John Wilson

“Un Voix dans le désert, Carillon and Le Drapeau Belge are melodramas to wartime verse by the Belgian Emile Cammaerts, vigorously proclaimed by Callow, with a taut solo from Gritton halfway through the first. More interesting agitprop is the purely orchestral Polonia” Sunday Times, 18th November 2012

“Here's a supremely enjoyable Elgar survey centred around a clutch of works composed during the Great War...Throughout, the BBC Concerto Orchestra respond with bright-eyed conviction and commendable polish for John Wilson, whose endearingly communicative, shapely and affectionate readings...hold their own...Elgarians shoudl ceratinly lend an ear to this entreprising and rewarding Somm anthology” Gramophone Magazine, January 2013

“This is a rewarding disc, giving us opportunities to hear some Elgar scores that rarely see the light of day. John Wilson is in evident sympathy with the music and secures consistently fine playing from the BBC Concert Orchestra...The texts are included - though you won’t need them to follow Simon Callow’s speech, so clear is his diction” MusicWeb International, 26th April 2013

“[Clark's] playing has rapturous firepower...John Wilson's conducting secures ultra-vivid, sparklingly finished performances that also respond memorably to the quieter moments” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ****

“The celebrated John Wilson brings his interpretative magic to bear on these pieces, which often transplant you so fully into the era you have to check you're not wearing a peplum suit or Oxford bags. The general mood is one of unhurried romanticism. The RLPO gently draws out every subtlety” Classic FM Magazine, December 2011 ****

“a well-chosen programme of English orchestral miniatures very well recorded. He opens with Walton's portrait of the commedia dell'arte character Scapino, full of gusto yet bringing out tenderly the contrasting romantic episodes that fill out the character...Delius's sensuously romantic Walk to the Paradise Garden and Bax's lushly scored The Happy Forest are made glowingly radiant in John Wilson's richly textured evocations.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2011

“Rich, immaculate sound and impeccable orchestral playing too.” The Arts Desk, 3rd December 2011

“John Wilson is probably best known for his light-entertainment orchestral work, especially his restorations of classic film scores – a background which, it turns out, equips him well for this anthology of British musical landscapes.” The Independent, 21st October 2011 ***

“John Ireland’s Piano Concerto of 1930 receives a thoroughly sympathetic, lucid performance, as does the ominously darker Legend of three years later...A delightful disc.” The Telegraph, 29th September 2011 *****

“alert to the work's many changes of mood and wide range of pianistic demand. I particularly like [Lenehan's] musing, elegiac take on the haunting slow movement, and the orchestral playing is impressively responsive throughout...It's good to have new recordings of the Sea Idyll and the cheerful Three Dances, too.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 ****

“as John Lenehan's finely nuanced performance with John Wilson and the Liverpool orchestra shows, it's a pleasant enough work, predominantly introspective without extravagant displays of virtuosity, and which in its finale unexpectedly flirts with neoclassicism.” The Guardian, 22nd December 2011 ***

“a splendid new recording of what is undoubtedly the finest of all British piano concertos...Lenehan has already recorded a great deal of Ireland's piano music for Naxos with distinction and he is again at his finest here...the RLPO is on first-class form under the understanding direction of John Wilson, who is renowned as a passionate advocate of English music...A CD not to be missed by all lovers of English music.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2011

“The JWO - which has performed this repertoire live countless times - delivers the goods with knock-'em-dead gusto. Modelled on the old studio orchestras of yore, it boasts the glossy, jazzy, euphoric sound you'll know and love from the movies. The singers are all terrific.” Classic FM Magazine, October 2011 ****

“Oh, what a treat...Pure unadulterated bliss.” Daily Express, 26th August 2011

“The playout to I Got Rhythm, after Kim Criswell's exuberant vocals is sensational. ...Best of all are Curtis Stigers and Seth MacFarlane sounding uncannily like Sinatra and Crosby on Porter's Well, Did You Evah?” The Times, 20th August 2011 ***

“The JWO - which has performed this repertoire live countless times - delivers the goods with knock-'em-dead gusto. Modelled on the old studio orchestras of yore, it boasts the glossy, jazzy, euphoric sound you'll know and love from the movies. The singers are all terrific. The legendary Kim Criswell is pure class” Classic FM Magazine, October 2011 ****

“Oh, what a treat...Pure unadulterated bliss.” Daily Express, 26th August 2011

“The playout to I Got Rhythm, after Kim Criswell's exuberant vocals is sensational. ...Best of all are Curtis Stigers and Seth MacFarlane sounding uncannily like Sinatra and Crosby on Porter's Well, Did You Evah?” The Times, 20th August 2011 ***

“Roderick Williams declaims his own orcehstration of Annabel Lee rather well, and enjoys two robust sea songs” BBC Music Magazine, July 2010 ***

“John Wilson directs to the manner born and draws a crisply disciplined response from the Hallé, who seem to be enjoying the experience enormously.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2009

“The advertising blurb on the CD cover quotes a reviewer in The Times. It states quite categorically, “I'd rather listen to the Hallé play English music than any other orchestra in the world.” … if I am honest I would have to agree that this present performance of John Ireland's orchestral music is truly superb. The present CD is a veritable feast of Ireland's orchestral music. In fact it makes an excellent introduction to his music. There are six works on this disc, which represent different facets and interests of the composer's achievement. Perhaps the most important works are those associated with location and history - Mai-Dun and The Forgotten Rite. Much of his music was infused with evocations of place and the people who had lived there. This was especially the case when those places had connections with the prehistoric and had 'mystical aspects' associated with their beliefs and rituals. He had a heightened sense of 'awareness of place': a kind of sixth-sense. This is a great CD that every Ireland enthusiast will insist on having. The main competition for this music is the Boult recordings on Lyrita and the Hickox edition on Chandos. All these recordings are essential and I would not be without them. I was introduced to Ireland's orchestral music through the Lyrita LPs so I naturally have a soft spot for them. However, John Wilson and the Hallé have excelled themselves and produced a landmark disc that presents this great music with enthusiasm, passion and understanding.” John France, MusicWeb International Recording of the Month

“This attractive compilation, sparkily performed by John Wilson and the Hallé, is exactly the kind of push Ireland's reputation needs” The Guardian, 19th June 2009 ****