Reviews

Certainly very musical and original, the Suites deserve to be considered on a level with those of Handel at the very least. These are masterful performances by Rowland, one of Europe’s most senior and accomplished harpsichord experts. Highly recommended.

[The Suites] turn out to be worth reviving. Skilfully made and loosely varied in form and texture…, I found them growing on me as Mattheson’s personality became more apparent. Gilbert Rowland’s playing is assured, robust and reliable.

Peter Hope is a composer whose experience shows in his craftsmanship and idiomatic instrumental writing. His compositional language is at once evident; frequently episodic and lyrical, but also energetic and virtuosic, rewarding as much for listener as player. This fine recording, with very attractive art work on the booklet cover, is a very welcome release from the ever-enterprising Divine Art label.

A thoroughly entertaining CD, which very evidently totally engaged the players who are on impressive form.

The playing on this disc by the late Anthony Goldstone is stunning from the first note to the last.This is an outstanding disc that introduces the listener to a wide conspectus of French ballet music… every note is played with style, technical ability and downright enthusiasm. The sound quality of this Divine Art disc is first-rate… The liner notes by Jeremy Nicholas are excellent

A charming piece of entertainment, in which complex music is reduced to an accessible essence so well crafted it almost seems lightweight. It’s all delightful. Goldstone plays superbly, as befits a man designed for pianos… a rather wonderful CD.

I listened to this superb CD several times and each time I discovered something new and even better. This music is magnificent and goes straight to the heart. All in all, an exceptional album of heavenly music. I highly recommend it as one of the best CD’s of the decade.

Most of [this music] is for violin, viola, cello & double bass—an interesting combination. The two songs … are sung with beauty by Jess Dandy and accompanied by the quartet. It is distinctly influenced by styles of the Renaissance and seems almost totally modal. These musicians of the Sound Collective play it with beauty of tone and conviction.

A coherent and occasionally forceful, largely reverential whole. Carson Cooman is a nimble, nuanced and eloquent advocate.

Not program music per se, but it is meant to be a large-scale meditation on this theme [St Francis preaching about holy poverty]. He employs a motive (FDA-Francis d’Assisi) and several Gregorian chant melodies in alternating toccata, fughetta, and meditative movements. Cooman’s success as a composer for the organ is due in large part to his innate understanding of the instrument as a performer. He plays a large and wonderful 1973 Marcussen organ found in the Laurenskerk in Rotterdam.

Polish-born pianist Barbara Karaśkiewicz plays these four works with great understanding, technical aplomb and interpretive skill. It makes a splendid introduction to the piano music of Karol Szymanowski.

The performances appear to me to be brilliant. This is an interesting exploration of modern music for flute, voice and other instruments. It is certainly avant-garde: it is never off-putting.

A coolness that doesn’t quite conceal the hint of a smile. Sorabji would approve…. all about atmosphere. The Fidelio Trio is fine musicians with an excellent sound.

The songs on this CD are wide-ranging and often involve various combinations of voices and instrumentalists. There are detailed biographies of the performers. The texts of all the songs are included. The CD is well-produced with splendid sound quality and convincing performances from all the artists

This is a most worthwhile disc of fine, well-made chamber music by a composer largely unknown to the wider world. Nicely clear, warm sound as usual from this label.

[The piano version of Enigma Variations] will never supplant the orchestral version, but it is a pleasure to hear. It is splendidly played here by Elspeth Wyllie. The performance is superb in this eclectic selection of music. Elspeth Wyllie plays for all the pieces. Violist Alexa Beattie makes a fine contribution to the Rubbra. I felt that the cellist, Hetti Price engaged well with the Kenneth Leighton and Claire Overbury gave an enchanting performance of the Bowen Flute Sonata… [A] wide-ranging and thoroughly agreeable CD.

The key feature of the English pianist’s approach is more evident instability which pushes the balance towards the Romantic rather than the Classical. Boyle uses this ‘instability’ to invest the works with a patina of pathos and transforming them into a recipe of sound in which the lines of a past tradition from Mozart through Beethoven come through.

The artist who lives in seclusion in southern Portugal … conducts a coherent search, reflecting and meditating, in order to establish her artistic and aural approach. Her result is not typical because her interpretation and the fluency of her musical speech is highly influenced by a very careful, pronounced way of phrasing. So the fragmentary Variations become a continuous flow within which the alternation of the variations appear like scenes on which to pin the phrases: a legato, a rubato.. which prepare the listener for the format of the later and great work, the Art of Fugue.

The wonderful playing by Anthony Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow impresses with a great sovereignty, plenty of poetry, which takes Schubert’s moods into account, and just as much energy and drama.

This is much more than a merely worthy addition to the recorded repertoire. It is a fine collection of works, admirably performed, and of pieces imaginatively chosen and too rarely performed. Performances throughout impress. Stephen Barlow and the Northern Chamber Orchestra are on excellent form (Lynsey Marsh directs for just the Mendelssohn) and the collection will give enormous pleasure.