Limelight Magazine gives ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to the Latvian Radio Choir and Sigvards Klava’s recording of the Komitas Divine Liturgy: “Originally conceived for male chorus, the Divine Liturgy has been effectively adapted for mixed chorus by the Armenian composer, Vache Sharafyan, giving this already fascinating work an added radiance. Customarily superb singing by the Latvian Radio Choir under Sigvards…
The Whole Note Magazine’s October issue features a wonderful new review for the Latvian Radio Choir and Sigvards Klava’s recording of the Komitas Divine Liturgy: “The profound music of Divine Liturgy is a historic recording… arranger Vache Sharafyan has made a boldly presumptuous leap of faith and illuminates Komitas’ deeply meditative sound-mass textures, choosing to mix the…
The September/October issue of Fanfare includes a thoughtful review of The Cave of Wondrous Voice by Santa Fe writer Huntley Dent: “Abel’s opening work (depicts) the restless operation of intuition, which keeps turning back on itself to find fresh ways of saying things. His intuition darts from gesture to gesture very quickly, and the piece is finely…
Remy Franck gives a ♪♪♪♪♪ rating to Smaro Gregoriadou’s new recording, A Healing Fire, on his Pizzicato journal: “The Greek guitarist Smaro Gregoriadou is known for her constant experimentation with the guitar sound. On this CD, you can experience this once again. … excellent phrasing and dynamic playing. … Gubaidulina’s expressive Serenade leads to the…
Gramophone Magazine’s 2020 Awards Issue reviews the Latvian Radio Choir’s recording of the Komitas Divine Liturgy: “The importance in Armenian culture of Komitas, priest-monk, composer, arranger, transcriber, conductor, can hardly be overestimated. … his transcriptions of western Armenian folk music effectively saved the tradition from extinction. … The Divine Liturgy was first published in 1933…
Gramophone Magazine reviews Jonah Kim and Sean Kennard’s Rachmaninoff & Barber Cello Sonatas recording in the 2020 Awards Issue: “These are works of young firebrands, full of emotional urgency and heightened instrumental challenges, which are met to striking effect in the performances offered on this new recording by the cellist Jonah Kim and pianist Sean…
Opera News names Isabel Bayrakdarian, Jory Vinikour, Constantine Orbelian, and the Kaunas City Symphony’s The OTHER Cleopatra recording, a Critic’s Choice! “The soprano’s musical intelligence, along with her rich sound, impressive range and sensitivity to text are solidly at home in the Italian eighteenth century, so these excerpts from settings by Vivaldi (1724), Hasse (1729)…
The Whole Note declares Mark Abel “a compositional master” after reviewing his new album of chamber music: The Cave of Wondrous Voice. “Abel is renowned for his vocal works. His exciting song cycle Four Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva features four Russian poems translated to English for the first time by Alyssa Dinega Gilliespie. Soprano Hila Plitmann sings…
MusicWeb International gives their “Recommended” status to the Latvian Radio Choir’s recording of the Komitas Divine Liturgy: “The Latvian Radio Choir, a professional body of around 25 singers, have exceptional skills.… there is a clarity to their expression. Hovhannes Badalyan, who sings the parts allocated to the priest, is himself a priest of the Armenian…
ClassicsToday gives across-the-board 10s to Amour éternel starring Ekaterina Siruina and Charles Castronovo, Constantine Orbelian, and the Kaunas City Symphony: “Siurina has “special” in spades! I was impressed from the start, with a lovely “Depuis le jour”, with all of its hurdles neatly cleared, and Juliette’s “Je veux vivre” spotlessly sung, without a hint of…
The Guardian reviews the Latvian Radio Choir’s recording of Komitas: Divine Liturgy: “music by the Armenian composer-priest known as Komitas (1869-1935) is surely unknown to most of us. A pioneer ethnomusicologist, he incorporated Armenian church and folk traditions into his own work, and completed his Divine Liturgy in 1915 just before his arrest as part of the…
Rafael de Acha features the Latvian Radio Choir’s recording of the Komitas Divine Liturgy: “a rare sampling of the liturgical music of the Armenian people. The hour-long work – performed in this recording by the superb Latvian Radio Choir conducted by Sigvards Klava – introduces the listener to the hauntingly exotic music of the 19th century priest…
Gramophone Magazine critic Donald Rosenberg reviews The Cave of Wondrous Voice: Chamber Music and Songs of Mark Abel in the August issue: “As he has demonstrated on previous recordings of songs and operas, [Mark Abel] treats words with shapely care, establishing vibrant and urgent contexts for the interaction of voice and instruments. Tsvetaeva’s verses make…
The ArtsFuse’s Jonathan Blumhofer reviews The Cave of Wondrous Voice: Chamber Music of Mark Abel: “One would find it hard to beat the all-star lineup featured in The Cave of Wondrous Voice, a new… survey of vocal and chamber music by the California-based composer Mark Abel. David Shifrin, Carol Rosenberger, Hila Plitmann, and Fred Sherry headline…
MusicWeb International has a second review for Isabel Bayrakdarian, Jory Vinikour, Constantine Orbelian, and the Kaunas City Symphony’s The Other Cleopatra: “performed here with verve and commitment… beautifully sung by Isabel Bayrakdarian… This is great music, dramatic and melodious and gives the singer plenty of opportunities to display both her technical capacity and the beauty…
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