Reviews

Alexander Ffinch gives a vibrant performance of Jongen’s Sonata. ‘Dancing Pipes’ is played with excitement and a sense of drama and attention to registration which provides colour to this compulsive piece. [In the Liszt] Ffinch presents a convincing and satisfying account of a work regarded by many as being one of the masterpieces of nineteenth-century organ music. An enormously satisfying CD. The playing overall is ideal, and the sound quality is well-balanced.

Anyone who finds the music of Shostakovich oppressive must listen to that of his eccentric student Ustvolskaya. Pianist Natalia Andreeva has researched and played the scores of Ustvolskaya for more than ten years. Every choice she makes here with violinist Evgeny Sorkin is well thought out.

The fine dozen players of the Mexican Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Lawrence, do lovely work on all eight of the concerti…. marvelously musical. The CD is elegantly packaged and impeccably engineered.

You’ve got to like the sound of the baritone. We’ve had some similar albums recently but this is definitely a cut above.

The playing is lively, spirited and devoid of any mechanical delivery that renders so many harpsichord recordings unenjoyable. The segments in the minor modes are given the right touch of sobriety and darker color. The phrasing is always shaped and well manipulated to reinforce the melody and forward momentum of each piece. Rowland’s fluid and well accented fingering never allows the music to settle into repetitive tedium, but instead seems to give repeated lines a slightly different inflection. All very well reproduced in this fine Divine Art recording.

Alexander Ffinch puts Cheltenham College Chapel’s organ through its paces in fine style. Its symphonic heft is vividly felt…[he plays] with the agility of an Olympic slalom skier.

As well as being extremely entertaining the album also demonstrates the universality of music in all its different guises as the true universal language. A fascinating collection of compositions.

The young cellist is as inspired in her playing as in her program.

Magical, indeed spiritual music that deserves far more exposure than it receives. The present album, excellently performed and warmly recorded. Miracles happen in track after track.. Don’t let this pass you by.

The opening work on this CD, A Prayer and a Dance of Two Spirits (2007) immediately appealed to me. It is a masterpiece. This is a fascinating CD. It introduces several diverse works by Robin Walker composed over a quarter of a century. All are enjoyable, approachable and interesting.

Artyomov demands all your concentration. Tone clusters, star-lit meditations, religious ecstasy, jazz, and even silly humor all figure in his strange, powerful, and sometimes frustrating music. Like a planet’s unavoidable gravitation¬al pull, his compositions have often drawn us in.

This is a chance for you to explore songs that will probably be as new to you as they were to me. They are very much in the tradition of 20th Century English song; they are well crafted.

I was impressed. There is a coolness about her interpretation that allows the music to speak without hindrance of any sort. Neither does she destroy the flow of the music with excessive ornamentation. I think it all comes down to her musical aesthetic which declares that Bach’s ‘music is for the inner spirit, for our deepest meditation’. The recording of the music is excellent and allows the listener to hear the interaction of all the contrapuntal parts and the articulation of the ornaments.

[The Oldest Song in the World of 1400BC] and the swirling Calligraphies are not dissimilar, and nor are people of 1,500 years ago if they appreciated this as much as a modern listener still can.

[Ustvolskaya] composed using unusual combinations of instruments, and often used piano or percussion to beat out regular rhythms. [The music] is atmospheric. It’s harsh in the sense of not being romantic but it’s not strident; it’s thoughtful and sad more than anything. Music reflecting on the harshness of life.

[The Symphony] is a massive work, in one movement but twenty-one sections which play continuously. The idiom is more reminiscent of Scriabin’s Prometheus than anything else, but is considerably more turbulent though shot through with moments of calm and beauty. [The Hymns] are set in very rich, indeed lush, late romantic-expressionist idiom, with very full writing for the choir and a solo soprano. This disc is newly recorded and very well too, in a reverberant acoustic which suits the music.

I was very taken with a disc of Artyomov I had for review last year so am glad to hear more of him. This disc is made of chamber works, all for unusual combinations. I found Star Wind beautiful and approachable. Scenes (Grand Pas) came as a complete surprise. The perky and witty music – not at all what I expect from him – is a jolly romp. I greatly enjoyed it.

Artyomov is an interesting, indeed impressive composer. Well worth exploring.

There is such full engagement and energy in all this playing. Goldstone and Clemmow never falter. They breathe and play as a single mind, whether at one keyboard or two. The disc’s closing track is perhaps both the most novel and amazing. Ravel’s version of Bolero for piano duet (that’s four hands at one very crowded keyboard) is simply impossible to imagine as it unfolds.

Intriguing encounter between early Romantic and “spectralist” … piano originals are energised and haloed by captivating new timbres.