Tasmin Little

“…this is an opera and performance offering much musical delight and another worthwhile rediscovery of a little-known work from the huge corpus of Baroque opera.” ****

“ … One of several striking things about Janácek’s piano music is that there's precious little of it. Thomas Adès gives us the essentials here … Wonderful music, handsomely played and recorded…”

“… If you’re fed up with Dvorák 9 or are wondering what to listen to next after Ives 2, try this [Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony]. This performance was taped, improbably, in Vienna, Arthur Fagen’s hardworking ORF orchestra giving it their all. The Dawson should be on everyone’s to-listen list, and Naxos's couplings make this a mandatory purchase…  His [Kay’s] Fantasy Variations and Umbrian Scene are fascinating. Kay’s dissonant but lyrical idiom is compelling,.. Genuinely ear-tickling, and wonderfully performed here.”

“… Sumptuous sonics and good notes, too. Go on - treat yourself.”

“… The Lute Suite in E minor is the earliest of Bach’s solo lute pieces, its six movements lasting less than 15 minutes here. You’re gripped within seconds, the opening of the little Prelude played as if improvised. Shibe’s rhythmic alertness makes for compelling results … All tremendous. As is what follows. The stark counterpoint at the start of the C minor Partita is extraordinary, all the more arresting for being played with such delicacy… A gorgeous disc, Delphian’s production values perfectly attuned to Shibe’s playing.”

“… There’s so much to love. Tenor and bass soloists Adam Riis and Palle Knudsen are glorious in their many solo numbers; the former’s “Like Golden Amber Is My Girl” a highlight. The “Echo Song” just before the close is another treat, a distillation of Nielsen fingerprints… Nielsen was a wonderfully catchy melodist. Andreas Delfs leads a performance brimming with affection, his Odense Symphony Orchestra collaborating with a sizeable cast of instrumentalists, singers and speakers… It’s all enchanting. If you’re a Nielsen fan (and if not, why not?) you need this disc.”

“… If you’re new to Feldman, start with this album. Hopefully you’ll soon be hooked …String Quartet and Orchestra offers listeners 26 minutes of gradually evolving colours, the musical processes surely suggested by the patterns of the Middle Eastern rugs which Feldman so admired. A parade of soft chords, shifting textures and pregnant pauses, this glacially paced concerto grosso is gripping. The Arditti Quartet, here teamed with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Emilio Pomàrico, can tackle this stuff in their sleep but all concerned sound fully committed. The sole mystery is why this performance waited a decade before release. Coptic Light dates from 1986… A vast orchestra is deployed with incredible subtlety, Feldman’s attempt to “create an orchestral pedal, continually varying in nuance” resulting in an unbroken 28-minute span of music, without silences. It’s beautifully performed here, Michael Boder accentuating the warmth along with the strangeness. Both works are captured in clear, detailed sound.”

“… Beautiful, heartfelt performances, in immaculate sound – more please.”