Tenor Robert Murray and pianist Andrew West team up for this wonderful performance of Schubert’s first song cycle.

Related Artists: Robert Murray, Andrew West

Catalogue No: 5060192780628

Reviews

Played with virtuosity, sung with beauty and fearlessness, and interpreted with wit and discernment, this is a Die schöne Müllerin in which Müller’s words and Schubert’s music sound astonishingly new. (Voix des arts)

Robert Murray, fresh from courting Mabel in ENO’s Pirates of Penzance, tries his luck again, this time as Lakmé’s suitor, Gérald. The tenor is in excellent voice these days and his account of “Ah! viens dans la forêt profonde” was unwavering and passionate (What’s on Stage)

Fflur Wyn [was] complemented by the warm honeyed tenor of Robert Murray as the smitten army officer. Their duets were as pleasurable as their arias, and both demonstrated an elegant sense of Gallic style (The Telegraph)

Well-paced violins supported the splendid depiction of Jephtha by Robert Murray. His superb florid semiquaver passages in true baroque style were a delight (Birmingham Post)

But the evening’s most elegant singing came from Robert Murray as the Steersman (The Telegraph)

Related Artists: Katja Webb, David Wickham

Catalogue No: 5060192780611

Reviews

New settings of World War I poetry for baritone by English composer Ronald Corp

Related Artists: Ronald Corp, Stephan Loges, The Maggini Quartet

Catalogue No: 5060192780604

Reviews

Praise for Ronald Corp’s Dhammapada CD:

an expert choral hand at work (Gramophone)

Album of the Week (The Independent)

An artless quality informed but not stifled by western choral tradition – *****  (Classic FM Magazine)

New works for baritone and harp by English composer Michael Stimpson

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Related Artists: Roderick Williams, Sioned Williams, Michael Stimpson

Catalogue No: 5060192780550

Reviews

A hundred yards from where I sit writing this is a pub whose main claim to fame is that Dylan Thomas is said to have got so squiffy one night that he wandered off leaving the only manuscript of Under Milk Wood on the bar stool. Several local pubs have similar stories. So when a press release turned up announcing the recording of a Dylan Thomas song cycle, it had my full attention. Michael Stimpson’s Dylan tells the poet’s story from Welsh childhood through alcoholic struggles to New York death, prefacing each song with spoken Dylan. It was recorded at the Llandudno Festival, where the warm-voiced Roderick Williams and brilliant harpist Sioned Williams put in a superb performance of a winning work. But it was the other work on the disc that caught my breath, not just through the beauty of the music but because of the incredible story it tells. This was a new one on me, how in 1965 a rural Welsh community was flooded to create a reservoir for Liverpool. The village of Capel Celyn was one of the last Welsh-only speaking communities, so the proposal caused quite a stink, but went ahead regardless. Do a search for Capel Celyn and you will find some poignant footage – it’s surprising the Welsh nationalists did not use it as a recruiting show-reel. Half a century later, it seems the story is all but forgotten. Michael Stimpson stirs memories with The Drowning of Capel Celyn, a work for solo harp which is a marvellous listen for an innocent ear. Listen with knowledge of the story, though, and it is unbearably sad. The work was written for harpist Sioned Williams’ 60th birthday. Principal harp of the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 1990, she remembers sitting on the banks of Capel Celyn as a girl with her trade union leader grandfather, who told her of the efforts to stop the flooding. Her playing is superb, drawing the full resonance of the harp throughout its range. A fitting memorial to a shameful episode, the recording is out on Stone Records, the first of three CDs of the work of Michael Stimpson. (Classical Music)

The London-born and Wiltshire-resident composer Michael Stimpson has an unusual and in many ways inspiring biography. He initially studied Zoology and Botany whilst developing a high level of skill as a guitarist. In his mid-twenties he suffered a catastrophic illness which left him registered blind and unable to play the guitar to his erstwhile standard. Eventually, between 1993 and 1997, he undertook postgraduate studies in composition at the University of Southampton; so, presumably, only in his late forties did he come to embrace composition as his primary occupation. Alongside facts such as these, Stimpson’s website tells us that his stimulus to compose comes ‘often from contemporary events, favourite authors, and poets’. This, rather than any very obvious personal affinity with Wales, presumably explains the subject matter of the works on this disc. Dylan, composed as long ago as 2003 and premiered in that year in Swansea by Jeremy Huw Williams and Sioned Williams, is described as a ‘biographical song cycle’ on the life and works of a ‘favourite poet’ of many, Dylan Thomas (1914-53). The flooding (‘Drowning’) of the North Wales village Capel Celyn in 1965, in order to provide a reservoir for Liverpool, hardly qualifies as a ‘contemporary event’, but clearly still has a profound personal resonance for the distinguished harpist Sioned Williams, whose grandfather led the local campaign against the reservoir, and who commissioned Stimpson to write the work in celebration of her own sixtieth birthday. She proceeded to give its premiere, in London in 2014. Two works, then, composed a decade apart, and indeed recorded some eight years apart. Quite why the recording of Roderick Williams’s performance of Dylan at the 2006 Llandudno Festival has remained unissued until now is not immediately apparent. The song cycle is by some way the longer work. Is it, though, really a ‘song cycle’? One must clarify at the outset that Dylan also includes a good deal of spoken prose. It consists of eight sections, each representing (or at least echoing) a distinct phase in Dylan Thomas’s life and career, and each featuring words exclusively by him: ‘Beginnings’ (his childhood); ‘Genesis’ (his schooldays and early writings); ‘New Horizons’ (his move from Swansea to London); ‘Caitlin’ (his wedding and married life); ‘Bottled God’ (his losing battle with alcoholism); ‘War’ (his attitudes to the Second World War and move to Sussex to escape the Blitz); ‘Laugharne’ (Under Milk Wood’s ‘Llareggub’, whither the family moved in 1952); and ‘The Thin Night Darkens’ (his tragic decline and early death). Most of these sections consist of a passage of spoken prose followed by a sung poem; the exception is the pivotal fifth section, ‘Bottled God’, which actually includes no song at all, but rather two passages of prose thematising Thomas’s alcoholism, the second of which is accompanied by a decidedly inebriated harp. Most of these juxtapositions work well. For example the darkness of the second song, with its references to such things as ‘shrapnel rammed in the marching heart, hole in the stitched wound and clotted wind’ is all the more shocking when it has been preceded by Thomas’s whimsical account of his schooldays, during which ‘he helped to damage the headmaster’s rhubarb, was thirty-third in trigonometry, and, as might be expected, edited the School Magazine’. The fourth section is all the more effective for coupling Thomas’s uncomplicated, happy account of his wedding with the poetic delineation of the married man’s infinitely more complex response to Caitlin’s ‘contraries’. Musically, Stimpson’s idiom is essentially conservative. There is nothing here to deter those who normally consider themselves averse to contemporary music. Rather, his settings come across as a logical extension of the twentieth-century English art song tradition; and one is from time to time reminded, if only by the sound of the harp, of a much earlier tradition, namely the Elizabethan lute song. Stimpson’s basically tonal response to Thomas’s words has the advantage, however, that the discords he occasionally introduces have a particularly powerful effect. This is the case, for example, in the harp’s drunken accompaniment to the passages on the poet’s alcoholism, or in its heart-rending commentary on the dying poet’s question, ‘why are you putting the sheet over my face?’ I would say that, overall, Stimpson is stronger on atmosphere than on individually memorable ideas; but, then again, I thought the same of John Metcalf’s 2014 operatic adaptation of Under Milk Wood (review). Dylan Thomas was, after all, a writer of such seemingly effortless virtuosity and profundity that it is surely very difficult for any composer to impose his or her personal stamp on his words without in some way diminishing their power. Roderick Williams’s performance of all this is, quite simply, superb. His voice is throughout warm, beautiful, evenly produced over a wide range; and he evinces a laudable attention to, indeed relish of, the nuances of Thomas’s texts. I applaud his spoken contributions almost as much as his singing. His speaking voice is most attractive, and he demonstrates a high degree of both dramatic power and comic timing. The fact that he is plainly not Welsh is hardly a problem, given that Dylan Thomas’s own inimitable accent was essentially ‘R.P.’ or, as he himself put it, ‘cut glass’ and ‘rather fancy’. The Llandudno audience is for the most part admirably silent, and the occasional shows of amusement – such as, for example, the male cackle in response to the phrase ‘a piece of cold lamb with vomit sauce’ – are both understandable and endearing. Even after the emotional roller-coaster that is Dylan, Sioned Williams’s performance of The Drowning of Capel Celyn emerges as more than just a filler. I suppose a solo harp has its limitations when depicting a protracted public scandal such as that which attended the high-handed decision to ‘drown’ a long established and viable Welsh village. Yet Stimpson plays to the instrument’s strengths very shrewdly. After all, the harp is very good at establishing moods, such as ‘the feeling of the first shafts of light over a waking village’ (first movement), or the energy and fixity of purpose of those who opposed the flooding (second movement); and it is also good at water, as we see here in the third movement’s gradual transition from the trickle of a stream to the flooding of a substantial area (third and fourth movements). Last but not least, the harp transpires to be an eminently suitable medium to convey the combination of anguish and nostalgia which the 1965 decision must have left in its wake (fifth movement). Altogether this is a very effective piece, to which Sioned Williams does full justice. In sum, this is a most desirable and – if one dare say such a thing of a composer in his sixties – promising issue. The booklet tells us that Stimpson’s ‘incidental music to the opera Jesse Owens and (the four-stage work inspired by Darwin) Age of Wonders’ has been ‘recorded by the Philharmonia Orchestra for future release’. I hope I get to hear it. (Musicweb International)

The full texts, both of spoken dialogue and songs, are given in the booklet; but so superb is Roderick Williams’s diction that they are hardly needed … The booklet of 24 pages gives us not only the texts, but also extensive and comprehensive notes by the composer on the music itself. This is a most attractive disc. (Musicweb International)

It should be to the excitement of many that one of Sioned Williams most important commissions for harp has now been released on disc: Michael Stimpson’s The Drowning of Capel Celyn. The CD also includes the world premiere recording of Stimpson’s song cycle Dylan for baritone and harp. Based on the life of poet Dylan Thomas, the great and much-loved baritone Roderick Williams joins Sioned in this recording live from the Llandudno Festival of 2006. Highly ambitious and striking is in its form, the song cycle is unusual in that as each song is preceded by spoken text. Roddy as narrator is magnificent of course. Sioned shows formidable acting skills as she speaks the humorous lines of Mrs Cherry Owen from Thomas’ Under Milk Wood in the spoken prelude to this song: her Welsh lilt giving the perfect touch! There are eight individual settings in all, and out of these I found the songs War and The Night Darkens, to be most atmospheric and moving. If I were to make any criticism, it would be that the giggles of the live audience did occasionally detract from the text. On a personal note, the subject matter was extremely poignant for me as, since being sent the CD, a close relative died due to complications of alcoholism. Dylan Thomas’ struggles with drink are now infamous and I couldn’t help but listen to the song addressing Thomas’ addictions with sensitive ears. The solo work – about the controversial flooding of a North Welsh village to create a reservoir for Liverpool – contains many moments of great poignancy, as well as complex weavings of texture which must be intricately played. The impeccable, sensitively shaded playing by Williams, and the addition of a substantial work to the limited original repertoire for baritone and harp, make this CD an important disc to add to your collection. (Harp Magazine)

The life of the poet Dylan Thomas was vividly evoked in a new song cycle by Michael Stimpson. …Stimpson’s settings of the poetry and prose enhanced the imagery, the mystery, the dark moods, the wartime horrors and the enigmatic verses dedicated to his wife Caitlin. The penetrating vocal line was supported by evocative harp accompaniment, particularly telling as a commentary on the poet’s self-confessed battle with drink. The eight sections built up a revealing and often moving picture of this flawed but fascinating genius. (Musical Opinion)

Dylan is an eight-part visionary work which takes the listener through many episodes in the poet’s life. Stimpson artfully combines spoken excerpts and musical settings of Thomas’s poems, letters, stories and, of course, Under Milk Wood, in to a ruminative and evocative monodrama of depth and originality. The most stunning musical episode was Stimpson’s wonderful setting of Ceremony after a Fire Raid which received a heartfelt reading by Huw Williams, his plangent voice alternately tender and dramatic. (South Wales Evening Post)

Recital of songs by Musorgsky

Related Artists: Katherine Broderick, Sergey Rybin

Catalogue No: 5060192780581

Reviews

Men – particularly basses and baritones – tend to have a monopoly on Mussorgsky’s songs, so it’s welcome to see soprano Katherine Broderick attempting to break the stranglehold. Leaving aside the cycle The Nursery (which has been recorded by several female singers, including Elisabeth Söderström), she opens with a collection of eight songs, before two great cycles: the brooding, introverted Sunless, followed by the Songs and Dances of Death. Broderick’s soprano has Wagnerian power but she controls it well to produce gorgeous pianos. “Desire” and “Hebrew Song” find her scaling down her voice beautifully, while “Where are you, little star?” finds her caressing the vocal line tenderly. She can do wit too, and “Gathering Mushrooms” is full of the sort of peasant characterisation you’d find in Boris Godunov. Sunless is a difficult cycle to bring off, full of resignation, but Broderick colours her voice enough to offer contrast. She is aided by Sergey Rybin’s shimmering accompaniments, adding luminosity to these flickering scores. Galina Vishnevskaya recorded the Songs and Dances of Death in Shostakovich’s orchestrations. I’d love to hear Broderick do the same – she has all Vishnevskaya’s decibels but without the excess vibrato. There is inexorable power in the finale to “Serenade”, a hypnotic “Trepak” and a no-holds-barred “Field-Marshal” you wouldn’t want to mess with. She lacks the extrovert characterisation of Boris Christoff, from his cooing “Lullaby” to his roaring “Field-Marshal”, but then Christoff is in a league of his own when it comes to Mussorgsky songs. Broderick’s is a supremely accomplished account. Recorded in the warm acoustic of Oxford’s St John the Evangelist Church, this is a most enjoyable recital. Praise too for Rybin’s excellent booklet essay and the inclusion of texts and translations. (Gramophone)

Mussorgsky’s songs are often sung by immense Slavic voices, so it’s a pleasure to hear someone a bit different. Katherine Broderick, while an accomplished young Strauss and Wagner soprano, favours nuance and expression against raw dramatic power, enhanced by bright tone and diction clearer than many native singers. Sergey Rybin’s accompaniments, strikingly fluent and idiomatic, no doubt contribute to Broderick’s apparent ease in Russian (BBC Music)

A selection of Bach’s most popular works reinterpreted on the marimba

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Related Artists: Stanislao Marco Spina

Catalogue No: 5060192780574

Reviews

First Prize, LAMS music competition, Matera

First Prize, Premio Nazionale delle Arti 2009, Arts National Award, Cuneo, Roma

Third Prize, International Marimba Competition 2011, Cordoba

First Prize, Paolo Serrau International, Music Compeition, Filadelfia

Finalist, Southern California Marimba Competition 2014, Los Angeles

One-man gospel choir Sam Robson performs ten of his own a cappella arrangements of his favourite carols and Christmas songs

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Related Artists: Sam Robson

Catalogue No: 5060192780598

Reviews

SOME COMMENTS FROM YOUTUBE:

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“Truly gifted and sang with so much heart! Thank you, thank you, thank you! More please!”

Recital of songs by Wagner, Mahler and Granados

Related Artists: Pilar Vázquez, Elisa Rapado

Catalogue No: 5060192780543

Reviews

You might recognize the title of the post as a verse from a song by Enric Granados. Or perhaps you recognize it as a CD title and might suppose what I’ll talk about… and you’re right (in both cases). You know that I don’t usually talk about recordings but, as you also know, I like breaking my own rules from time to time; This week I would like to talk about the first recording of the mezzosoprano Pilar Vázquez and the pianist Elisa Rapado, No hay cantar sin amor (There is no song without love). One of the first people I followed on Twitter was Elisa, because I knew her from her blog In meinem Leben, in meinem Lied (one of the blogs you can find linked on the right column, below). That was more than three years ago and I think that we mutually identify ourselves as “geeks of the Art Song”, as she would say. I always deny it, of course, I wonder how she even dares to think about it. If I’m not mistaken, we exchanged our first Tweets around Mahler; the name of her blog is quite clear, she’s a mahlerian, and we, unavoidably, talk about Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (for those uninitiated into the mysteries of Art Song, its last words were borrowed by Elisa as the title of her blog). Since then we’ve talked a lot about Art Song, about the different ways of performing it and listening to it and I was excited to see how she and Pilar convey their love and their attention to detail to their first recording. I wasn’t surprised at all by two of the works Pilar and Elisa chose; in fact, I expected them: the Rückert Lieder by Mahler and the Wesendonck Lieder by Wagner. I don’t know if they thought about other pieces but for me, these two cycles are part of the duo’s essence, they are united by these ten songs. However, the third composer included in the album, Enric Granados, came as a surprise. As Pilar and Elisa explain in the notes of their recording, Granados and Mahler were contemporaries but… how different their styles are! According to the colour theory, combining colours can be based on analogous or complementary ones; if we thing about this music in terms of colours, the first combination, Wagner-Mahler is between analogous and the second one, Granados-Mahler, is clearly between complementaries. Of course, we could argue that analogy also exists always because the subject of the songs, love, doesn’t change. What would I tell you about the album? Of course, listen to it. It’s a beautiful recording; it also is the first one from the duo, I hope there will be more and we’ll follow their career. Please, if you can read Spanish pay attention to the translations from German made by Pilar and Elisa; I always like when the performers write the booklet notes because it shows their engagement but here, the performers even sought the closest word to exactly conveyed what they wanted. We are listening to a song by Granados. Pilar and Elisa will be the first to pay tribute to this composer, some days before the 100 anniversary of his death begins. No hay cantar sin amor includes five of the twelve Tonadillas and La maja y el ruiseñor from Goyescas, all of them with texts by Fernando Periquet. I chose my favourite; maybe I should have chosen a more spectacular one but I repeated again and again El mirar de la maja (The maiden’s gaze) so… that’s our song! The poem begins with two questions without answer, why the maja has such a burning gaze, and continues with the loving complain of her chispero (her beloved); Granados puts together the two questions so they become a single musical stanza that is repeated with the remaining verses. The piano accompaniment is austere and makes us think of a guitar; it’s a seduction song with a rhythm that reminds me some of the dances (don’t ask me which one) in the 17th century Spanish court. As I know that you’re paying attention to Pilar’s voice because she sings beatifully this song, please let me also emphasize the piano; Not only I’m saying this because Elisa is my friend but also, she plays beautifully. (Liederabend)

Por último, al cierre de esta edición se anunciaba el primer trabajo discográfico de la mezzosoprano Pilar Vázquezy la pianista Elisa Rapado, No hay cantar sin amor (Stone Records/ Connex Música), trabajo que incluye piezas de Richard Wagner, Enric Granados y Gustav Mahler. Las intérpretes destacan la atención que se da a los textos cantados; con el fin de expresar su personal visión de los versos de los Lieder, ambas artistas publican sus propias traducciones al castellano, aclarando que la elección de determinadas palabras se refleja en la interpretación musical.  (Ópera Actual)

He aquí el bautismo de fuego discográfico de dos muy competentes aunque todavía muy jóvenes intérpretes, que desde hace unos pocos años forman pareja artística: la mezzosoprano leonesa Pilar Vázquez y la pianista zamorana Elisa Rapado, dos profesionales aún en plena formación, pero ya con suficientes galones para salir a la palestra con solidez técnica, preparación cultural y bien intencionados enfoques estilísticos. El contenido del CD es muy curioso, aunque se pliegue con inteligencia a un nexo común: el amor y sus consecuencias. La combinación entre dos estéticas tan dispares como la germana, nacida de un postromanticismo tardío y orientada bien hacia una contemplación sensual, intimista, onírica, del hecho amoroso, como la de Wagner, bien hacia una observación, aliada con la penetración casi física, de la naturaleza, decididamente panteísta, como la de Mahler, con las pesimistas, amargas y desoladas descripciones de las Majas dolorosas de Granados –con sus tres caras: dolor intenso, desamor y celos, como señala certeramente la pianista en sus notas al disco-, acaba siendo reveladora, aunque, bien que coetáneo con el mahleriano, el lenguaje del catalán proceda de la muy hispánica tonadilla … Bienvenido, por tanto, este disco. Augura un prometedor futuro a sus dos intérpretes. (El Arte De La Fuga)

Volviendo de sus periplos wagnerianos, Pilar Vázquez recala en su querencia camerística. Lo hace aprovechando una tesitura dúctil, oscura y bien encajada en el grave, y en el resto de los registros con un notorio dominio del color conforme a las exigencias expresivas. Liviandad y claridad sopraniles, matizaciones veladas, hábil uso del vibrato. El programa se ordena sobre el tema amoroso. Wagner, que por una vez se dignó a musicar unos versos ajenos, lo hace a favor de una mujer poetisa. Si bien al fondo se oyen momentos del Tristan, el sesgo es íntimo y climático. Lo mismo pasa con Mahler, que se encuentra con su maestro partiendo de la canción y yendo hacia el drama. En Mahler halla Pilar su mejor estro climático, consiguiendo en Um Mitternacht, por ejemplo, una intensidad introspectiva grave y bellamente siniestra, de contundencia. ¿Granados tras Mahler? Sí, porque son contemporáneos y cantan al amor. Desde luego Pilar, con inteligencia, evita cualquier manolismo, españolada o casticismo y su personaje no es la diosa Erda vestida de maja. Granados tiene una veta de gravedad amatoria, de queja sombría que va más allá de la mera tonadilla evocativa y goyesca. Rapado acompaña con su conocida solvencia profesional y el cuidado por la dicción alemana, tanto en la música como en el texto, pues en cuanto a Lied, el piano también dice. (Scherzo)

A nadie debería sorprender -puesto que son las propias intérpretes de este recital quienes lo justifican- el singular programa elegido por este dúo de artistas que trabajan juntas desde 2008 para esta, su primera experiencia discográfica. en efecto, después de años cosechando éxitos en diversos escenarios de música de cámara, mezzosoprano y pianista apuestan, en este disco, por una selección de canciones de temática amorosa de autores tan distintos como Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler y Enric Granados. De esta manera, se pone en evidencia, una vez más, algo ya sabido: lo variopintas que pueden llegar a ser las estéticas contemporáneas cuando median kilómetros de distancia. Las armas con que para ello cuentan Pilar Vázquez y Elisa Rapado son, respectivamente, una voz contundente y de amplio registro, la primera, y una técnica de digitación nítida y con una rica capacidad de matices, la segunda. En las canciones de Granados se suma a todo ello una sensación de estar en casa, no solo por el idioma – ya que la dicción de Vázquez del alemán es también impecable- sino por los giros folklóricos del compositor leridano. Es precisamente un verso de Periquet para una de estas canciones el que han elegido para titular el disco compartido las artistas, que, por cierto, también firman las notas del libreto en tres idiomas, acompañadas de traducciones al castellano de todos los Lieder. (Opera Actual)

Piano recital by Kasparas Uinskas of music by Rachmaninov, Chopin and Debussy

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Related Artists: Kasparas Uinskas

Catalogue No: 5060192780536

Reviews

I last heard the young Lithuanian pianist, Kasparas Uinskas, at a recital in the Wigmore Hall where he was playing the pieces on this recording together with Brahms’ early Four Ballades. Following the recital Mr Uinskas’ agent asked me to review his then forthcoming CD and I am pleased to see that the new recording, entitled Passions and Reflections, has finally been released. The centrepiece of this CD is Chopin’s second set of études which were composed between 1832-36. Some of the études (particularly G sharp minor and the two in A minor) are technically demanding works although the études are treasured as much for their musical content as for their technical innovations. Uinskas is one of the best exponents of Chopin I have heard among the younger generation of pianists. In his hands each of the études becomes a miniature tone poem: the lyricism, the wonderful harmonic progressions and the unique artistry of Chopin’s writing are underscored in a completely fresh and innovative way while the technical difficulties are handled with consummate ease. There was a wonderful lyricism to the Aeolian Harp étude in which Uinskas created gorgeous melodies and counter-melodies against the rustling textures whilst allowing the beautiful modulations space to breathe. The F minor had artfully shaped lines while the F major had brilliance and buoyancy. There was tremendous agility and athleticism in the first of the A minor études with its difficult left hand leaps and Uinskas captured the impish, mercurial quality of the E minor to perfection. The double thirds of the G sharp minor étude glided along effortlessly while in the C sharp minor Uinskas presented us with a rapt and poetic musical narrative. The D flat major in double sixths was allowed to blossom into life and had a radiance and effervescence while the double octaves of the B minor were played with a Lisztian diabolism. The Winter Wind étude was a tumultuous swirling vortex while the final C minor had a symphonic breadth and richness of sound. This was really exceptional playing which stands comparison with the best performances of the études. The opening work on the recording was Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Sonata which the composer wrote in 1913 and revised in 1931. Horowitz started a trend among pianists of trying to create an amalgam of the two versions which I think has ultimately proved to be unhelpful. In this recording Uinskas very sensibly sticks to the revised 1931 version and the CD booklet notes helpfully remind us that Rachmaninov included a terse note in the score of the later version stating: “The new version, revised and reduced by the author”. The opening of the first movement had an explosive power and Uinskas captured the restless agitation of the music brilliantly. There was an impressive and imaginative range of textures and colours and Uinskas crystallised the melancholic heart of the music. The slow movement had a gorgeous tonal lustre and Uinskas allowed Rachmaninov’s beautiful melodies to sing out in an unashamedly Romantic way. The opening of the finale had enormous rhythmic propulsion before the music melted into the opulent second subject. Uinskas allowed the music to build to a powerful climax and the coda was a breathtaking virtuoso tour de force. The final part of the recording is a selection of works by Debussy and here Uinskas gave us a flavour of some of his more subtle and evocative playing. There was superb control of touch, timbre and sonority in Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut from the composer’s second book of Images. There was much to admire in Reflets dans l’eau with some elegant shaping of the ripples on the pond, glistening, seamless arpeggios and artful evocation of water droplets at the end of the piece. I wondered if Uinskas could have given us more finely shaded dynamics and created a more nuanced sense of ambience and atmosphere in the early section of the piece. In Ondine (from the second set of preludes) I was impressed with the way in which Uinskas was able to weave together the composer’s disparate threads to create such an effective portrait of the alluring and capricious water nymph. I wondered if he might make even more of the extraordinary contrasts and sonorities in the piece. The final piece was Clair de lune and here this most famous of piano pieces was played with a gorgeous tonal sheen and without any hint of cliché. Overall, this is a very fine recording and the performance of Chopin’s second set of études is exceptional. (MusicWeb International)

Kasparas Uinskas has all the ingredients of a great pianist and musician… in his New York recital debut, he offered much evidence of the talent that has garnered his impressive start on an international career. (New York Concert Review)

The debut recital of Lithuanian pianist Kasparas Uinskas was far from another usual piano recital at the rich Berlin’s music scenery… even though it was Uinskas’ debut recital in Berlin, this pianist is far from the beginning point of his artistic journey…there is nothing left to wish for in his technique, and his interpretations overcome all limits. (Klassik in Berlin)

Uinskas Displays Mastery of the Romantic Repertoire. (Seen and heard International)

Aaron Larget-Caplan’s guitar recital of American and Japanese music

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Related Artists: Aaron Larget-Caplan

Catalogue No: 5060192780567

Reviews

Aaron Larget-Caplan’s The Legend of Hagoromo combines a conceptually strong programme with virtuosic and sensitive performances all-around. From the epic work of Fujii, meditative Takemistsu and Nakamura, to the charming arrangements of American and Japanese songs, this album will not disappoint guitarists or general listeners. More importantly, this is not just a random collection of concert works but a focused project with new music, artistic creativity, and vision. Highly recommended. (This is classical guitar)

What a fascinating program. Each of the works is connected in some way to Japan. Yes, even ‘Summertime’ and ‘Over the Rainbow’, both of which are arrangements by Toru Takemitsu. Japan’s most famous composer was also a prolific arranger of popular songs, including several by the Beatles. His arrangements are challenging and rich, though a bit overdone for my taste—like too much makeup on a beautiful woman. Larget-Caplan plays them both with evident affection. Only two works here are familiar, Takemitsu’s ‘Equinox’ and Leo Brouwer’s ‘Hika, in Memoriam Toru Takemitsu’. Both are free and evocative, dissonant but still mostly tonal; and Larget-Caplan handles their challenges as well as any recording I know. There are three world premieres, written for the guitarist. Ken Ueno’s ‘Ed è Subito Sera’ and Kota Nakamura’s ‘Sui-hou’ were both for Larget-Caplan’s New Lullaby Project (http://www. Newlullaby.com). Martin Max Schreiner reverses Takemitsu and arranges two Japanese songs in ‘Two Japanese Idylls’. Ueno and Schreiner both use bent notes and microtones as one might hear on the Koto. But the heart of this release is the title piece, Keigo Fujii’s Legend of Hagoromo. It is based legend of a fisherman who falls in love with a heavenly maiden who can fly with her feathered kimono, and musically grows out of a mode from Okinawa. After the beginning, the entire piece seems to be based on a single harmony, exploring that mode without any western-style progression. Tension arises from the rhythmic pulse, as notes, microtones, and percussion effects swirl together to create an amazing energy. It’s an emotional and technical tour de force, and Larget-Caplan carries us on this mythical journey with irresistible mastery. Larget-Caplan is based in Boston, on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts there, and is a graduate of the New England Conservatory. Kudos for this imaginative and beautifully executed program. (American Record Guide)

When a disc is subtitled “American and Japanese music for classical guitar”, it’s a safe bet that Toru Takemitsu will be featured. Here, Takemitsu shows up as composer of “Equinox” and arranger of “Over the Rainbow” and “Summertime”. Although not generally perceived as a crowd-puller, Takemitsu enjoys the status of a composer’s composer, Leo Brouwer being one high-ranking figure who has paid tribute on more than one occasion. On the is disc “Equinox” is preceded by Brouwer’s “Hika, in Memoriam Toru Takemitsu”. However, the collection is dominated by Keigo Fujii’s epic single-movemented title track. Based on a poignant Asian legend retold in the performer’s notes, Fujii’s kaleidoscopic creation is at times reminiscent of Oliver Hunt’s underrated “Garuda”, with which it shares the imagery of extended flight. Aaron Larget-Caplan emerges from this marathon workout as a performer with all the skill and energy to deliver a truly remarkable contemporary work that has yet to receive the recognition it deserves. Elsewhere, more modestly proportioned contemporary offerings are the order of the day, with Ken Ueno, Kota Nakamura, and Martin Max Schreiner contributing works that run under ten minutes. All are billed as premieres and all, including the Schreiner, lean toward the Japanese side of the equation, making the Takemitsu arrangements referred to above the de facto representatives of the American element on this eclectic and endlessly rewarding release. (Classical Guitar Review)

A delicious and poetic interpretation … To write that [Larget­Caplan] has something to boast about would be to say too little, the guitarist is not afraid of any tempo, with each increasingly spectacular fragment coming through not only with lightness, but with recklessness (maybe wildness or spontaneity) … The interpretation is refined, every phrase flattering, every sound consciously derived. This artist approaches the played pieces with enormous respect, trying to above all reveal the idea of the composer. (Six Strings)

According to a famous Japanese legend, a fisherman is walking with his companions at night when he finds the Hagoromo, the magical feather-mantle of a tennin (an aerial spirit or celestial dancer) hanging on a bough. The tennin sees him taking it and demands its return as she cannot return to Heaven without it. The fisherman argues with her, and finally promises to return it, if she will show him her dance or part of it. She accepts his offer and in the finale, the tennin disappears like a mountain slowly hidden in mist. The evocative Legend of Hagoromo is a modern musical masterpiece written by Keigo Fujii and based on a melody by Okinawan composer H Yamanoha. A substantial addition to the classical guitar repertoire that uses guitar techniques in an innovative way, it is the longest work on this outstanding album of Japanese-influenced music played by the gifted American virtuoso guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan. Comprising an intoxicating mixture of Japanese and American music, this fusion-recital is brilliantly conceived and performed and the disc includes a number of première recordings (Ken Ueno’s Ed è subito sera, Kota Nakamura’s Sui-hou and Martin Max Schreiner’s Two Japanese idylls). Other works include Tora Takemitsu’s Equinox as well as his arrangements of Harold Arlen’s Wizard of Oz and George Gershwin’s Summertime (from Porgy and Bess). Some of the music was written specifically for Larget-Caplan’s and he performs here with stunning vitality, especially on Keigo Fujii’s mesmerising single movement tour-de-force. (New Classics)

Aaron Larget-Caplan is a riveting artist. His classical guitar performance was a treasure. (The Washington Post)

Astounding technical proficiency and artistic delicacy (Boston Music Intelligencer)

The magnificent musical talent of Aaron Larget-Caplan is indeed a gift for the senses. (Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network)

Your enthusiasm and virtuosity entices listeners both old & young to experience the magic of the concert hall for themselves (Fanfare)

Wyn Davies performing a recital of cabaret songs

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Related Artists: Wyn Davies

Catalogue No: 5060192780529

Reviews

And do you remember the little bald-headed conductor who has been packing fun into those Gershwin musicals over the past year and is presently conducting opera at Buxton? That may be his day job, but he is well-known on the cabaret circuit on both sides of the Atlantic. “Just Wyn” is Wyn Davies’ one-man show with lots of dry wit. (Yorkshire Post)

Wyn Davies performing a recital of cabaret songs

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Related Artists: Wyn Davies

Catalogue No: 5060192780512

Reviews

And do you remember the little bald-headed conductor who has been packing fun into those Gershwin musicals over the past year and is presently conducting opera at Buxton? That may be his day job, but he is well-known on the cabaret circuit on both sides of the Atlantic. “Just Wyn” is Wyn Davies’ one-man show with lots of dry wit. (Yorkshire Post)

Songs by Richard Strauss

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Related Artists: Patricia Rozario, Charles Owen

Catalogue No: 5060192780505

Reviews

Patricia Rozario floats effortlessly with a voice of liquid gold. (Gramophone)

Rozario is in her element, finely phrased and delicately nuanced, and Ogden responds with unforced vitality. (BBC Music Magazine)

Ogden and Rozario find something really special here that particular blend of sensuality and melancholy that the rest of Europe regards as truly Iberian. (International Record Review)

One-man gospel choir Sam Robson performs ten of his own a cappella arrangements of his favourite hymns

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Related Artists: Sam Robson

Catalogue No: 5060192780499

Reviews

SOME COMMENTS FROM YOUTUBE:

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“The climax was insane!! I loved every second of this video!!”

“Truly gifted and sang with so much heart! Thank you, thank you, thank you! More please!”

A recital of piano music by Mozart, Beethoven and Berg.

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Related Artists: Mikhail Shilyaev

Catalogue No: 5060192780482

Reviews

This odd grouping of classics from Vienna’s First and Second Schools is so well played that one happily accepts its rather strained rationale; Shilyaev is a natural Beethovenian, but his Berg has a full-blooded lyricsim. **** (BBC Music)

The clarity of the voicing and adroit phrasing in the Beethoven and Mozart sonatas are exemplary (Gramophone)

Opera star Matthew Rose and leading accompanist Malcolm Martineau team up for this amazing rendition of Schubert’s masterpiece.

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Related Artists: Matthew Rose, Malcolm Martineau, Christina Gansch, Robert Murray

Catalogue No: 5060192780475

Reviews

Splendidly strong and powerfully carved out. (BBC Radio 3 CD Review)

English bass Matthew Rose shows that a deep voice and low keys need not make for a gloomy experience in Schubert. It helps that his voice has the scope for lyrical beauty – his entreaty to the fisher-girl in her boat is carried on phrases as smooth as a lakeside breeze – and that offsets his rugged strength. With pianist Malcolm Martineau chameleon-like in matching his singer’s colours, there are more than enough contrasts. **** (Financial Times)

In 1997 the British bass Matthew Rose attended a masterclass in which the work being studied was Aufenthalt, one of the more emotionally turbulent of the 14 songs from Schubert’s posthumous collection Schwanengesang (Swan Song). So affected was he, Rose determined to become a professional singer. He is now among the most musically illuminating of the new generation of basses, alert and perceptive in performance, as his Winterreise (for the same label) has already shown. Again here, with the pianist Malcolm Martineau, with whom Rose first sang the cycle in 2004, he ensures clear textures, sensitivity to the words and a lightness and variety of touch. There’s a charming bonus track: Schubert’s comic Der Hochzeitsbraten, with Christina Gansch and Robert Murray. **** (Observer)

For the pianist Malcolm Martineau’s second new recording of Schubert’s last songbook in as many months, Matthew Rose includes the “spare” Seidl setting Die Taubenpost (Pigeon Post) and a substantial bonus: the rare “operatic” scene Der Hochzeitsbraten (The Wedding Roast), with the excellent Christina Gansch and Robert Murray … his potential Wagnerian bass comes into its own in Kriegers Ahnung (Warrior’s Foreboding) and the great Heine settings Der Atlas and Der Doppelgänger. (Sunday Times)

One of the most powerful basses … and was, as usual with this singer, and this marvellous accompanist, Malcolm Martineau, soon enjoying myself without qualification. Rose’s voice may be best suited to the more boisterous songs, such as ‘Der Atlas’, but he can also be delicate without sounding precious, as in ‘Ständchen’ (Serenade) and the extra song ‘Die Taubenpost’ (The Pigeon Post). (BBC Music)

Internationally renowned organist Robert Costin performs JS Bach’s Trio Sonatas on the organ of Pembroke College, Cambridge – a modern reconstruction of a period instrument.

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Related Artists: Robert Costin

Catalogue No: 5060192780468

Reviews

Robert Costin’s new record is highly successful. The Six Trio Sonatas conveniently ‘fit’ a CD, so it is valuable to have them ‘all in one place’ so to speak, more so in such well-conceived and executed performances as these. In terms of tempos and registration, I have no complaint, but what makes this recording additionally stand out is Costin’s admirable phrasing, which points the nature of Bach’s invention so well. The clarity of the slightly recessed sound in the recording is an added bonus, and I would cite the Adagio and Allegro movements of the E flat major Sonata, BWV 525 as being amongst the best examples of this new release. ***** (The Organ)

This superb recording might be considered as Cambridge’s equivalent of Robert Quinney’s acclaimed recording of these pieces at The Queen’s College, Oxford. Costin’s playing is consistently excellent; articulation is clear and sensitive, tempi finely balanced, and the character of each movement is beautifully conveyed. Quick movements sparkle with energy and wit, while the slow movements have a gentle but insistent quality that holds the listener’s attention throughout. The order of performance works well, offering contrasts that would not have been apparent in a numerical ordering. Sonata no.5 make a fine opening; the crispness and vitality of the broken-chord figures at the beginning of the first movement draw the listener in immediately. Costin’s performance of Sonata no.6 is a particular delight; the sprightly tempo, bright registration and precise articulation create a luminosity that belies its technical complexity. The slow movement is given a spacious, almost plaintive account, while the jaunty angularity of the final movement is conveyed with subtle humour. The Pembroke College organ is an inspired choice; the clarity and brightness of its flue stops suits the fast movements superbly, while the judicious use of the tremulant in some slow movements is most effective. Overall, the organ has a gentleness that helps capture the intimacy of these wonderful works. Costin’s programme notes are informative and well-written and the booklet includes the specification of the instrument and a photograph showing its elegant situation in the Chapel (Organists’ Review)

This is the second organ recital disc for Stone Records by Robert Costin, Director of Music at Ardingly College, the first being the Goldberg Variations (see OCJ 2013-3). Once again, Costin plays the Pembroke College, Cambridge, organ, a period instrument containing some Father Smith pipework and reconstructed by Mander in 1980. It is eminently suited to the repertoire. Bach’s Trio Sonatas, written for Wilhelm Friedemann to instruct him in organ playing and composition, demand equality and independence of hands and feet if their musical riches are to be fully realised. This, Costin largely achieves with a strong and sensitive interpretation. I found this a most enjoyable performance. (Organ Club)

This one is most enjoyable and catches the spirit of this music very well. Robert Costin generally chooses lively tempi and often sparkling registrations for outer movements, with good clarity and balance … slow movements use the beautiful flutes of the Pembroke organ … Excellent recording quality and notes … this disc certainly demonstrates his fine musicianship. **** (Choir and Organ)

Robert Costin is well known to New Zealand audiences, having worked as the Assistant Director of Music at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul and later as interim Director of Music of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Auckland – not to mention the fine recordings he has made here in New Zealand and the countless recitals over the years. It was with some trepidation that I loaded this CD into my player – this is music I know so well and adore as a performer myself, and hearing music that has become such an integral part of my own performing and teaching career performed by someone else can be quite an alienating experience. My anxiety increased when the puritanical side of me noted that sonatas were presented out of their sequential order – the disc opens with Sonata 5 in C major BWV 529 instead of Sonata 1 as you might expect. My fears were quickly allayed on hearing the first few bars of the Allegro – my pulse quickened as I was swept away in the astounding music and Costin’s virtuosic performance. Bach’s trio sonatas are, in my experience, amongst the most challenging but equally rewarding music an organist can play – maintaining the three independent voices requires immense physical control and mental ability. Throughout this disc Robert always maintains composure and command of the instrument, occasionally pushing the boundaries of being out of control – but for me this adds to the drama of the music, and brings you closer to the experience of a live performance. Interestingly, my favourite recording of the Trio Sonatas is not performed on the organ – but by string players – the recording by London Baroque on the BIS label. Hearing the music performed by three musicians instead of one organist really challenged the way I view and perform the works, and reshaped my own phrasing and interpretation. It is rare to find an organ recording that defines each voice as a separate entity as clearly as when performed by individual musicians – but Costin succeeds admirably in doing this. The ever important feeling of dance in the music of Bach is present throughout. The quality of the audio recording and production is equally superb – the balance of direct sound from the organ to the acoustics of the room is perfectly judged. As a recording engineer myself I am always faced with the tough decision about how much extraneous noise should be removed from the audio – it is now relatively simple to remove the sound of page turns, car alarms etc. from the recording with sophisticated software. I am delighted that the engineer didn’t feel the urge to remove the sound of page turns, coughs and pedal noise from this recording, making the listening experience that much more human and visceral. In writing this I tried hard to find some fault – no matter how small – to make this review more balanced. The best I can say is that the performances are not perfect and air-brushed recordings – but this only makes them in turn feel more intimate, exhilarating and impassioned. I heartily recommend this CD – even if you already own numerous recordings of these works! (NZ Organ News)

Rising-star soprano Caroline MacPhie’s debut solo CD of songs inspired or written by women.

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Related Artists: Caroline MacPhie, Joseph Middleton

Catalogue No: 5060192780451

Reviews

This lovely disc marks the decisive arrival of a fine young recitalist. Soprano Caroline MacPhie’s enterprising programme consists of “songs inspired or written by women”. Starting with Richard Strauss’s Ophelia settings, based on translations of the madness of Shakespeare’s heroine, it continues with Poulenc’s deceptively simple Fiançailles pour rire, which MacPhie interprets with great wit and panache. Following a real curiosity – Charles Koechlin’s Sept chansons pour Gladys, reflections of the composer’s infatuation with the actress Lilian Harvey – come six beautifully polished miniatures from Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch. Four lesser-known female composers are also featured. Muriel Herbert became friendly with Joyce, who gave her permission to set his verse. Three other composers are represented by contrasting versions of Ophelia’s mad songs. Elizabeth Maconchy’s How Should I Your True Love Know? is followed by newly-commissioned pieces by Rhian Samuel and Cheryl Frances-Hoad, all sung by MacPhie with beautiful sensitivity and emotional engagement. Vividly stylish and responsive accompaniment from Joseph Middleton enhances this delightful musical menu: MacPhie is a singer of whom we should hear more. **** (Daily Telegraph)

MacPhie and Middleton bring a nicely sidelong glance to the recital programme, mixing some well known with a fascinating selection of lesser known songs. Definitely a recital to investigate. (Planet Hugill)

Caroline MacPhie erweist sich in ihrem Debut-Album als eine interessante Interpretin, mit der man auch in Zukunft rechnen darf. Ihr heller, leichter lyrischer Sopran, auf dem Theater in Rollen wie Papagena, Norina und Schlaues Füchslein erprobt, zeigt auch dramatischen Biß. Der Vortrag der Sängerin ist imaginativ und eloquent und man nimmt ihr Ophelias Wahnsinn ebenso ab wie die Koketterie der Frauen im Italienischen Liederbuch. Dass die Sängerin vor ihrer Gesangsausbildung an der Universität Deutsch und Französisch studiert hat, kommt ihr sehr zugute. Auch das Idiom der französischen Lieder ist ihr nicht fremd, und bei den Gesängen der britischen Komponistinnen gewinnt man den Eindruck, dass sie für sie keine Pflichtübung sind, sondern eine Herzensangelegenheit. Joseph Middleton, mit dem sie auch im Konzertsaal häufig zusammenarbeitet, ist dabei weit mehr als ein Begleiter, sondern mit seinem entschiedenen Zugriff eine Art Motor des ganzen Unternehmens. (Klassik Heute)

Related Artists: Susanna Andersson, Little Venice Ensemble

Catalogue No: 5060192780444

Reviews

I also love Deck The Halls from the Little Venice Ensemble, an eclectic group of professional musicians drawn from all over the world, but especially from Scandinavia, who live and work in London, and regularly perform chamber music in the Paddington area. A truly talented arranger, Bjorn Kleiman turns out an amazing selection of music for a small instrumental ensemble, ranging from traditional carols to little-known European stuff like Koppången, first performed in 1998 by a group including Abba’s Benny Andersson. There are organ solos, lovely string quintet arrangements, and some fine solo work from soprano Susanna Andersson (no relation). It all ends splendidly with winning performances of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and Keeping The Dream Alive, another Christmas-oriented pop song that was a big hit in late Eighties Germany. ***** (Mail on Sunday)

Listeners unfamiliar with European Christmas celebrations should head straight for this unpretentious compilation. Many of the numbers are well-known British and American ones, but the programme also reflects the polyglot nature of the Little Venice Ensemble’s membership. The fun starts with a spare solo viola transcription of the Swedish folksong “Beredan väg för herran”, followed by an enchanting arrangement of the modern carol “I Bethlehem” by Jerker Leijon. It’s sublime. As is the gorgeous childrens’ carol “Bethelehems Stjärna”, which should make sensitive listeners’ eyes water. Max Reger’s “Mariae Wiegenlied” is unexpectedly beautiful, as is a neat arrangement of the Austrian carol “Still, Still, Still”. Percy Grainger’s “Sussex Mummers” is heard in a mellifluous string transcription. This is a fantastic disc, and one which you’d happily listen to all year round. Familiar pleasures are interspersed with alluring rarities. Soprano Susanna Andersson’s pure-toned vocals are a consistent pleasure, and the chamber arrangements invariably charm. (The Arts Desk)

Deck the Halls from Stone Records is also a Christmas CD with a difference: the arrangements in this myriad collection are aimed at a broader mainstream audience than one which devoutly sits in church at Midnight on Christmas Eve. not that there is anything unsuitable in these transcriptions (International Record Review).

Stone Record’s Christmas discs  are always a delight but this year’s offering is unique. Deck the Halls, with Susanna Andersson and the Little Venice Ensemble. Imagine yourself at a house party, where some of the young European musicians based in London, (relatively far away from home) celebrate by performing together. The joyous energy on this disc is bound to chase away chills and bring good cheer. Expect surprises! (Classical Iconoclast)

Susanna Anderssons slanka, svala sopran passar bra till julvisornas enkelhet; hon dominerar inte och blir aldrig svulstig. Det är roligt med så många instrumentala stycken, och skivans största förtjänst, förutom att den är fläckfritt spelad och välsjungen, är de många effektfulla, påhittiga och genomtänkta arrangemangen av framför allt violinisten Björn Kleiman. Men i skickliga och välspelade arrangemang, som här, kan en stråkensemble visa oväntade sidor. Det blir många sorters musik inslagen i samma behändiga paket. (Sundsvalls Tidning)

På en annan engelsk julskiva hör vi en ensemble som döpts efter Little Venice, det kanaltäta området i norra London. Basen är en skicklig stråkkvintett, utökad med flöjt och orgel samt den svenska sopranen Susanna Andersson – en omväxlande skiva, jazzig och stillsamt klassisk, där vi både får höra ”Koppången” och en härligt bumpig version av Leroy Andersons “Sleigh ride”. (Svenska Dagbladet)

“Fina stråkar och tajta orgelsolon”. I ”Betlehems stjärna” är kompet genomarbetat och sången som ett direkt tilltal. Samma sak gäller fina ”Marie Wiegenlied”. När stråkgruppen ”Little Venice” tar sig an ”Deck the halls” blir det riktigt svängigt och tajt. Detta är albumets pärla. Även ”Tomorrow shall be my dancing day” får skönt sväng, liksom käcka ”Sleigh ride”. Detta är främst stråkkvintettens förtjänst. Emellertid vill jag ge en speciell eloge till organisten Jonathan Cunliffe, som presenterar några tajta solon och ett nära ackompanjemang. (Norrköpings Tidningar)

I årets skörd av souljul, retro- och dansbandsjul, så damp det ned jul i, typ, systrarna Brontës anda. Och jag är såld. Stråkensemblen Little Venice Ensemble tillsammans med sopranen Susanna Andersson har satt tänderna i ett gäng uttjatade klassiker – “Stilla natt”, “Bereden väg för herran”, “Ding Dong Merry on high”, ni fattar – och lyckats med konststycket att gjuta ny magi utan att för en ton falla för den svulstiga frestelsen. Arrangören och violinisten Björn Kleiman är en fena på att slå in julvisorna med snöre av hampa, i sparsmakat, oblekt papper och sätta en lackad kvalitetsstämpel som glänser i all sin finstämda strykning av stråkar. (Kristianstadbladet)

Music for flute and piano by Australian composers

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Related Artists: Neil Fisenden, David Wickham

Catalogue No: 5060192780437

Reviews