Debussy: Danses sacrée et profane

“This is a marvellously inventive collection...There has been a tendency towards more red-blooded performances of Debussy's String Quartet in recent years...The Brodsky Quartet partially fit that mould...Their playing is tempered, both in the Quartet and the Reverie, by a quivering texture in more hushed moments” BBC Music Magazine, June 2012 ****

“The Quartet tops the running order in a confident, vital, lyrical reading. Beautifully nuanced, there's acerbic edge, gentle Gallic playfulness, aching romance and every emotional and tonal shade in-between...Cassidy's scoring [of Reverie] is so similar to that of the quartet that the work has taken on a new identity...its new gravitas makes it a fitting bookend to the programme, a partner to the Quartet, and an unexpected delight.” Charlotte Gardner, bbc.co.uk, 18th April 2012

“Altogether a satisfying and unique Debussy coupling, superbly played...What is so striking about the playing of the Brodsky Quartet throughout is their brimming love for the music, with some ravishing shading down to the most hushed pianissimos. All this is caught in wonderfully rich and transparent sound, a credit to the Chandos engineers.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2012

“In the Piano Trio Bavouzet enjoys the spotlight with some memorable pearliness of tone, and here violinist Daniel Rowland is joined by cellist Jacqueline Thomas in a performance notable for its warmth and luminosity...the natural-sounding acoustic does much to enhance the listener's experience.” International Record Review, May 2012

“The Brodsky Quartet makes its intentions clear from the first bars of Debussy’s Opus 10 String Quartet: this is by no means going to be an atmospheric echo of impressionism, but an interpretation in which every single stress and emotive extreme is going to be exploited and laid bare. The Brodsky players do plenty in terms of colour” MusicWeb International, June 2012

“For those of us who recall the Brodskys as “Cool Britannia” clotheshorses, their 40th anniversary this year — well, for two of the line-up — comes as a shock. Less surprising is their compelling account, forthright and dramatic, rather than hazily impressionistic, of the [Debussy]” Sunday Times, 1st April 2012

“In many ways, Debussy's piano music finds its rightful home on the harp. Apart from the distinctive textural and colouristic elements in the writing itself, we have contemporary accounts of Debussy's piano-playing that refer to his ability to make you forget a piano even had hammers.
Of course, this doesn't allow for dreamy, 'impressionistic' interpretations; rather, it makes clarity and precision absolute imperatives – which qualities we find in abundance in this recital by Xavier de Maistre and friends.
Perhaps realising that you can have too much of a good thing, de Maistre has chosen to include among the many solo works here a selection of mélodies and the two Danses for harp and strings.
All, with the exception of the Danses and the Deux Arabesques, were transcribed by de Maistre himself.

Soprano Diana Damrau is broadly expressive in the mélodies, if occasionally strident in tone; her 'Mandoline' is suffused with a playful urgency that contrasts nicely with the earnestness of 'Le lilas'. Some of de Maistre's colleagues from the Vienna Philharmonic join him in the two dances; the playing is bold and carefree, the well judged crescendo in the Danse profane a delightful way to end this magical disc.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“De Maistre's playing throughout is both robust and delicate; his ability to recall the percussiveness of the piano when necessary… is most impressive. Elsewhere, finely cascading scales and glassy, rippling figurations are offset by sensitively brushed chords...Xavier de Maistre is a virtuoso of the highest order, profoundly musical and capable of realising a remarkable range of nuance” Gramophone Magazine, August 2008

“A great rarity here is Khamma. This and the two Rhapsodies are underrated and, although there are alternative versions of all these pieces, none is more economically priced. The performances are sympathetic and authoritative” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

Another master colourist working with one of the great orchestras - silky, sensuous and exquisitely recorded - James Jolly, Gramophone 1000th issue

“Solid performances” BBC Music Magazine, October 2012 ***

“this enterprising disc, with both new and original versions of Debussy's chamber works, suggests that transcriptions are worth a try in this Debussy anniversary year, when one inervitably looks for new insights in the composer's many familiar works.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2012

“It’s certainly odd to hear Fêtes...rendered by trumpet and piano (a transcription by Joachim Jousse), but the pinpoint sonority adds an interesting analytical dimension...Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune played by a flautist and pianist, on the other hand, sounds as natural as anything by this great aesthete of a composer ever could...All very beguiling.” Sunday Times, 29th July 2012