SOMM Recordings has released a 2 CD set of two never-before-available live concerts in which Serge Koussevitzky conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony and Sibelius’s 2nd Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall in London in June 1950. As a filler, there is a documentary in which there are never-before-released interviews with London Philharmonic Orchestra and […]
The May issue of Gramophone Magazine features a must-read review of Rebeca Omordia’s new African Pianism recording: “For her fascinating new Somm release, ‘African Pianism’, Nigerian-Romanian pianist Rebecca Omordia has chosen music from three Nigerian composers, Ayo Bankole (1935 76), Akin Euba (1935-2020) and Christian Onyeji (b1967); two Ghanaians, Kwabena Nketia (1921-2019) and Fred Onovwerosuoke […]
“Vocal lines serve the verse… In the ongoing recorded collaborations of tenor James Geer and pianist/musicologist Ronald Woodley… this collection most clearly gives an alternative view of 20th-century British music. The literary factor here is extremely high and diverse. … Arguably, Clarke’s songs are the most distinctive on the disc, including her ‘Cradle Song’, whose […]
The May 2021 issue of Gramophone Magazine has a wonderful new review for Roderick Williams, James Way, and Andrew West’s recording of Stanford’s Songs of Faith, Love and Nonsense: “Here’s yet another valuable instalment in Somm’s exploration of Charles Villiers Stanford. …the commanding partnership of Roderick Williams and Andrew West distilling a keen dramatic instinct […]
“it’s worth reiterating just what a debt of gratitude lovers of British music owe to SOMM and the Dante Quartet for their commitment to Stanford’s chamber music. Listening to this vibrant new recording, what struck me was… the freshness, the spontaneity, the instinctive ‘rightness’ of Stanford’s writing for strings. This might be the most satisfying […]
Gramophone Magazine’s January 2021 issue features a review of Leon McCawley’s Haydn Piano Sonatas Volume III: “In McCawley’s vivid realisations …Each sonata emerges as a succinct, self-contained drama, with airtight plot and an endless variety of characters. In the exquisite Adagio of the A flat Sonata (HobXVI:46), for instance, McCawley is all artful simplicity, letting Haydn’s eloquent […]
Gramophone Magazine’s January 2021 issue features a rave review for James Gilchrist and Nathan Williamson’s first volume of One Hundred Years of British Song: “James Gilchrist’s contribution is past praise in its probing range of expression and unfailing sensitivity to the text. What’s more, he enjoys immaculate support throughout from Nathan Williamson, who also provides […]
Clélia Iruzun, Jac van Steen, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s new Oswald & Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos recording is in the Gramophone Awards Issue: “ I was at least charmed by the … reading by Clélia Iruzun and Jac van Steen. I warmed to the slow movement, with its echoes of Fauré, and thoroughly enjoyed the tarantella […]
Andrew Achenbach reviews Roderick Williams and Susie Allan’s new recording of Sir Arthur Somervell: A Shropshire Lad & Maud in the August issue of Gramophone Magazine: “Superbly partnered by Susie Allan (whose deft touch and ingratiating tone are a constant source of pleasure), Roderick Williams gives an outstandingly sympathetic rendering, his consistently perceptive characterisation especially […]
Gramophone Magazine’s Alexandra Coghlan gives a rave review for Papagena’s new recording, “Hush!” in the May 2020 issue: “Taking a King’s Singers approach to mixing repertoire, the group slip easily from Georgian and Sephardic folk songs to English part-songs, music by Scarlatti and Tchaikovsky and a generous selection of new works, with even a cheeky […]