Reviews

White’s views are provocative and refreshing: he wants opera to be critical, to create a space for utopian thinking, to make a difference to the world… there is so much to admire in what the composer tells us of his ambition. The music is crisp, emphatic in its lines, strongly punctuated, severely fragmented, sharply pointillistic, high-modernist in orientation. A group of superb young vocal talents [give] assured, fine-voiced mastery of such difficult vocal writing, so commendably accompanied by the instrumental duo’s highly charged performance.

A very well-chosen collection of music from the 20th and 21st centuries. Gemini is a superb ensemble, and Ian Mitchell’s clarinet playing is highly imaginative and beautiful. Warmly recommended.

The lovely 1629 Amati violin, featured in this latest volume of the intriguing Great Violins series from athene, seems an instrument with an ideal depth of subtlety and sonority to bring this music to life. Skærved’s easy virtuosity and his obvious deep love of this instrument facilitate relaxed and wonderfully eloquent performances of the music.

Devotees of the organ will relish the rich tones of Cooman’s St. Michael Antiphonies, the St. Patrick Silhouette, and his Autumn Sketches. Here is a modern voice, rooted in the past but with hope in the future.

Hayden’s music will appeal to more adventurous listeners… ambitious and demanding.. a comparable stylistic terrain to Ferneyhough.

Scores of incredible complexity… outstanding interpretations. Electrifying.

A collection of 19 movements for a solo string instrument explores myriad aspects of violin technique, played with conviction and finesse by Sheppard Skærved.

Cooman’s music… occupies a special, perhaps, unique, place in contemporary music. One cannot but admire the consistency of invention, the seemingly endless [stream] of genuine musical reactions to a wide variety of inspiration that Cooman’s music consistently delivers. , Cooman could hardly have encountered a finer or more sympathetic interpreter of his work than Erik Simmons, who has mastered the composer’s individual style admirably. Beautifully and most convincingly recorded.

FIVE STARS:
We enthusiastically welcome this new release. Three refined scores… Constant has a lyricism very much of his own. Riverside Symphony is diligently conducted by George Rothman.

A remarkable voice in 20th century music. Fascinating repertoire… some breathtakingly beautiful passages and sonorities. Superbly performed and recorded, this is a gem of a disc. RECOMMENDED.

Gemini performs with admirable skill and commitment. Most of the soundscapes are dark and modernist, including the uneasy post-romanticism of Clarke and Scott. Skempton is a welcome outlier on the program with folk-like tunes, resourceful scoring, and a beautiful simplicity that will remain with the listener long after the final track.

Turkish pianist Ucbasaran is not afraid to let the music rip forth in thorough Lisztian style. All of this music is intended to impress people and does so without any shame. Liszt was too fine a musician to overdo things, and the embellishments fit perfectly in the style. The Steinway D sounds wonderful, and the notes are informative.

Preludio del Ricordo is the perfect organ piece, with both variety and grandeur. It’s all pleasant music, I could listen to it for hours. Carson Cooman is outrageously prolific but maybe the inspiration just keeps coming, and a number of gems may be found among the many pieces. I hear a few here.

The most inclusive edition of this composer’s piano music so far… exhilarating account. Recorded with unfailing clarity and immediacy – a bracing traversal of music as engrossing as it is defiantly uncompromising.

You will never hear a more perfectly attuned and harmonious player than Skærved, whether with his instrument or in putting his considerable expertise at the service of the composer…. , played with flawless intonation and exceptional musicianship. This disc is just a joy from first note to last.

An astonishing performance of Gráinne Mulvey’s intense and impassioned song of praise. Hilliard’s wonderfully adaptable voice heighten[s] the pervasive air of urgency that Mulvey’s piece so effectively conveys.

The compositions of Marius Constant breathed a breath of poetry and freedom in the rather dry universe of the avant-garde at the turn of the 1960s. [Turner is] a masterpiece … absolute perfection of the Riverside Symphony… ideal performance of Olivier Charlier.

Skærved plays all the material on this disc knowingly, idiomatically and expressively. Hallgrímsson’s music is interesting and involving enough… showing fine command of the violin’s solo capabilities… to be worthwhile for more people to acquire.

Cooman has a fine sense of the organ’s capabilities and a clear comprehension of the many styles that can be used for organ works. Cooman’s poise and classically inflected style show here… Simmons fully explores the tonal and emotional colors of these pieces. Testimony both to Cooman’s skill in creating the material and Simmons’ in performing it.

Each work has a subtle profundity that will reward repeated hearings, and the Ebonit Saxophone Quartet is a top-flight Dutch ensemble whose artistry and technical prowess will impress saxophone enthusiasts and others. On such grounds, it is easy and expedient to give this disc a hearty recommendation.