‘Constantly Moving Between the Centuries…’

As they did on 2013's Mediterraneo, CHRISTINA PLUHAR & L'ARPGIATTA take a different approach, this time on the 17th century music of England's greatest composer, HENRY PURCELL
by David McGee
 

 
 

Of Love, Loss, Chivalry & Memory

Christine de Pisan, whose work touched on every aspect of courtly life, from romantic poetry to military strategy and feminist critiques of the position of women in society, has inspired Blondel's new work of late Medieval wind...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Catherine (of Aragon) and Henry (VIII) Dancing? Imagine!

The ROSE CONSORT OF VIOLS, with mezzo-soprano CLARE WILKINSON, are dazzling on a new disc of music drawn from some of the earliest manuscripts surviving from the turn of the 16th Century.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Being About an Instrument ‘At Once Familiar and Unknown’

In ART OF THE MANDOLIN, AVI AVITAL offers a perspective on 300 years of music composed specifically for his instrument of choice. A range of perspectives--via reviews, interviews and first-person observations-help explain the a...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Fleshing Out New Dimensions in Bach’s Music

On his new album, lutenist HOPKINSON SMITH is fleshing out new dimensions of J.S. Bach's Suites nos. 4, 5 and 6 in what he describes as a 'non-violent approach.' Review and interview herein.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Music of a Forgotten Master

On his new disc, DANIEL GRIMWOOD offers the piano works of ADOLF VON HENSELT, a forgotten master whose music 'breathes the same air as that of Chopin and Liszt,' says ROBERT HUGILL.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Voices Out of the Shadows

Continuing to champion the work of women composers, RAPHAELA GROMES delivers a double-CD triumph in FEMMES.
by David McGee
 

 
 

An Imaginative Exploration of The Sound-World of The Early Celtic Church

Music composer ROBERT HUGILL's review leads this appraisal of a fascinating, haunting new album exploring the sound of the early Celtic church.
by David McGee
 

 

 

‘Song is Central to the Irish Imagination’

Their 2016 debut album was an international hit, and the CHORAL SCHOLARS OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN are back with another stellar rendering of Irish song in PERPETUAL TWILIGHT
by David McGee
 

 
 

Of Lute Duets and East Meets West, From Elizabethan England to Modern Japan

‘…an air of warmth and accessibility…’ Casual pronouncements are made every so often that the lute songs of Elizabethan England were the pop music of their day. The lutenist is said to be the 16th-century version of...
by David McGee
 

 

 

Heightening Prokofiev’s Inherent Eloquence

On PETER AND THE WOLF IN HOLLYWOOD, GIANTS ARE SMALL, with help from ALICE COOPER, offer a clever, charming prequel to SERGEI PROKOFIEV's beloved children's classic from 1936
by David McGee
 

 
 

The (Continuing) Resurrection of Florence Price

Paying loving tribute to pioneering African American composer FLORENCE PRICE, acclaimed pianist SAMANTHA EGE offers FANTASIE NEGRE: THE PIANO MUSIC OF FLORENCE PRICE. Review by ROBERT HUGILL.
by David McGee