César Auguste Franck

“The catalogue is hardly overflowing with accounts of the seating Piano Quintet, but, even if they were as commonplace as discs of Vivaldi's Four Seasons… this stunning new performance from Artur Pizarro and the Petersen Quartet would surely sit top of the pile. Pizzaro fits into the tight-knit ensemble perfectly, not attempting (like some pianists) to turn the work into a mini-piano concerto. ...the String Quartet: although more reflective, it is another sublime, impassioned masterpiece... I recently praised the Dante Quartet's marvellous version (on Hyperion) as being 'without peer among modern accounts' but the Petersons are, if anything, even better. With chamber playing of this standard Franck could not want for better advocates.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 *****

“Walsh is an instinctive Franck-ophile, adept at intimacy as well as pompous-free grandeur.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2009

“Colin Walsh impresses from start to finish with playing that abounds in insight and sensitivity. Especially impressive is Walsh’s astute selection of tempi – breathing life into the soul of the music...The Lincoln Cathedral acoustic is pleasing and is here warm and admirably balanced.” MusicWeb International, 2nd January 2009

“Walsh’s cantabile playing is second to none: a combination of perfect legato and a profound sense of the musical direction of each phrase...The interpretations are highly dramatic and he is not afraid to use the swell pedal with vigour, yet Colin Walsh is, at all times, fully in control of the architecture of even the largest works.” Church Music Quarterly, January 2009

“For all that one is used to Hakim’s coruscating brilliance, the sheer technical skill and white-hot intensity of the Hakim imagination in blending these dirge-like themes into music left this Scotsman duly open mouthed.” Choir & Organ, December 2008

“From nearly every point of view this disc is a treat. First, it is a historical document, the inaugural recital – no less – of Glenalmond College's new Harrison & Harrison organ. Its 26 stops, spread over two manuals, are comprehensively explored by Naji Hakim, Messiaen's successor at La Trinité in Paris. He opens this Franco-Belgian display with a centenary tribute to his master and friend Jean Langlais before turning the clock back 300 years to de Grigny's affecting Récit de tierce en taille. Boëllmann's Prière is carefully controlled, eschewing saccharine and providing a tranquil meditation between Franck's A minor Chorale and the specially commissioned Glenalmond Suite.
Initially the Franck seems perfunctory, but the dryish acoustic demands a swifter approach than we are accustomed to. Hakim's Suite and the dozen Sakskøbing Preludes (2005, based on Danish hymns) are deliciously enjoyable and entertaining.
In the latter he weaves fresh and attractive textures from unfamiliar melodic material.
The Suite is based on the chime of Glenalmond's clock tower. The excellent programme note explains fully the biblical allusions of the four movements, the last of which romps along in quasi-theatre organ style, hinting at silent movie chase sequences and the tango! Although billed as a live recording the audience is entirely silent. However, there are more 'noises off' in the concluding Improvisation in which Hakim contrasts 'Amazing Grace' with 'Auld Lang Syne'. This last track slightly outstays its welcome but don't let this caveat put you off. The playing is beautifully polished, the organ sound is natural and engrossing and the booklet full of interest.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The playing is beautifully polished, the organ sound is natural and engrossing and the booklet full of interest.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2008

“Listening to the 88-year-old Leopold Stokowski take a scenic if somewhat circuitous route through César Franck's D minor Symphony is something of a culture shock. This particular interpretation was also commercially recorded (the rousing Ravel Fanfare, too, both for Decca Phase Four), but live being live, the concert draws us nearer to the edge – and in this case the edge is refreshingly dangerous. Quite how the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic followed every twist and turn in Stokowski's maverick journey is a wonder to behold, and so is the sheer energy and youthfulness of it all. Tempi vary virtually by the bar but somehow it all adds up. Of course there were vintage Stokowski-led D minor predecessors from Philadelphia but here the richness of tone, 'shimmering sonority' (to quote composer Lex van Delden), jaw-dropping flexibility and sense of communal excitement carries you along…though best if you leave your study score on the shelf! Prokofiev's Nevsky is rather a different matter, fitfully thrilling but less secure overall. Then again, Stokowski hadn't conducted it nearly as often: he never recorded the work commercially though in 1943 he did direct the first American performance. 'Robust and lively' is how one might describe this performance, with tempi that sometimes sound a little rushed and a 'Battle on Ice' that starts well (aside for some imprecise string runs), accelerates from a very slow trudge but disappoints when the chirpy string theme barges in at around the halfway point, a little stodgily in this case, though the tension soon builds again. Warm singing from Sophia van Sante in 'The Field of the Dead' is a bonus, the voice and orchestra staying the same course…just about. It's all pretty impressive, warts'n'all – and very well recorded though there are one or two odd balances in Nevsky.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Quite how the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic followed every twist and turn in Stokowski's maverick journey [César Franck's Symphony] is a wonder to behold, and so is the sheer energy and youthfulness of it all. Tempi vary virtually by the bar but somehow it all adds up.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2008

“Gidon Kremer's 1977 duo recital with Oleg Maisenberg at the Schwetzingen Festival launched his international career with a spellbinding Prokofiev First Sonata, lyrical Beethoven Op. 96 and a tension-filled Webern Op. 7.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2009 *****