The Best of Wagner

Wagner was a remarkable innovator in both the harmony and structure of his work, stressing his own concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, the ‘total work of art’, in which all the arts were brought together into a single unity. As a man he was prepared to sacrifice his family and friends in the cause of his own music and his overt anti-semitism has attracted unwelcome attention to ideas that are remote from his real work as a musician. In the later part of his career Wagner enjoyed the support of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was finally able to establish his own theatre and festival at the Bavarian town of Bayreuth.

He developed the use of the leitmotif (in German Leitmotiv – ‘leading motif’) as a principle of musical unity, his dramatic musical structure depending on the interweaving of melodies or fragments of melody associated with characters, incidents or ideas in the drama. His prelude to the love tragedy Tristan und Isolde led to a new world of harmony.

Canteloube: Chants d'Auvergne, Volume 2

“In her second volume, including 'Chut, Chut' and 'Lo Fiolairé', Véronique Gens does more than confirm her credentials. The voice is bright, forward, notably clear in diction and lightly responsive to nuance, backed by prominent woodwind and lean strings.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2007 ****

Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice - December 2007

“For her second CD devoted to Joseph Canteloube's vocal music, Véronique Gens has looked beyond the celebrated, much-recorded Chants d'Auvergne, and back to Tryptique, composed in 1913. A setting of three poems by Roger Frêne, its lush, not to say extravagant orchestration anticipates Canteloube's later folksong settings. The first section, "Offrande à l'été" is an ardent love song... The central "Lunaire" has a more mysterious, yearning feel... The finale, "Hymne dans l'aurore" is an ecstatic prayer to Pan, celebrating every wonder of... The final cry, "Mon âme s'ouvre ainsi qu'une aube étincellante! O Pan!" is marked in the score crescendo en grandissant, and Gens, Serge Baudo and the Lille Orchestra rise to the moment with splendid force.” --Gramophone Magazine, December 2007

Pulkkis: Enchanted Garden, Etc

A young composer couldn't ask for a more impressive debut album than this one. On evidence here, Uljas Pulkkis (b. 1975), yet another impressive talent from Finland, is still finding his individual voice, but there's no doubt at all that he has one. Enchanted Garden, for violin and orchestra, is a study in texture; but unlike so much music by today's avant-garde, Pulkkis isn't afraid to intermingle extremely consonant, luscious harmony with the work's more exploratory timbres. The result is consistently ear-catching in its juxtaposition of diverse elements, and though you'd think it wouldn't hang together particularly well, somehow it does. Jaakko Kuusisto does an excellent job with a solo that as often as not must embroider the orchestral part rather than stand out front and center.

The Flute Concerto is written in a very different idiom but represents an equally intriguing blend of theoretically disparate styles. Think of, say, Hindemith or Frank Martin in the orchestral part, mixed with the exoticism of Rimsky-Korsakov (Antar or Scheherazade) in the highly ornate solo writing. I only wish that the finale would have used more distinctive thematic material; but as you can well imagine Sharon Bezaly (for whom the concerto was written) plays the whole work perfectly, with glowing tone and an obvious delight in the broad range of sounds that Pulkkis asks her to make (including quarter-tones in the central slow movement, and plenty of flutter-tonguing).

Symphonic Dalí consists of three "paintings" for orchestra: The Colossus of Rhodes, Shades of Night Descending, and Dawn. The music is opulent, entirely tonal, and glittering. The booklet notes point out the influence of Respighi, and you can certainly hear in the last movement Pulkkis' take on "The Birth of Venus" from the Three Botticelli Pictures. If I have any criticism at all it might be that there's insufficient contrast between the second and third movements (at least until the sun comes up in the latter), and that Pulkkis still tends to orchestrate in blocks, vertically rather than linearly, risking a certain timbral monotony despite his extremely colorful overall palette.

Still, the music is very appealing, demonstrating the ever-present possibility of achieving originality within a relatively traditional language. All it takes is talent, and that Pulkkis evidently has in abudance. The performances, as suggested above, are uniformly stunning, and so is the SACD sound in all formats. Susanna Mälkki leads the Stavanger Symphony in this unfamiliar music with confidence, and the players respond in kind. As I said at the opening of this review, for a young composer this makes the ideal "calling card", and this is just as valid an observation for listeners interested in getting to know some strikingly good new music.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Mozart: Great Piano Concertos Nos. 16, 24, 25, 26 & 27

Andras Schiff's Mozart cycle with the Camerta Academica des Mozarteums Salzburg and Sándor Végh was recorded between 1987 and 1993 and quickly came to be recognised as one of the finest cycles to be recorded during the digital era and using modern instruments.

This 2-CD set focuses on the last 4 concertos with the addition of No.16 (K451) and provides an excellent selection of concertos drawn from the complete cycle.

As well as a useful catalogue item and strong addition to the DOUBLE DECCA catalogue, this set also acts as a superb reminder of Andras Schiff's wonderful Mozart interpretations as he approaches his 50th birthday on 21st December 2003.

Brahms: The Complete Piano Trios

'A clear first recommendation for any of the five works. I find these fully the equal of any other versions of any of the trios in the catalogs, whether by present-day or 'golden age' performers. Wonderful music-making' --Fanfare, USA

“Enriching performances that make one aware of Brahms's stature first and the superb musicianship of the executants second - which is exactly as it should be!” --Gramophone Magazine

“Aided by an especially clear, vivid, yet spacious recording, the Florestan Trio and their two colleagues allow us to hear far more of this music than usual – the elaborate decoration of Op 114's Adagio, or the sinister detail of the more delicate passages in Op 8's Scherzo. Much of the credit for this goes to Susan Tomes; her playing is an object-lesson in sensitivity and in matching the other voices. Balance and blend are a special feature of these performances.

Anthony Marwood and Richard Lester match their sounds perfectly for the lovely duet passages in the slow movements of Opp 8 and 101. Less expected, and less usual, is the matching of violin and horn, cello and clarinet. But perhaps the single outstanding feature of all the performances is the way the music is shaped. It's not only that the phrases are projected clearly and expressively – the approach moves outwards to encompass the music's larger paragraphs and, indeed, whole movements. These are very desirable recordings, then.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Meditation

Mischa Maisky (cello) & Pavel Gililov (piano)

Though his recordings are relatively few (especially for a major label artist), Mischa Maisky is recognized as one of the most distinguished and celebrated cellists of our time. This recital of arrangements of familiar as well as undeservedly unfamiliar classical tunes amply demonstrates why.

His tone is impeccable, technique flawless, and most important he leaves the listener feeling as if they're hearing the piece in a wholly fresh new way. Joined by his long time accompanist Pavel Gililov, this is a recording all cello enthusiasts are sure to enjoy.

La Bellezza Del Canto

With her debut CD, “La bellezza del canto”, Olga Peretyatko entered the Top Ten of the German classical charts.

"The Sweet and technically agile voice..." -- New York Times

"A beautiful, sparkling voice with a bright shining height and a pleasant and rich centre." -- Opernglass

Yoshimatsu: Kamui-chikap Symphony, Etc

‘Good performances, good sound. If you want to sample Yoshimatsu’s music, this is a good place to start’. --Fanfare

"Attractive, semi-ambient sounds and New Age dreaminess are the basis of these two immaculately executed, picturesque and listener-friendly works." --Classic FM Magazine

"Very highly recommended." --ClassicsToday.com

This is the third release on Chandos of material by contemporary Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu (b. 1953). Yoshimatsu's music has some of the polystylistic touches found in Alfred Schnittke, but his temperament is more closely allied with contemporary Scandinavian composers (Einojuhani Rautavaara and Leif Segerstam come to mind). However, Yoshimatsu is very much a Romantic at heart and his music remains mostly tonal throughout.

Few will find his music unappealing. His Kamui-Chikap (Symphony No. 1) is particularly attractive because his occasional odd-note or atonal expression is carefully framed in a coherent tonality that sweeps the listener along. Some elements characteristic of American composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass appear in his tone poem, Ode to Birds and Rainbow. This piece also comes across as a homage to Ottorino Respighi without sounding anything at all like Respighi. Neat trick.

The BBC Philharmonic beautifully performs both symphonies and each work is illuminated further by the robust Chandos sound. Yoshimatsu doesn't sound particularly Japanese (if we use Toru Takemitsu's music as a gauge), but there's nothing wrong with that. Yoshimatsu's music is very approachable and begs repeated listenings. Very highly recommended. --ClassicsToday.com

Wagenseil: Concerts choisis

Echo du Danube, Alexander Weimann

Though largely forgotten today, Wagenseil (1715-1777) was a well-known musical figure in his day. He composed a number of operas, choral works, symphonies, concertos, chamber music and keyboard pieces. Delightful and inspired compositions from a sadly neglected composer.

Accent's Georg Christoph Wagenseil: Concerts choisis does succeed in providing a renewed perspective on Wagenseil's artistry and helps clarify why Haydn and Mozart both found him a composer of such great interest. It is easily recommendable to those who appreciate eighteenth century chamber music and should come as a welcome surprise even to those who have already written Wagenseil off as a non-contender.

Poème

"Akiko Suwanai, a tall, imposing violinist of striking stage presence, raised her bow for a sombre, intense descent of notes at the start: this was big-boned, noble playing, with its rhythmic life taut and rigorous.“ --The Times

"Suwanai belongs to those artists who strive for clarity above all. Her playing is pure sound, pure energy.” --chweinfurter Tagesblatt, April 2010

“Her sound is large and powerful, the phrases… are elegant and of effortless simplicity." --Classic Toulouse, October 2009

Ordonez: Symphonies

Born into the ranks of the minor nobility and as such forbidden a career as a professional musician, Karl von Ordonez nonetheless played a significant role in the musical life of his native Vienna. If he was denied the life of an artist he shared the fate of many in death, ending his days in desperate poverty, his estate too small even to cover the cost of his funeral. Possessed of a lively musical imagination, Ordonez is one of the most interesting if unknown contemporaries of Haydn. His symphonies, of which he composed over seventy, contain much that is beautiful and, in their modest way, highly original. The slow movement of the Sinfonia in C makes striking use of violin and cello obbligati, while the two minor key symphonies suggest a composer sensitive to the tonal nuances of different keys.

Weinberg: Symphony No. 19, The Banners of Peace

I regard this work more as another example of Weinberg’s ability to make powerful statements and this in music that is expressive and exciting. Viewed as such this work forms another worthy addition to the increasing amount of his music available in recorded form. We should be grateful.

Both works are given committed performances full of colour from an orchestra that will surely have this music in their blood. It is conducted with verve and enthusiasm by Vladimir Lande. --MusicWeb International, March 2013

The Weinberg Nineteenth Symphony…begins in a dignified manner…

…the music is fairly attractive and expertly crafted…

…The Banners of Peace…is a colorful piece…it makes for quite an attractive filler for the symphony.

If you’re one of a growing number of people with an interest in the music of Mieczyslaw Weinberg, you’ll want to snatch up this CD…Naxos offers excellent sound reproduction and informative notes by Richard Whitehouse. --Classical Net, February 2013

S'il vous plait: Virtuoso Accordion Miniatures

Hailed as ‘Queen of the classical accordion’, Mie Miki made her first public appearance at the age of five, and has since then given countless concerts. This CD brings together pieces that do not form part of her standard performance repertoire but are more old friends and new, childhood acquaintancies, and some surprise guests from a wholly different musical universe.

Arrangement of works originally written for harpsichord (Daquin’s Cuckoo or Handel’s Blacksmith) or piano (Stravinsky’s Tango and Schubert’s two Moments musicaux) rub shoulders with original accordion compositions such as Wolfgang Jacobi’s Sérénade.

Moods range from the irrepressible Miss Karting, straight out of the great French musette tradition, and the breakneck comedy of Road Runner, to the intense pathos of Astor Piazzolla’s Chiquilín de Bachín and the calm serenity of A Spotless Rose, in Brahms’ setting (originally an organ prelude).

Mozart: Flute Concertos

"To both concertos plus the two separate movements...Bezaly brings pure, delicately coloured tone - beautiful throughout it's range - phenomenal agility and breath control, and an impish sense of fun." --Gramophone

“Bezaly's exquisite, technically immaculate, compelling playing sets new standards in this repertoire, as do Kalevi Aho's stunning cadenzas, composed especially for this recording” --BBC Music Magazine

“Israeli flautist Sharon Bezaly offers delectable performances of the familiar Mozart concertos. The composer famously protested that he loathed the flute, though he was far too much of a pro to slip from his customary fastidious standards.

In the fast movements he is at his most puckish and insouciant, while the slow ones, especially the Adagio ma non troppo of the G major, infuse graceful galanterie with exquisite poetry.

To both concertos, plus the two separate movements (of which the D major Rondo is a transcription of the dapper C major Rondo for violin, K373), Bezaly brings pure, delicately coloured tone – beautiful throughout its range – phenomenal agility and breath control, and an impish sense of fun. The Allegros have an elegant bounce, with soloist and the ever-alert Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra relishing their quickfire interplay. Repeats are always a cue for imaginative new phrasings; and time and again Bezaly provokes a smile with her playfully varied bravura passagework.

Bezaly opts for a lighter tonal palette than usual and favours a cooler, simpler (and arguably more Mozartian) approach in slow movements.

Where she steps right out of period is in the cadenzas. Specially written by Kalevi Aho, these refract and fragment Mozart through a 21st-century prism, exploiting the whole compass of the flute and giving Bezaly scope to explore intriguing new colours. Purists may throw up their hands. But if you can adjust to the time-travelling you may find Aho's cadenzas ingenious, entertaining and strangely touching.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 (Mozart - Complete Works for Flute and Orchestra)

Villa-Lobos: Chôros Volume 2

“After the excellent previous volume this successor - as well played as ASV's still incomplete rival survey - augurs well for what will presumably be the final instalment.” --Gramophone Magazine, October 2008

“Villa-Lobos's textural inventiveness is a constant delight in both [Choros 8 & 9] and the São Paulo Symphony's performances under John Neschling exploit it to maximum effect.” --The Guardian, 25th July 2008 ****

Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice - October 2008

“How many Chôros are there? Fourteen numbered examples (with two claimed as “lost”), two Chôrosbis, a Wind Quintet en forme de Chôros and a con- cluding (!) choral-and-orchestral “Introduction to the Chôros”, all more or less from the 1920s.

No 6 (1926), which opens this second volume of BIS's survey, and No 9 (1929) may not have been written down until 1942 in time for their Rio premieres. Villa-Lobos was unreliable about many details of his work and these would not be unique in his output in being created only when performances finally materialised.

Whenever it was set down, the Sixth is a hugely engaging, if sprawling, orchestral fantasia and like the Eighth (written and premiered between 1925 and 1927) and Ninth, was scored for large orchestra using exotic local percussion instruments. The Eighth is far more barbaric in character, tailored for the fad for primitivism then fashionable in Paris (where it was written), with parts for two pianos. Yet this is no concerto in disguise; although the first is a melodic soloist, the second is deployed as a percussive instrument and both orchestrally. BIS provides a clear balance.

Neschling and the São Paulo SO have the edge in the Ninth, which lies expressively between Nos 6 and 8. Separating these difficult orchestral works come the First for guitar (1920-21) and Fourth for brass (1926). There have been crisper performances of the latter, but Fabio Zanon's of the well known First is really rather good, languid and wistful, the tempi vibrantly elastic. This fine disc augurs well for what will presumably be the final instalment.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

Canteloube: Chants d'Auvergne, Volume 1

This fine new Naxos issue with Véronique Gens and Jean-Claude Casadesus conducting is welcome. Gens' voice is rather light—but this perhaps is the kind of sound Canteloube preferred for this music. On this site we recently reviewed a private reissue of a group of "Songs of France" (including one of Canteloube's) sung by soprano Lucie Daullene with Joseph Canteloube at the piano. A reader wrote saying he knew the history of this rare recording and mentioned Canteloube had told him he thought Daullene's light, innocent voice was perfect for his songs . . . 

I imagine Canteloube would have been pleased with Véronique Gens' sound and interpretation. Naxos' multi-channel recording is just fine, with the performers in front, ambient sound from other speakers. Complete original texts are provided with English translations. --ClassicalCDReview.com, March 2005

Tcherepnin: Complete Music for Cello and Piano

Alexander Ivashkin, ably partnered by Geoffrey Tozer (and the pianist needs to be a virtuoso), proves a powerful advocate for some splendid, virtually unknown cello-piano repertoire (everything except the tiny Ode is a first recording). Tcherepnin’s three pithy and brilliant sonatas from the early Twenties, with their manic toccatas, scintillating ostinati, resourceful use of extreme registers in both instruments and their soulful, deeply Russian melodic invention, show clearly why the young composer was regarded for a while as a direct rival to Prokofiev.

It’s Shostakovich, though, who is recalled (or rather anticipated) in The Well-Tempered Cello (1925-6), a set of 12 preludes on Tcherepnin’s personal, oriental-sounding nine-note scale. Tcherepnin’s absolute command of both instruments is a continual delight, and his movements have a blessed brevity, packed with incident and never outstaying their welcome – in fact, his penchant for downbeat endings, simply stopping as soon as the invention has, is a trait many modern composers could study.

The much later Songs and Dances, bravura fantasies on Russian and Asiatic folksongs, is a Romantic charmer, ending with a stunning Kazakh Dance. Superbly played and recorded, the disc is a continual pleasure – these are works which deserve, as of right, to be encountered more frequently on the concert platform. Calum MacDonald, BBC Music Magazine *****

Kabalevsky & Khachaturian: Cello Concertos

Mats Lidström is that rare thing, an original musician. The sheer mercurial energy which drives his performances can be both engaging and disturbing, but there is always a searching intelligence at work. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra lost much when its compelling, if unpredictable, lead cellist departed. These two concertos show him at his persuasive best, bringing lesser known works to life.

Kabalevsky’s 1964 Concerto stretches and yawns with slow pizzicato before springing into urgent life. Sub-Shostakovich in its motifs and tonality, it is nevertheless well-constructed and uses the saxophone to great effect.

In both Allegro movements Lidström achieves a lightning speed and attack and, though Raphael Wallfisch’s recording on Nimbus has a more solid beauty of tone, the Swede’s nervous anticipation makes up for the thinner sound of his Grancino cello.

Khachaturian’s 1946 Concerto would make a wonderful soundtrack to a cinematic faux-Oriental extravaganza, with its twisting major and minor intervals, and almost sleazy chromaticism. Lidström really knows how to swing, and makes the most of the memorable melodies. He also knows how to understate Rachmaninov’s poignant Vocalise to greatest effect. A most enjoyable disc all round. -- Helen Wallace, BBC Music Magazine *****

Bach: Violin Concertos

Simon Standage is well-known as a violinist specialising in seventeenth and eighteenth century music. Leader and soloist with The English Concert from its foundation until 1990, he also fulfilled the same role for many years with the City of London Sinfonia. As well as the many records he made with The English Concert (including Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, nominated for a Grammy award), he also recorded solo and chamber music - including all of Mozart's violin concertos - with the Academy of Ancient Music, of which he was, with Christopher Hogwood, Associate Director from 1991 to 1995.

Tales Of Opera

To say that Simon Keenlyside is a thinking man's baritone might lead people to believe that he's cerebral at the expense of feelings; nothing could be further from the truth. It also should be noted that his voice is beautiful and his technique spotless--he's as comfortable with the low, dark tones of Renato in "Eri tu" as he is with the high, soft singing in the middle of the Pagliacci prologue and the aria's penultimate high A-flat and the high G that follows it. The voice itself is not large, but it does precisely what it has to to bring these scenes to life.

This CD is titled "Tales of Opera" (rather than the usual "Great Baritone Arias" or the latest "Songs of Lust and Passion", the former generic and the latter designed to sell the album as something "hot"), and there's a reason for it. Baritones who get inside their roles and make us care and wonder about their characters are not as rare as tenors with the same characteristics, but Keenlyside almost never goes for the obvious. Opening a recital CD with "Largo al factotum" is both safe and daring, but Keenlyside does it and makes us hear it clearly: he's witty but he doesn't mug, and his showing-off is in step with the character's virility and not his own.

In the following "Sois immobile" from William Tell Keenlyside sounds as if he's a different singer. All swagger is gone and he sings intimately and with a type of focus utterly right for this terrifying father/son moment. His reading of Herod's "Vision fugitive" is oozing with desire; his "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" does not give us a silly bird-man--it gives us someone searching for love. Similarly, "Eri tu" is the tragic exposing of a soul. Perhaps because Keenlyside's voice is not huge he opts for another way to sing the aria, but I suspect that he thought it through before realizing what might be called a limitation, i.e., the inability to boom like a Milnes or Warren.

In aria after aria we get caught up in character; the glorious singing is taken for granted. In what Sony refers to in the booklet as "Dah (sic) vieni alla finestra", Keenlyside is serenading and seducing for real, as the Don should be; and Wolfram's Song to the Evening Star, so difficult to "sell" outside of the opera, here is a gentle, evocative, frozen moment in time. A rarity from L'Arlesiana and a rousing version of Hamlet's Drinking Song are other interesting stops along the way, and Keenlyside's musical, sensitive way with "Di Provenza il mar" makes it seem truly fresh as well.

Ulf Schirmer is the responsive conductor and the Munich Radio Orchestra plays with warmth and professionalism. The sound is excellent. The accompanying booklet has intelligent notes by Keenlyside himself, but no texts or translations, which probably is a money-saving move. At any rate, it's nice to have Sony releasing classical material that isn't Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, or a re-tread, and with Keenlyside they've got a real winner. --Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 1-4, Etc

With so many excellent Rachmaninov concerto recordings crowding the bins of late, you might consider Chandos' two-for-one reissue of Howard Shelley's 1989/90 cycle somewhat redundant. It's not. Abetted by richly atmospheric engineering, Shelley's intelligent, musicianly virtuosity enlightens, often inspires, and always satisfies. He's not quite so nimble as Kocsis, nor scintillating as Wild, nor should you expect the fire and ice of Zimerman's First Concerto or Michelangeli's Fourth. And despite the Scottish National Orchestra's robust sonority and the late Bryden Thomson's tasteful, idiomatic podium work, I miss the Hough/Litton edition's ravishing soloist/ensemble interplay, or the vivid detailing that distinguishes Antoni Wit's conducting throughout Idil Biret's Naxos cycle.

Still, Shelley finds details that other pianists miss. For example, he brings noticeable variety of dynamic shadings and accents to the Paganini Rhapsody's solo part, while the orchestra gathers strength as the music progresses. The Second Concerto's finale easily holds its ground in the proverbial dazzle department, and the Third is a master-class in poise and proportion. Wisely, Shelley chooses the now-unfashionable leaner, simpler cadenza that Horowitz, Argerich, Kocsis, and the composer himself preferred. While my budget Rachmaninov cycle preference remains Kocsis/de Waart, Shelley/Thomson certainly is easy to live with, and its many virtues continue to wear well. --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

The Renaissance Album

"Söllscher manages to imbue his playing with the two conditions to which all great art should aspire -- clarity and mystery. No mean feat, given the modest nature of some of the material. How does he achieve this? By combining a historically informed attitude with a critical awareness that he is in fact a recreative artist looking back, with a certain wistful nostalgia perhaps, to a time that's very much a part of our collective subconscious . . . Söllscher shows how a sensitive and intelligent musician can use a modern guitar to encourage rather than restrict the listener's imagination." --Gramophone Magazine

The guitar imitates a vihuela imitating a harp courtesy of the Spanish composer Alonso Mudarra, shows off Francesco da Milano's fine counterpoint in a Ricercare, and dwells unusually in Germany where the expressive "Wer gnad durch klaff" by Arnolt Schlick is a highlight. Söllscher's concentrated, serene and deft playing supplies the defining character, recorded close but discreetly. --Record Review / Robert Maycock, BBC Music Magazine (London) / 01. November 2005

A smooth, relaxed playing style, crisp articulation and a tone balancing sweet and dry (perfect for this repertoire) ensures a clarity of projection that allows the listener to grasp the essentials of each piece while ensuring ample space for fantasy to work its magic. --Record Review / Robert Levett, International Record Review (London) / 01. February 2006

The Father, the Son and the Godfather

“Paradiso Musicale is an ensemble of compelling soloists, each with virtuosity and insight to burn, but it's nonetheless an ensemble in the ultimate sense, sparking fruitful conversations yet speaking as one responsive voice...this is a hugely impressive debut disc.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2012 *****

“This is something of a breath of fresh air across the landscape of today's baroque recording. The two upper voices of Paradiso Musicale are Dan Laurin's recorder and Henrik Frendin's viola, which thoroughly unconventional pairing gives them a fresh take on textural matters...this is a very enjoyable disc.” --Classical Music, February 2012 ****

The Father, the Son and the Godfather is a snapshot of a time when composers were offered a tremendous freedom in their choices of genres and styles and features three composers who knew each other well: J.S. Bach (the father), C.P.E. Bach (the son) and Georg Philipp Telemann (CPE’s godfather).

We thus get Johann Sebastian’s rigorous, intellectually demanding Sonata in B minor, ample examples of the elegant and tender Empfindsamer Stil of his son C.P.E., and in two Trio Sonatas a taste of Telemann’s ‘world music’

This is the first recording of Paradiso Musicale, an ensemble featuring the acclaimed recorder player Dan Laurin and made up of an unusual combination of instruments.

Hahn: Chamber Music

'This is Hyperion at its best—backing a new, imaginative group in little-known, high-quality repertoire with its customary standards of presentation and recording. C'est tout aimable, génial—and heartily recommended' --BBC Music Magazine

'I cannot recommend this disc too highly. Whether you already know Reynaldo Hahn or not, you're in for a real treat' --Fanfare, USA

'A highly rewarding and beautifully recorded recital' --International Record Review

'Les quatre interprètes jouent Reynaldo Hahn avec le naturel, l'élégance et la plus fine musicalité qu'on attend dans ces oeuvres dont le charme ne s'épuise pas' --Le Monde de la Musique, France

'An immaculately engineered disc' --The Strad