The excellent BMS CD of piano music by Herbert Howells and performed by Matthew Schellhorn has been receiving fantastic reviews in the music press online.
Here are a few extracts from the reviews published – don’t forget you can buy the CD online.
“I hadn’t expected Howells’s piano music to occupy such different sound-worlds to his better-known works, the spare Satie-esque whimsy of Harlequin Dreaming and the Debussy-ish Phantasy and Summer Idyls taking me entirely by surprise. Schellhorn is a marvellous standard-bearer, witty and skittish in the quirkier pieces and giving works like the wonderfully languorous June-Haze plenty of space to glow.” —Presto Classical (Editors’ Choice, July 2020)
“Matthew Schellhorn proves a most sympathetic interpreter, reaching the peak of finesse in the sparkling aqueous ripples of the Phantasy, where he admirably sustains the music’s shape and flow. Schellhorn’s welcome album gives us much to ponder over.” — BBC Music Magazine
“Pianist Matthew Schellhorn deserves credit for respecting the intimate dimensions of this music … a significant essay in rediscovery.” — AllMusic
“… immaculately stylish, raptly concentrated and memorably tender advocacy. … Boasting exemplary production values, this superbly performed survey constitutes a copiously rewarding voyage of discovery; in fact, I’m already itching to hear the second volume!” — Gramophone
“In Matthew Schellhorn, Howells has found an ideal musical champion and interpreter. His playing, from the gentle lyricism of Meadow Rest to the breezy good humour of the Toccatina which closes the Petrus Suite, is a model of clarity, beautifully poised and articulate music making.
“Throughout this recital there is exhibited a perfect balance of academic rigour allied to musical sensitivity. All that can be said is that the results never sound anything except completely convincing. There is weight and power when the music requires it, but the abiding sense of this recital is of precision and poise. Musically delightful and historically significant, this is an excellent disc in every respect.” — MusicWeb International