Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice

“This is a fascination CD. With the Zehetmairs you're rarely aware of bar-lines, more a constant flow of ideas, a compelling journey with a stated destination but with little need of pedantic signposting en route. You sense that the written notes have been fully absorbed and that the playing has become, in a sense, pure instinct.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2007

“The Bartók No. 5… is almost hysterically passionate, a brilliant and exciting performance that grips from first bar to last.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2007 *****

“A few seconds into the first movement of this extraordinary version of the Fifth Quartet check whether the dynamics are being played as written – many aren't. The Zehetmairs career around the notes like bikers on a zig-zag course, tracing arches at speed with what sounds like the least effort. At the fervid build-up nearly three minutes in they lunge at the music fortissimo though for the starkly syncopated passage a few seconds later their legato handling of the viola/ cello lines tends to soften the argument's impact.
It'll take some getting used to, but persevere.
There's savagery, too – for example where Bartók asks the leader to play ff stridente and Zehetmair all but saws through his fiddle.
Don't expect either a comfortable or a familiar ride. The two symmetrically placed slow movements embrace vivid, often rough-hewn textures, from a quiet chalky treble to fierce full chords. Perhaps the most satisfying movements are the Scherzo alla bulgarese and the finale: both suggest an element of rustic dance, the finale's quieter music sounding eerily effective, especially at speed.
Hindemith's somewhat drier Fourth Quartet (1921) predates Bartók's Fifth by some 13 years.
Like the Bartók it is cast in five rather than the usual four movements, the first opening to a slow, shadowy fugato which soon flares to nearrage.
Both here and in the ferocious Scherzo the Zehetmair Quartet capture the music's radical spirit, much as they do for the equivocal, gently marching slow movement.
This is a fascinating CD. With the Zehetmairs you're rarely aware of bar-lines, more a constant flow of ideas, a compelling journey with a stated destination but with little need of pedantic signposting en route. You sense that the written notes have been fully absorbed and that the playing has become, in a sense, pure instinct.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“A completely new and inspiring benchmark for this unique tour de force” BBC Music Magazine, 1st June 2007

“the stuff of legend” The Independent (on Steven Isserlis)

“Isserlis is a passionate musician, but never thoughtless or frivolous, and the delicacy of his responses on this wonderful set sometimes take the breath away. If your soul fails to quiver in the quiet depths of the fifth suite’s sarabande, then you must be a robot in disguise. Yet he’s not on his knees always worshipping: time and again Isserlis asserts the music’s dance roots, whether through his thrusting accents or by sweeping through with a winning lilt … Just listen to Isserlis, Bach and your heart, and the music that never dies” The Times

“Isserlis couples scholarly depth with technical wizardry and exuberant passion. Time stands still at the intensely moving Fifth Sarabande. Supreme recordings.” Classic FM Magazine, July 2011

“Isserlis has done the impossible. He has given the listener something new, and indeed something outstandingly good...He suggests that their expressive journey marks them as “Mystery Suites”, travelling from the nativity...to the Resurrection...Unusual as the decision is, it does work.” Charlotte Gardner, bbc.co.uk, 22nd May 2007

“…this… the most wonderful cello-playing, surely among the most consistently beautiful to have been heard in this demanding music, as well as the most musically alert and vivid. …few will fail to be charmed by Isserlis's sweetly singing tone, his perfectly voiced chords and superb control of articulation and dynamic - the way the final chord of the First Prélude dies away is spellbinding.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2007

“Steven Isserlis clearly venerates Casals as an important figure in the suites' history, even paying touching homage to him by appending a performance of a Catalan folksong. Like Casals, Isserlis bided his time before committing them to disc, and he has looked for interpretative guidance to extra-musical ideas.
Isserlis proposes a detailed concept. For him the Suites suggest a meditative cycle on the life of Christ, rather like Biber's Mystery Sonatas.
He points out that this is 'a personal feeling, not a theory', but it has to be said that once you know that he is thinking of the Agony in the Garden during the darkly questioning Second Suite (the five stark chords towards the end of the Prélude representing the wounds of Christ), the Crucifixion in the wearily troubled Fifth or the Resurrection in the joyous Sixth, it adds immense power and interest to his performances.
But then, this is also the most wonderful celloplaying, surely among the most consistently beautiful to have been heard in this demanding music, as well as the most musically alert and vivid. Not everyone will like the brisk tempi (though the Allemandes, for instance, gain in architectural coherence), but few will fail to be charmed by Isserlis's sweetly singing tone, his perfectly voiced chords and superb control of articulation and dynamic – the way the final chord of the First Prélude dies away is spellbinding.
There are so many other delights: the subtle comings and goings of the Third Prélude, the nobly poised Fifth Allemande, the swaggering climax that is the Sixth Gigue – to name but a few. Suffice to say that Isserlis's Bach is a major entrant into an already highly distinguished field, and a disc many will want to return to again and again.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Ilya Kaler is a near ideal interpreter of these works and the delightful Nocturne and Tarantella which serve as makeweight. His playing certainly has the requisite passion, but he also has a strong sense of line.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2007 ****

“A wonderfully compelling disc from Ilya Kaler…in the sense that you never want to stop listening to it…as on his other Naxos discs [Ilya Kaler] gives pure, clear readings with flawless intonation and careful use of vibrato…beautifully and idiomatically played.” Gramophone Magazine

“Naxos offers an exceptionally clear recording of these three concertante works by Szymanowski, not just the two violin concertos but an orchestrated version of the Nocturne and Tarantella.
Ilya Kaler, as on his other Naxos discs, gives pure, clear readings with flawless intonation and careful use of vibrato. Having a Polish conductor and orchestra as his accompanists adds to the idiomatic feel of each, with the magical orchestral sounds beautifully conjured up, particularly in No 1, the more radical of the two works.
Kaler is a degree warmer with a shade more vibrato than some interpreters, and the Naxos recording brings out the fantasy of the composer's orchestration, particularly in No 1, with wonderful clarity. In the more openly lyrical Second Concerto, Kaler adopts more flowing speeds with lighter results.
Kaler then plays the relatively brief Nocturneand Tarantella just as sympathetically, with the Tarantella a flamboyant virtuoso vehicle making a splendid climax to an excellent disc. The point which trumps all competition inevitably is that the Naxos issue, beautifully and idiomatically played and brilliantly recorded, comes at such a reasonable price.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The eagerly awaited Sculthorpe Requiem brings a further jewel to a wide audience, his first major choral work fascinatingly showing how his unique idiom translates into a traditional mould. Carl Crossin's Adelaide Chamber Singers clearly understand the idiom and love the music, to which their full, fresh tone and blend are ideally suited. The second disc contains orchestral works and new arrangements... The Adelaide So turns in performances brimful of power and beauty and the recorded sound is first-class. An essential release from one of the world's greatest living composers.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2007

“Sculthorpe’s extraordinary use of colour, texture and rhythm, enriched by the imitation of natural sounds and Australian indigenous music has resulted in a language that is both highly accessible and thoroughly individual…this Requiem is all about displacements….a remarkably placid if troubled setting of the Dies Irae is followed by a ravishing Canticle in the form of a setting of an Aboriginal lullaby, itself followed by an extended cadenza for didgeridoo, brilliantly performed by William Barton…the Requiem is another remarkably original work from Sculthorpe that will only confirm his status as arguably the finest composer Australia has ever produced…This is a superlative release from ABC Classics.” International Record Review

“…the new Quartet, all in their early twenties, bring a freshness and energy plus a level of sheer accomplishment that I don't ever remember hearing in these works. Far from defensiveness or special pleading, they simply assume that they are playing high quality music and that their job is therefore to give it their all. The results are joyous, effervescent.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2007

“…a pair of genuine rarities in charismatic performances. That both renditions seem so authentic has much to do with the extraordinary pizzazz and commitment of the orchestral playing.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2007