Reviews

There’s something charmingly dated about this collection of songs from Roe. It’s a varied and interesting collection. The topics of the songs vary, though she seems to favour nature. Roe is also not afraid of mundane topics, whether it’s gardening or buses. Charming and very English, this is an entertaining set of songs.

[The composer] taught film music, and his pupils included Henry Mancini, John Williams and André Previn. And his musical style owes much to Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel… fascinating and imaginative. The playing by Alfonso Soldano is excellent and informed, and is presented with obvious enthusiasm and understanding of this relatively rare repertoire.

The recording quality of all these works is excellent. The playing is outstanding from all the soloists and the ensembles. Rob Keeley certainly has splendid advocates for his music. Stylistically, it is refreshing to hear a composer who has not succumbed to minimalism or a post-modern ‘pop’. Keeley’s music is simultaneously modern, traditional, enjoyable and challenging.

“Unfortunately [the composer’s] piano music has been largely neglected despite the fact that it is exceptional, impressionistic, and in the best post-Romantic tradition… never shallow, but highly suggestive of moods, emotions, places and colors. Played by the brilliant Italian pianist Alfonso Soldano. He is naturally attuned to the Romantic which makes him an ideal interpreter of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s music” – John Pitt (New Classics)

[Clarinetist Thomas Verity] phrases every passage with conviction, which is a delight to hear. Verity spins beautiful, lyrical phrases over [Simon] Passmore’s supportive accompaniment.” – Christopher Nichols (The Clarinet)“[Clarinetist Thomas Verity] phrases every passage with conviction, which is a delight to hear. Verity spins beautiful, lyrical phrases over [Simon] Passmore’s supportive accompaniment.

This new release on Metier is a welcome addition to the abundant and ever increasing discography of English song. Featuring a host of exceptional artists, , the disc is excellently recorded and balanced. . From the serious to the humorous, Roe shows herself a master of word-setting with thoughtful complementary accompaniment. . Tuneful and engaging, many of her songs deserve to be heard more frequently.

This is decidedly modern music that fans of more traditional classical music could get a grip on from the start. Overall, a modern, crisp collection of work but quite approachable and personable.

Cooman’s works are skillfully written with a contemporary harmonic sensibility that always yields to the melody. Simmons understands this and faith¬fully brings this great Baroque instrument into the service of a 21st-century composer.

Much of the music is in [a] quiet vein, but Cooman does allow the organist to let rip, as in the opening Exordium and the Gregorian Diptych. I … cannot deny the qualities which [John France] finds in the music: ‘beautiful, inspiring and seductive in equal measure … charged with wonder, mystery and a deep sense of engagement with the world of nature and society’. I would even add ‘ethereal’. The recording… sounds very good. I enjoyed hearing it.

“Nicely packaged, splendidly engineered, intelligently annotated and, most important, played to perfection by Alfonso Soldano, the album is a gem – one cannot help but marvel at the variety of moods in this ever-changing music. Alfonso Soldano proves himself a masterful interpreter of this music… [he] is a pianist of the first order and his Castelnuovo-Tedesco album a thing to treasure.” – Rafael de Acha (Rafael Music Notes)

Grange knows exactly how Gemini ‘sound’ and they are completely on top of the music. They play these challenging works with confidence, with belief in the music and, under the composer’s supervision, authority. One is immediately plunged into an enigmatic world but one so clearly realized and in which every detail is heard. Metier is doing a terrific job… and here delivery a nicely balanced recording. This is sometimes tough music but the disc comes with a highly recommended stamp from me.

This is music whose creative instincts are undeniably personal. Finely prepared performances, heard in a commendably natural ambience and with Grange contributing the informative booklet note. GRAMOPHONE CRITICS CHOICE 2006

Divine Art is a record company that focuses its efforts instead on creating very special things… Andrew Wright dazzles with his command and conquest of the pianistic mine fields of [these works]. The demands this repertory places on technical wizardry, including interlocking and alternating and cross-voicing from hand to hand, extended passages using massive octaves, unending arpeggios, and its call for the stamina of a sportsman are beyond the reach of any but the most valiant of pianists. Mr. Wright is one such keyboard artist.

[These three works] have a power and drama quite their own.

One is struck by the sheer quality [of Grange’s music] – all of it uniformly excellent. Gemini’s recorded performances of these three pieces are powerful and magisterial, and vividly realize the darkly urgent and intense expression of each work.

GRAMOPHONE CRITICS’ CHOICE CD: This is music whose creative instincts are undeniably personal. Finely prepared performances, heard in a commendably natural ambience and with Grange contributing the informative booklet note.

Natalie Schwaabe is a fantastic, even stunning, piccolo and flute player whether producing sound the usual way, flutter tonguing, or singing and playing at the same time. She handles all the demands with aplomb and artistic vision. Jan Philip Schulze plays the Dickens out of his parts, which means when you put the two together the result is a program you just have to hear.

One would expect a Polish pianist to bring an extra dimension of understanding when performing this great composer. These performances show that to be so… Karaskiewicz’s program offers a good introduction to the composer, and her extensive notes are worthy of the highest praise. Here is yet another great recital, a superb sampling. The plush fullness of the sound is an added attraction.

Trios for piano, violin and cello as well as smaller works by Irish composer Rhona Clarke are well played by The Fidelio Trio. The musicians are acquainted with the composer and her music, and have recorded lively and expert performances.

It is difficult to understand how much wonderful music Franz Schubert wrote in his short life… No less admirable is the perseverance of Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow – their concentrated playing, the youthful freshness and even carefree spirit that they elicit from this music; a spontaneity that never subsides. Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow invested a lot of dedication and talent in this exceptional project.