Penguin Guide Rosette Winners

“Sarah Fox sings with refulgent tone, commendable accuracy and shining intelligence; and Richard Hickox rallies the BBC Welsh forces to the same dizzy heights that marked out the previous volume in this series… as one of the best discs of 2008.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2009

“Despite its monumental aspect the Sinfonia mistica is essentially a personal, intimate work, and it gets a moving performance here, Richard Hickox judging to a nicety the various movements' complex succession of tempos, and their ebb and flow of intensity. Sarah Fox is a pure-voiced, poignant soloist, and the BBC National Chorus of Wales sound very confident, as if this was a repertoire standard for them.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2009 *****

“Composed during 1973-74 in direct response to the death of his mother, Leighton's Sinfoniamistica is scored for soprano, chorus and orchestra.
Described by its creator as 'a requiem or a meditation on the subject of death which usually becomes so more real to us in the second half of life', the symphony has six movements and sets texts by such great metaphysical poets as John Donne, Thomas Traherne and George Herbert, while also making telling use of the 1865 American hymn tune The Shining River. The linked 'Meditation' and 'Elegy' at the work's heart manifest an especially potent beauty, serenity and compassion, but, truth to tell, inspiration soars consistently high in this cogently wrought and (above all) profoundly humane utterance. This is music which will amply repay repeated listening. The orchestral version of the glorious 1964 Te Deum laudamus makes a rewarding postscript.
Both performances are beyond reproach.
Sarah Fox sings with refulgent tone, commendable accuracy and shining intelligence; and Richard Hickox rallies the BBC Welsh forces to same dizzy heights. Outstandingly vivid sound, too, with a perfectly judged balance throughout.
Miss at your peril.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This is a hauntingly compelling recording of some of Kenneth Leighton's most inspired music...The orchestra and chorus were inspired to great heights in this recording, and the sound itself is of demonstration quality.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“No Arnold collection captures his special magic quite as compellingly as this.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“A classic release in which Warren-Green and his colleagues play with such passion and commitment that any Minimalist doubters will be swept along with them. Spotlessly engineered.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2006 *****

“Some discs are recommendable just because they present appealing, well-played programs in good sound at a great price. In such cases, comparisons are not the issue; we can enjoy them as a concert in our living rooms. JoAnn Falletta's new Copland disc is one of those” American Record Guide

“…Rodeo, is played not just with precision but also with great freshness and spirit, and responsiveness to the moments of humour and introspection.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2006 ****

“This attractive anthology represents Copland the Populist, to quote the title of Tilson Thomas's stunning RCA disc of all three ballets with the San Francisco Symphony. There are two suites, one from film and one from ballet, plus a couple of less familiar short pieces written for radio.
The least recorded of these is Prairie Journal, which had an odd genesis. It was commissioned by CBS Radio in 1936, premiered simply as Music for Radio, and their massive audience was invited to send in suggestions for a better title. A thousand people responded and Copland chose Saga of the Prairie – even at this stage listeners thought his music evoked the Western scene.
Copland changed the title much later. In both this piece and Letter from Home – as he admitted, a slightly sentimental picture of our boys at the front receiving mail in 1944 – he was taking the mass medium of radio seriously.
He did the same with films, as The Red Pony shows. The suite was performed in 1948 before the Steinbeck film was released. It's full of diatonic tunes you think you've known all your life, pure triads and Copland's characteristic snappy scoring.
These are lively performances in the Copland tradition, although Letter from Home seems fast and at times the orchestra lacks finesse.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“…lively performances in the Copland tradition…” Gramophone Magazine, Awards 2006

“In form the symphonic metamorphosis is an offshoot of the symphonic fantasia (but of a kind radically different from Sibelius's Pohjola's Daughter), each of these four very different from its companions. The vigour and luminous orchestration of the symphonies are present, as are many of the internal developmental processes, but not the level of integration. Holmboe's priorities here are unlike those of many others of his pieces, yet the music coheres perfectly on its own terms. Hughes is fully inside Holmboe's idiom, whether in the single-minded determination of Monolith or in the visionary Epilog, one of the composer's most searching utterances, prefiguring both the Ninth Symphony (1969) and Requiem for Nietzsche. This is extraordinary music.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010