Reviews

This disc, dominated by pieces for oboe (Christopher Redgate), takes one into a world where austerity becomes hypnotic.

this is a fascinating disc all round and nowhere near as difficult as Finnissy’s previous press might indicate. Give it a go!

The music manages to be totally disorientating as it compels you further into its web – pulling off such contradiction is no mean feat.

For the most part, these pieces eschew the more extreme manifestations of the much-mentioned ‘complexicist’ style, exhibiting a relatively approachable aspect of the composer’s musical personality.

George Rochberg’s Third Quartet from 1972 is a masterpiece that rejects serial modernism, going beyond quotation in a revival of the styles of Mahler and Beethoven. The Quartet is no postmodern pastiche either… powerful advocacy from The Kreutzer Quartet.

The members of the Kreutzer Quartet handle [the challenges of the Schwartz] with breathtaking sensitivity. In the Kreutzer’s hands the Bellagio Variations receive a wonderfully nuanced performance, by turns (and sometimes all at once) taut, luxurious, witty and ferocious, entirely befitting the wilfully disorienting, dream-like nature of the music.

George Rochberg’s String Quartet no. 3 is one of the great essays in this medium of the latter half of the 20th century. How wonderful to hear the Kreutzer Quartet perform this influential work. Schwartz [in the Variations] twists all the knobs, from spiky to sentimental, to keep the listener engaged throughout. This is a keeper album.

Sadie Harrison has an original imagination that expresses itself in a fluent, thoughtfully poetic language.

Michael Finnissy has restored the art of the piano transcription, and his versions of Gershwin standards have become the most frequently performed of all his voluminous piano output. Ian Pace’s playing is faithful and technically exemplary.

Fascinating, and certainly among Finnissy’s most individual and enduring creations.

Ian Pace is convincing in all idioms here, while Amanda Crawley conveys the nonsense most entertainingly… a thoroughly entertaining presentation of the work of this quirky and inventive British composer.

a thoroughly entertaining presentation of the work of this quirky and inventive British composer.

It will be difficult to beat, with first-class playing and admirable recording, and at mid-price the short playing time should not be an issue. Very strongly recommended.

Metier are again to be commended for their exploration of neglected repertoire… Powerful performances of astonishingly neglected quartets. Performance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sound ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The nine voices of Voces Sacrae display consummate musicianship, sensitivity and technical control. The result is a disc of real pleasure both in the quality of the singing and the programme which, perhaps surprisingly for such a small group, suits Voces Sacrae to a tee. David Lefeber’s sympathetic recording further enhances what is already a wonderful sound.

The disc demonstrates the continuing evolution of the English choral tradition.

All of these works are given strong, highly committed performances by John Turner and his ensemble, with Alison Wells being worthy of particular praise for her confident vocal delivery. The recording is well focused and natural. I very much hope that Metier and the same artists have more in store for us in the future.

Animal Heaven puts together a rather neat collection of fresh-textured works

Philip Mead re-energised ideas about the Concord Sonata with an off-the-leash recording that leaves the thrills multiplying. Philip Mead’s performance is loud, rude and jammed with idiosyncratic corners. Charles Ives would have been hugely appreciative and admiring. GRAMOPHONE’S TOP CHOICE RECORDING

Perhaps providing the finest interpretation of the two piano sonatas on disc… Philip Mead is in his element, dexterously flying through those glittering dissonances and freely enjoying Ives’s unstilted ragtime motifs. CLASSICAL CD OF THE WEEK