Aug 26, 2024 | CD reviews
Brian Thornsett tenorRichard Masters piano EMR Records CD087 Do you read poetry and if so, do you read Tennyson? He was extremely popular a few generations ago, but now? His most famous poems are Maud (1855) and In Memoriam (1850), an elegy on the death of his friend...
Aug 26, 2024 | CD reviews
BBC PhilharmonicBen Gernon conductorXiayin Wang piano Chandos 20341 Gerard Schurmann was born in Java in January 1924, so in this, his centenary year, Chandos have brought out a disc of four fascinating works complementing their first Schurmann recording in 1980 (CHAN...
Aug 26, 2024 | CD reviews
BBC Philharmonic OrchestraAlbany Symphony Orchestra Lyrita SRCD 2418 Lloyd’s seventh symphony ‘Proserpine’ of 1959 is a long three movement work opening with the joyful dancing side of life, beginning with a repeated xylophone anticipating John Adams’ Short ride in a...
Aug 19, 2024 | CD reviews
Plus String Chamber Music Divine Art ddx 21246Divine Art ddx 21137 Here are three discs celebrating the musical accomplishment of Thomas Pitfield and his contemporaries. Thomas Pitfield (1903–1999) was a largely self-taught as a composer, but he was also an...
Aug 15, 2024 | CD reviews
Mahler Chamber OrchestraGeorge Benjamin conductor Nimbus N18116 At little more than an hour and a bit it was no hardship to watch Picture a Day Like This twice at the Royal Opera Studio last year, although this recording is actually from the Aix-en-Provence première....
Aug 15, 2024 | CD reviews
Juliana Koch oboe/cor anglaisMichael McHale pianoJulian Bliss clarinet CHAN 20290 Decades ago the best chance of hearing the music of Ruth Gipps was to attend her occasional and often adventurous concerts with her various ‘semi-pro’ orchestras on the South Bank and...
