Reviews

Imaginative…attractive… deeply moving. The performances could hardly be improved upon. Diction is clear, the choral sound is very well blended, and the music-making is both musically and dramatically satisfying. In sum, this release is one of the most enjoyable collections of new choral music that I have encountered in quite some time.

Mary Dullea, unfailingly grasping this music’s interest, shades her playing beautifully.

I can recommend this release. For myself, I found much to enjoy. Outstanding performances. Excellent notes from the composer comprise the accompanying booklet, and the recorded sound is very well balanced and clean.

Young Italian pianist Stefania Argentieri makes a strong impression with both her technical confidence and her interpretive flexibility, providing confident, high-contrast performances that are more varied in perspective than those of many competitors in this repertoire. She certainly knows how to mine the Romantic underpinnings of this music and she can sing out Prokofiev’s lyricism with disarming. But there’s nothing weak about the playing: the climaxes are solid, the technical challenges surmounted. Argentieri shows herself to be a newcomer well worth your attention.

{Artyomov’s} music has staying power, perhaps because of its spiritual strength. Even in these chamber works, one can hear the massiveness and depth of his imagination. If you have not started exploring it, please consider doing so soon.

Played with quiet perfection… An impeccable technician, at soft dynamic levels Chris Gekker makes his trumpet sound smooth-edged and radiant. He also has incredible control at fortissimo. I really enjoy Moon Marked and I think readers will want to own it

Well-played… highly interesting. Listeners will find much to enjoy here, including a presentation in which violin, cello and piano are all handled with a very high level of skill and a great deal of involvement in the music.

The performance of these three works impressed me. I did not know any of them, so it was a great opportunity for me to discover three noteworthy and well-written pieces. This worthy packaging of three vital Polish chamber works will surely entertain and move the listener.

The performance here is ideal. The liner notes by the pianist are excellent. All in all, this is a superb album: three exceptional works skilfully played… a perfect recital.

The instrumental ensembles add much colour or atmosphere. They vary amazingly too. The song arrangements [are] sung with sparkling clarity by Lesley-Jane Rogers.

From one piece to another, the language surprises with its variety, even if it remains suggestive, accessible, consonant, generous. James Whitbourn knows how to communicate. remarkably interpreted… speaks to the heart and will conquer you.

This is one for those of you who like to turn the stereogram up loud and listen to cracking tunes to which you can hum along. The four-handed playing gives it the energy that a 50% reduction in hands to a lone collection of digits would struggle to do.

[These works] embody a diverse range of treatment — perhaps the fullest and profoundest compendium of keyboard counterpoint before J.S. Bach. [The clavichord’s] sound and capabilities are remarkably well-suited to Froberger’s textures. The playing is exemplary. Each piece is taken on its own terms, grounded in deep and patient understanding of its characteristics. This is very fine playing, beautifully recorded.

The four pieces on this release unfold with a powerful sense of inevitability and they all benefit from the Kreutzer Quartet’s outstanding technical skill. Intricately constructed work of considerable refinement, rendered here with immense concentration and inventiveness… great sensitivity and expressive subtlety.

Five Stars: Malcolm Lipkin was a fine composer and this generously filled disc presents a rich selection from his chamber and instrumental output. This satisfying, carefully planned composer portrait is warmly recommended.

The wide dynamic palette echoes a Schubert who wanted, with these two works, to “clear the flight towards the great symphony”. The texture captivates, suggests individualities and unfolds beautiful lines, swinging between mystery, worry and melancholy.

Assembled in exemplary fashion.. The comparatively limited instrumental complement is employed skillfully by all the composers, and both the singing and the playing are very fine. A considerable number of well-thought-through settings that provide listeners who have a taste for modern British chamber music with the chance to hear quite a few interesting examples of it.

The performers are very fine throughout this well-made recording which provides an interesting chance to hear an accomplished composer’s way of handling woodwinds in a modern chamber-music context.

Strong recommendation … simply outstanding.

Vivid inventions.