“Mark Abel continues to demonstrate his versatility in the works on the newest Delos release of his music, ‘Spectrum’, a generous two-disc helping of song-cycles, chamber pieces and excerpts from an opera still roaming around the California-based composer’s fertile brain. As the previous recordings revealed, Abel writes in a poetic tonal style, at times reminiscent of Samuel Barber, peppered by flavourful harmonies and piquant turns of phrase.… Abel’s affinity for setting words is in appealing bloom in songs of diverse atmosphere and feeling.… Abel’s poignant and forceful narratives [in Trois femmes du cinéma], set to his own texts, and beautifully limned in the performances by soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian and pianist Carol Rosenberger. … The two scenes from the evolving opera The Book of Esther, set to texts by Kate Gale, can’t suggest how the drama ultimately will unfold with orchestra, but the characters and their challenges are drawn with skilful and spare urgency. … On this recording, the scenes are scored for violin, clarinet and piano, which bring the simmering emotions into intimate focus. Soprano Hila Plitmann and mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich likely would be as potent in these roles on stage as they are in the recording studio. Scharich also does eloquent work, with pianist Jeffrey LaDeur, in Abel’s 1966… Animated and pensive writing also pervade three instrumental works… They are all performed with elegant vibrancy.”

—Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone

See the full review on Gramophone.co.uk