Nature as The Ultimate Matchmaker

THE NORTH WIND WAS A WOMAN, comprised of three intriguing chamber works by DAVID BRUCE, features stirring mandolin work by AVI AVITAL. Review by ROBERT HUGILL.
by David McGee
 

 
 

A Master Returns to Bach, With Glorious Results

As a young pianist, András Schiff earned wide esteem for his 1980s recordings of the major keyboard works of J.S. Bach; in recent years, as part of his long-term relationship with ECM, he has gone back to Bach as a sage vetera...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Beyond Arcady and Bethlehem

A must-hear event for choral music lovers: ONLY A SINGING BIRD by the NATIONAL GIRLS CHOIR of Scotland, with sensitively rendered songs by MICHAEL HEARD and others.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Where Western Classical Meets Native American Musical Culture

A citizen of both the United States and of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, composer JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAHA' TATE's music reflects his dual heritage. ROBERT HUGILL offers an informed perspective on this intriguing composer's art.
by David McGee
 

 

 

‘It Seethes Rather Than Boils’

On his new album, OVER LIGHT EARTH, Icelandic composer DANIEL BJARNASON mirrors the current climate--it seethes rather than boils and speaks to the mood of its time
by David McGee
 

 
 

Beauty, Ease and Contemplation in Equal Measure

Beautiful and moving, this recording of song cycles by JONATHAN DOVE, rendered with sensitivity and passion by MARY WHATELY, draws on poems by the likes of EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Blustery Days? Only Enchantment Here.

Enchanted Places: The Complete Fraser-Simpson Settings of A.A. Milne, joins the burgeoning portfolio of Milne poems set to music.
by David McGee
 

 
 

If the Magnificent Landscapes of Wales Sang…

JOSEPH NEWSOME of VOIX DES ARTS takes stock of a fine new setting of composer ALAN HODDINOTT's SONG CYCLES AND FOLK SONGS featuring NICKY SPENCE and CLAIRE BOOTH, among others.
by David McGee
 

 

 

‘A Particular Anarchic Brand of Music Theater’

In the spirit of The Residents, London's BASTARD ASSIGNMENTS make their album debut with 'a particular anarchic brand of music theater,' according to our ROBERT HUGILL. Read on....
by David McGee
 

 
 
 

It’s Got That Swing…: Alexandre Tharaud’s Swinging Paris Le Boeuf Sur le Toit

Recalling the glory days in the 1920s of the famed Paris nightspot Le Boeuf Sur le Toit, French classical pianist Alexandre Tharaud offers a program of material you might have heard in the club when it was sizzling, ranging fro...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Aesthetically Unified as One Romantic Brotherhood

On RHEINMÄDCHEN, France's all-female vocal chorus ENSEMBLE PYGMALION, conducted by RAPHAEL PICHON, assays, with an invigorating twist, Wagner, Schubert, Schumann, Johannes Brahms and others.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Evoking Afternoons in 17th Century Hereford

Composer Matthew Locke was born 400 years ago this year, and to mark this occasion the British viol consort FRETWORK are marking the happy occasion with an album featuring seven of Locke's suites that have hitherto barely made ...
by David McGee