Penguin Guide Rosette Winners

“Zimerman's pianism is self-recommending.
His trills in the first movement of the G major Concerto are to die for, his passagework in the finale crystalclear, never hectic, always stylish. For their part Boulez and the Clevelanders are immaculate and responsive; they relish Ravel's neon-lit artificiality and moments of deliberate gaudiness.
That goes equally for the Valses nobles, which have just about every nuance you'd want, and none you wouldn't. The recording is generous with ambience, to the point where some orchestral entries after big climaxes are blurred. Otherwise detail is razor-sharp and one of the biggest selling-points of the disc. Zimerman's humming may be a slight distraction for some listeners, especially in the Left-Hand Concerto, where you may not be always convinced that the LSO knew quite what it was supposed to do with the long notes of the main theme, and where there's a slight lack of tension in exchanges between piano and orchestra. There again, had the G major Concerto not been so wonderful those points might not have registered at all, for this is playing of no mean distinction. In the Left- Hand Concerto, Zimerman's phenomenal pianism sets its own agenda and brings its own rich rewards.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This is an exceptionally powerful yet deeply moving account of the Fifth. Aided by glowing, wide-ranging engineering, Hickox's is an urgently communicative reading. The first and third movements in particular emerge with an effortless architectural splendour and rapt authority, the climaxes built and resolved with mastery.
The Scherzo is as good a place as any to sample the lustrous refinement of the LSO's response. Hickox ensures that the symphony's concluding bars positively glow with gentle ecstasy: here's a Fifth that can surely hold its own in the most exalted company.
Material from The Pilgrim's Progress made its way into the Fifth Symphony and two of the five enterprising couplings here provide further links with John Bunyan's timeless allegory: the 1940 motet for mixed voices with organ, Valiant-for-truth and John Churchill's 1953 arrangement for soprano and mixed chorus of Psalm 23 (originally sung by The Voice of a Bird in Act 4 of The Pilgrim's Progress). The latter receives its finely prepared recorded début on this occasion, as do both The Pilgrim Pavement (a 1934 processional for soprano, chorus and organ) and Helen Glatz's string-orchestra arrangement of the solo-piano Hymn-tune Prelude on 'Song 13' by Gibbons. Which just leaves the Prelude and Fugue, originally written for organ in 1921, but heard here in a sumptuous orchestration.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Sir John Barbirolli's Fifth occupies a special place in everybody's affections: a performance so big in spirit and warm of heart as to silence any rational discussion of its shortcomings.
Some readers may have problems with one or two of his sturdier tempos. He doesn't make life easy for his orchestra in the treacherous second movement, while the exultant finale, though suitably bracing, arguably needs more of a spring in its heels. But against all this, one must weigh a unity and strength of purpose, an entirely idiomatic response to instrumental colour and texture (the dark, craggy hues of the first two movements are especially striking); and most important of all that very special Barbirollian radiance, humanity – call it what you will.
One point of interest for collectors – on the original LP, among minor orchestral mishaps in the Scherzo, were four bars of missing horn obbligato (at nine bars before fig 20). Not any more! The original solo horn player, Nicholas Busch, has returned to the scene of this momentary aberration (Watford Town Hall) and the absent bars have been ingeniously reinstated.
There's even a timely grunt from Sir John, as if in approval. Something of a classic, then; EMI's remastering is splendid.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“this is one of the greatest, most warmly affecting accounts ever committed to disc, expansive, yet concentrated in feeling: the Adagietto is very moving indeed.” Penguin Guide, 2010 ***

“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

“Why is it that cellists who bemoan their lack of concerto repertory continue to neglect CPE Bach's three essays in the genre? It's a mystery; they're excellent pieces, full of infectious nervous energy in their outer movements and tender lyricism in central ones. They aren't unknown to the recording catalogues, however, not least because they also exist in alternative versions which the composer made for flute and harpsichord.
Though there are times when the low-lying cello has difficulty making itself heard against the orchestra, Suzuki makes light of the matter with performances whose agility, lightness and textural clarity make those of Bylsma and the largersounding Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment sound heavy-handed. But while Suzuki – thanks to a generally thinner sound – is the more successful in the way he transmits the surface excitement and energy of the quick movements, he can't match Bylsma's vocal inspiration in the eloquent poetry of the slow movement. Suzuki's, nevertheless, are refreshing, enlivening performances of attractive and substantial music.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“These works show their fine composer at his most inventive. Hidemi Suzuki, who is soloist/director here, is another fine artist from this remarkably talented family, and he creates a dashing flow of energy in the orchestral ritornellos of outer movements; and the Bach Collegium play with great zest and commitment.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“Under Marin Alsop's sensitive guidance, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra has found the heartbeat of this music.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2000

“That Marin Alsop is a musician of outstanding gifts is amply reinforced by this all-Barber anthology. In her red-blooded rendering of the wartime Second Symphony, she shows just what a powerfully inspired creation it is, extracting every ounce of sinewy logic from its fraught outer movements, while distilling wonder and atmosphere in the haunting central Andante, unpoco mosso. No less convincing is her reading of the magnificent First Symphony, always acutely responsive to the music's daring expressive scope and building climaxes of riveting cumulative intensity. In its unhurried authority, big heart and epic thrust, it's the kind of interpretation you could have imagined from Bernstein in his NYPO heyday. Elsewhere, she brings an aptly bardic quality to the outer portions of the First Essay, while few could fail to respond to the twinkling affection and gentle wit she lavishes on the irresistible School for Scandal Overture.
Were the orchestral contribution just a fraction more polished, this would be a world-beater.
Zinman's stylish 1991 anthology with the Baltimore SO tends to throw into sharper relief the relative shortcomings of Alsop's hard-working Scots (their fiddles especially lack something in silk-spun refinement and tone when playing above the stave). The expert engineering can't quite disguise the acoustical shortcomings of Glasgow's Henry Wood Hall, but the result is tonally truthful and conveys plenty of impact when required.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“the two Symphonies are played by the Scottish orchestra with passionate commitment and deep lyrical feeling.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“The ASMF accompaniment, so stylish and beautifully balanced, is a treat in itself, and the recording is well-nigh perfect.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition