Reviews

Cooman provides a clear statement of the melody early on, followed by piquant, imaginative reworkings that keep the tune recognizable while taking it far afield as well. Erik Simmons is an exemplary performer, and the recorded sound captures the Sonnenorgel very well indeed. This is just the sort of thing that is needed to break the monotony of hearing the same old Christmas tunes trotted out in the same old unimaginative manner. Make this a stocking stuffer for your music-loving friends; cheerily recommended.

Badgerow’s technique is superb… how beautiful is Badgerow’s way with projecting melodic lines from within a texture! A bright, colorful voyage into music inspired by the sights, sounds, and dances of Brazil. Most enjoyable.

Composed in 1975, the instrumental sextet Ave Maris Stella is one of the composer’s greatest achievements. The Gemini Ensemble make this tough, knotty composition … totally compelling.

The performances by the members of Gemini are superbly committed and convey the excitement and timbral beauty of this music in a very impressive manner. Balance and blend is superb and well captured. This first-rate disc is recommended to active listeners with open ears.

Absolutely superb.

The String Quintet in C minor gives you goosebumps before the one-minute mark is even reached… Quartet 2 [is] four movements that hit the soul in a powerful way.

Peter Sheppard Skaerved has performed a valuable service with this release. This is some of the most important and best music written for solo violin of its time. The performances are heartfelt and spontaneous. Very good sound and superb booklet notes.

I knew at the outset that Peter Sheppard Skaerved and Julian Perkins had found the essence of this music and greatly enjoyed playing it. They have a wonderful intimacy and informality. They find things in the music that elude everyone else, and their interpretive decisions invariably feel valid. The intimate, warm recorded sound is perfect for these performances.

A nice compilation of works from Brazil… excellent programming.

The style is modern but accessible, even when crunchy dissonance is involved. The expressive range is wide…music marked by highly imaginative touches.

Delicious, and deliciously done… The performance [of Naboth’s Vineyard] is miraculous, graphic in its depictions and superbly alive. … [Interplay] is superbly effective and brilliantly realized by Turner and Trygstad … [Pastorale] is a deliciously evocative miniature in the English Pastoral tradition… a revealing portrait of a composer whose name should be better known; lovers of English music will not be disappointed.

In a way this disc is iconic contemporary music of our times – challenging for performers and for listeners but not unfriendly. You feel that the music says something and that the players believe in it. The recording is first class and the highly professional presentation of accompanying booklet and photographs helpful and serious. All in all a deservedly high quality product delivered from the hands of top musicians

Despite its diatonic roots, the perpetual variation concept and 70s chromatic serialism make imposing demands on [the] listener’s patience and attention … but people who don’t care about such things could still appreciate the sheer virtuosity involved. You will certainly value this excellent performance.

Intriguing new collection of piano pieces. The [Farhat] sonata would sit comfortably alongside music by Bartok or Prokofiev. [Tafreshipour’s works] show a considerable depth to one of Iran’s and the modern world’s lesser-known, younger-generation composers.

Gemini make a fine noise: playing with great panache on this disc, and with a clear affinity with the composer’s craftsman-like idiom.

An interesting and substantial album… technically impressive.

Great music passionately played.

Ave Maris Stella, written in 1975, is a signature piece and a tour-de-force… a sphinx-like compositional enigma, brilliantly decoded by Gemini.

Ave Maris Stella is one of Peter Maxwell Davies’s greatest achievements, and one of the most powerful of all instrumental works. It’s a tough, thrillingly sustained musical argument, and a piece that’s as challenging for the performers as it is for the first-time listener, but the Gemini players seem to be totally on top of its thematic intricacies and finely honed lyricism.

One of [the composer’s] profoundest and most luminous works…it comes over here with an idiomatic ease and brilliance that make the work seem truly classical. Vintage Max indeed.