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 their debut in English in the Abel settings, authoritatively performed here by the soprano Hila Plitmann. The songs take full advantage of Plitmann’s ‘wondrous voice’, which gleams in all registers, especially when she picks out notes in the stratosphere. … Sarah Beck’s warm English horn and Carol Rosenberger’s glistening pianism are ideal partners. Rosenberger is also a dynamic colleague in two pieces with the clarinettist David Shifrin. Intuition’s Dance takes the instruments through a series of conversations ranging from playful to conflicting, with the dance element portrayed in buoyant episodes. … [The Elastic Hours] is compelling in narrative depth and energy, and the violinist Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker and pianist Dominic Cheli animate the discussions with a bounty of expressive allure.”
—Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone
See the full review in Gramophone Magazine
