MusicWeb International critic Steve Arloff reviews David Shifrin and the Miró, Dover, and Jasper String Quartets recording, Spring Forward: Music for Clarinet and String Quartet: “I find myself repeating the same impressions when reviewing works by American composers: they are always fascinating in their exploration of new ideas, and long may it remain so. There…
Richard Hanlon reviews Cappella SF and Ragnar Bohlin’s recording of Mass Transmission: Choral Works By Mason Bates on MusicWeb International: “Sirens actually dates from 2009, and certain fingerprints of what might be deemed as Bates’ mature language are present and correct. It’s a fine sequence, luxuriantly performed by Cappella SF under their founding conductor Ragnar Bohlin.…
“It is easy to listen to this through the prism of sadness at a life cut short in its prime… But shorn of such sentiment and nostalgia, this performance still stands proud on its own terms; whatever else he was, Granados was clearly a gifted clarinettist with a strong empathy for the nostalgic sentimentality of…
MusicWeb International‘s Jonathan Woolf reviews Piano Music of John Knowles Paine by pianist Christopher Atzinger: “Paine’s piano music hasn’t really been explored in much depth.… So all thanks are due to Christopher Atzinger for getting to grips with a body of Paine’s piano repertoire. It shows Paine’s rootedness in the German romantic literature of his…
Jonathan Woolf reviews Christopher Atzinger’s new recording of the Piano Music of John Knowles Paine on MusicWeb International: “all thanks are due to Christopher Atzinger for getting to grips with a body of Paine’s piano repertoire. It shows Paine’s rootedness in the German romantic literature of his time; the Romance, Op.39 is both gentle and…
Ralph Moore reviews Veronika Dzhioeva‘s new Ritorna Vincitor! recording with Constantine Orbelian and the Kaunas City Symphony on MusicWeb International: “She is the most exciting singer I have heard since the arrival of Dinara Alieva… my heart leapt when, even before she had sung a note, I heard the first words she spoke… Her enunciation…
MusicWeb International‘s Ralph Moore makes our new Verdi Messa da Requiem recording (digital video and audio, CD/DVD/Blu-Ray) a Recommended release! “I [reviewed] Temirkanov’s live 2009 recording [of the Verdi Requiem] and considered it good, if not first-class, but this latest live recording surpasses it by a considerable margin. … when the resonant Russian basses enter…
MusicWeb International‘s Michael Cookson reviews Stephen Costello’s A Te, O Cara recording: “Stephen Costello provides a consistent quality of performance across the collection well chosen to display his stylish and engaging voice to significant effect. …Costello agilely and astutely manages the manifold challenges of [Donizetti’s Ah, mes amis] that requires no less than nine high…
MusicWeb International has released their critics’ recordings of the year for 2018, and Robert Farr has nominated our new release of Giuseppe Verdi: Messa da Requiem in memory of Dmitri Hvorostovsky: “In a year that saw the death of two of the finest opera singers of their generation, Montserrat Caballé and, at the young age…
MusicWeb International critic Ralph Moore reviews Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker and Fabio Bidini’s recording of Brahms Hungarian Dances: “Sabrina-Vivian Höpcker certainly plays with great feeling and freedom here, unashamedly milking the opportunities for soulful rubato and rallentando just as the music demands; her accompanist is scrupulous in following her lead, so ensemble is tight. Like Joachim, she…
Michael Cookson of MusicWeb International has a new review for the Poulenc Trio’s new Trains of Thought recording: “Written especially for the Poulenc Trio, Viet Cuong’s Trains of Thought gives this album its name and is a world premiere recording. Californian born Cuong conceived the score as part of a multimedia work combining music and an animated…
MusicWeb International has a new review for William Villaverde’s Cuban Memoirs recording of music by Andrés Alén: “I was attracted immediately by the directness of expression in Alén’s music, as well as William Villaverde’s committed and resoundingly positive performances. … This is a very fine disc of some enjoyable and rewarding music. If you the love…
Rob Barnett adds a second MusicWeb International review for Hong-Mei Xiao’s English Works for Viola and Orchestra recording: “Three works by British composers, each for viola and orchestra but only one dubbed a Concerto. Avoidance of that term is justified in the case of the Vaughan Williams which is a series of instantly engaging and artfully…
Michael Cookson reviews Nina Kotova Plays Tchaikovsky in MusicWeb International: “A passionate performer Kotova’s playing feels authentic and from the heart, and her cello has a simply glorious tone. Veteran conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev knows these works inside out and it shows with the playing of the Moscow based Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra impressively direct, whole-hearted and…
Critic Göran Forsling offers a second MusicWeb International review for Verdi: Rigoletto featuring Dmitri Hvorostovsky: “In the title role we hear the arguably greatest Verdi baritone of the last 25 years, Siberian Dmitri Hvorostovsky.… What we hear is… the voice we have got accustomed to during a recording career that goes back to 1990.…this is…
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