Jonah Kim’s new Approaching Autumn release with pianist Robert Koenig and featuring a world premiere from Mark Abel landed a wonderful feature in The Whole Note‘s December 2021 Editor’s Corner: “Kim’s…performance is outstanding – big, brash and gritty as called for in the outer movements; sensitive and lyrical in the Adagio (con gran espressione) – and his…
The January 2022 issue of The Strad features a review of Jonah Kim and Robert Koenig’s “triumphant performance” on Approaching Autumn! “A clear, blooming sound graces the opening of the Kodály Solo Sonata, with a defined rhythmic definition charging the invention. There’s no doubt that this monumental work is the standout performance here, as Jonah…
The December 2021 issue of Gramophone reviews Jonah Kim and Robert Koenig’s Approaching Autumn recording: “Jonah Kim has taken Approaching Autumn, the title of Mark Abel’s new work for cello and piano, as the title of this recital album as a whole. I hadn’t necessarily thought of the Grieg and Kodály sonatas as being especially autumnal…
The International Clarinet Association’s May 2021 Reviews feature a wonderful breakdown of Mark Abel’s The Cave of Wondrous Voice featuring David Shifrin, Fred Sherry, Hila Plitmann, Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker, Dominic Cheli, Carol Rosenberger, and Sarah Beck: “The first work on the album, Intuition’s Dance, is performed by clarinetist, David Shifrin and pianist, Carol Rosenberger. This spirited piece…
Lynn René Bayley offers an absolute RAVE review for Jonah Kim and Robert Koenig’s new Approaching Autumn recording: “boy, does Kim tear into the Kodály Solo Sonata! … Kim combines a gorgeous sound and elegance of phrasing, including quite passionate playing in the slower sections, with just the right amount of power in the more dramatic…
“When I listened to The Cave of Wondrous Voice, I was absolutely entranced by the lyricism and your ability to create these marvelous strands of melody. It’s just gorgeous.” —Rob Kennedy, WCPE North Carolina’s “Research Triangle” – the area encompassing Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill – is home to WCPE (theclassicalstation.org). A non-commercial, independent, listener-supported…
Composer Mark Abel was recently interviewed via email by the arts-heavy, Chicago-based online magazine Stay Thirsty about his Cave of Wondrous Voice recording on Delos. Read an excerpt of the review below and see the full piece on the Stay Thirsty Magazine: Q: Elemental truths. A: Develop a moral and philosophical base that informs your aspirations as…
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…
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…
WWFM The Classical Network’s David Osenberg hosted Mark Abel for a Two-Episode Feature and Interview on his program, Cadenza! Listen now on-demand: Part One Part Two The Cave of Wondrous Voice The music in this album sings and dances, in Abel’s “colorful blend of styles that serve the emotional nature of each work to bracing…
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…
Concerto Net‘s Christi Grimstad Reviews The Cave of Wondrous Voice: Chamber Music by Mark Abel: “Borrowing its title from Marina Tsvetaeva’s The Sybil, the CD is a wonderment of powerful words and musical footprints that has a ubiquitous outreach. Merely reading the poetic text by the Russian is emotionally crushing. … Abel’s lines require an…
Grego Applegate Edwards reviews Mark Abel’s new recording, The Cave of Wondrous Voice for Classical-Modern Music Review: “(This) is inspired and very well put-together music that would not be mistaken for the music of the past … . It is straightforwardly intricate, expressive and inventive in good ways, in the best ways. … What impresses…
AllMusic gives ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to Mark Abel’s The Cave of Wondrous Voice: “Composer Mark Abel has been known for his distinctive vocal music idiom, late-Romantic in its aesthetic but often shading off into dissonance. Soprano Hila Plitmann knows his style well, and she is present here in Abel’s Four Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva, with difficult but evocative texts translated into English…
Copyright © 2022 All Rights Reserved
Delos Productions, Inc.
P.O. Box 343, Sonoma, CA 95476
707-996-3844 · 800-364-0645