Signum
-
Handel in Italy, Volume 1
Sophie Bevan (soprano), Mary Bevan (soprano), Bridget Cunningham (harpsichord), Benjamin Bevan (baritone)
London Early Opera, Bridget Cunningham (director)
[Sophie Bevan] sings with a full feminine tone, enchanting in the slow movements, while her sister Mary sings arias from Handel's 1709 Venetian opera, Agrippina…the surprise is Benjamin Bevan,... —
-
Dariescu has plenty of power and agility, but she deplys them strictly for the sake of the music rather than for her own glory. Above all she knows how to shape lines by means of tactical withdrawal... —
-
a characterful performance. —
-
-
A Walk with Ivor Gurney
Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo soprano) & Simon Callow (narrator)
Tenebrae & Aurora Orchestra, Nigel Short
Connolly shows her characteristic care for words and line…Tenebrae and Aurora cherish their curving lines in the composer’s purest pastoral vein, and Simon Callow is a clear and sympathetic... —
-
In this fascinating collection, Christoph Denoth duly returns us to the tango’s soloistic origins. [Piazzólla] naturally features strongly and Denoth brings lyricism and fire to his performances... —
-
Bach, J S: Mass in B minor, BWV232
Bethany Seymour (soprano), Sally Bruce-Payne (alto), Jason Darnell (tenor), Joshua Ellicott (tenor) & Peter Harvey (bass)
Yorkshire Bach Choir & Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, Peter Seymour (director)
The Gloria is delightfully sprung...the sense of uninhibited joy and praise is exhilarating...Bethany Seymour's glorious soprano is subtle but unaffected, especially in some striking ornaments...Sally... —
-
Clear-textured orchestrations by Swensen, whose violin playing is terrific. Intriguing: the Brahms Trio's early version contains the Beethoven quote that Schumann used in his Fantasie in C. —
-
Williams is entirely on terms with the virtuoso requirements of the Tarantella from Venezia e Napoli...The intricate part-writing of Liszt's transcription from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, too,... —
-
The freshness of attack you get with younger voices is put to incisive use by conductor Ralph Allwood...Some of the emotional deepening which comes with vocal maturity is occasionally missing,... —
