double-stopping are dispatched with ease by Lupu, whilst Bonamy doesn’t neglect his piano’s tone even in forte. The recordings, made in Romania (duo pieces) and Latvia (concerto) serve the music well to capture the sense of urgency these performances deliver to reveal new aspects of Ysaÿe’s writing for the violin.

New music with highly original treatments of the relationships between the bird singers and where and how they sing. Skærved and Chadwick bring to life Cowie’s vivid evocations.

There ought to be more recordings like this… fascinating listening. Laetare are experts at maintaining a strong balance between folk, classical and modern styles, which they blend into a single consistent voice.

A new Divine Art CD featuring Sherban Lupu playing music by Eugène Ysaÿe is a fine example of works whose near-total obscurity is difficult to understand. Lupu plays the concerto with real panache, and Paul Mann provides sure-handed support – just as pianist Henri Bonamy does for the remainder of the pieces heard here. This CD is a remarkably engaging exploration of some byways of the violin’s past.

Dediu’s works on this CD are well-constructed and performed with a high level of skill.

Soldano’s playing is glowing and red-blooded, alternating a storming eloquence with intimacy. Soldano is a pianist born for Rachmaninov, making you long to hear him in the Concertos, Preludes and Etudes-Tableaux” – Bryce Morrison (International Piano)  CRITIC’S CHOICE CD

Perhaps the finest praise I can give is that I am not a violinist, yet I found this transfixing throughout. I would love to hear more Hallgrimsson. And, as a final cherry on top of this violinistic cake, the beautiful cover art is by Hallgrimsson himself. Sheppard Skaerved is magisterial in his command of his instrument… [his] control at the lower) dynamics is absolutely impeccable.

Anyone who has been collecting this series of discs will definitely want this one as well; it is worth the price for the Sonnenuntergang alone. Recommended.

This is a superb release of immense musical value, and a reminder of the stature of Femeyhough. Pace’s beauty of sound, as well as expression, make this a performance to remember.