Warlock: The Night

“The title is deceptive, for these songs exude anything but a warlike mood. Almost all are English: the idiom is winsome, romantic and often quite innocent, as in Vaughan Williams’s “Youth and Love” and Bridge’s “Thy hand in mine”. At the heart of the recital – beautifully vocalised and artlessly characterised by Keenlyside – is Butterworth’s cycle of songs under the title “A Shropshire Lad”.” Financial Times, 5th November 2011 ****

“Despite the title, most of the songs in this admirable collection are anything but warlike. There is no place for patriotic bombast here; instead, these polished miniatures yearn for a vanished pastoral England...a beautifully judged recording, exquisitely sung; poignant but never sentimental.” The Observer, 13th November 2011

“At 52, the British baritone is in peak vocal health, and certainly young-sounding enough to portray the men in their late teens and twenties who leave their homes and loves...I can’t think of another baritone who can match him for beautiful tone, nuance of expression and immaculate diction...Keenlyside is incomparable here, in one of the song records of the year.” Sunday Times, 13th November 2011

“it’s not damning with faint praise to say that you don’t really notice the music at all – it’s Simon Keenlyside’s impeccable delivery that registers. Housman’s bittersweet musings are heartbreaking, notably in the penultimate poem; just listen to Keenlyside's mention of "the lads that will die in their glory and never be old"...A sober, intelligent CD, beautifully sung, immaculately accompanied. Keenlyside's sleeve notes are intelligent, insightful and touching.” The Arts Desk, 26th November 2011

“A sense of the mannered or precious can debase these songs; Keenlyside's sweeping, robust lyricism is deceptively effortless and exactly right...Dr Johnson once said that every man thinks worse of himself for never having been a soldier; Keenlyside has evidently thought deeply about this, making for a robust and involving recital.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2012 *****

“Keenlyside's mark is everywhere apparent and full marks to him for persuading Sony to indulge his choices...He is indeed a remarkable singer. He can encompass tragedy and irony, heroic and tender, he has magical half-tones, introduces a thrilling touch of head voice in Warlock's The Night, he can tell a story...Keenlyside's impassioned, almost overwhelming rendering of Frank Bridge's Thy Hand in Mine is, I think, the core and key to this compelling collection” International Record Review, January 2012

“One can imagine a more poignant account of the ghostly voices in 'Is my team ploughing?' but 'The lads in their hundreds' is all the more moving for Keenlyside's robustness...The rest of the programme is equally rewarding and Keenlyside's diction is perfect.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2012

“Berger's grainy baritone is pleasing more than awe-inspiring...But he communicates with keen enthusiasm, and his word-lively Mozart Abendempfindung immediately draws the listener in to this artfully selected and ordered programme. With Iain Burnside as accompanist, there are light-filled starry nights aplenty” BBC Music Magazine, February 2013 ***

“Berger has a warm, resonant baritone and an hour spent in its company is a pleasurable experience … the partnership between Berger and Iain Burnside yields some fine performances.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2012

“Much in this recital gives satisfaction and pleasure. First of all comes the sound of the voice, warm, full, smoothly emitted and steady. One notes too the use of legato, enabling lines and notes to flow” International Record Review, December 2012

“Berger is a gem of a singer” Los Angeles Times

“[Burnside] is unfailingly sensitive and powerfully communicative throughout. The dreamy undulations of Mandoline are a knockout, as is the gently suggestive accompaniment to Wolf’s Um Mitternacht, to name but two examples.” MusicWeb International, October 2012

“Burnside handles everything with aplomb and insight'” Sunday Times

“You’ll be beguiled by Berger’s voice and entranced by the more left-field musical choices...Songs by Wolf and Liszt dominate post-midnight, and after Morgen we get a couple of encores, including a tiny Gounod number sufficiently breezy to banish the introspective mood and leave one feeling invigorated, not depressed.” The Arts Desk, 8th September 2012

“His tone is beautiful, his technique immaculate. He does extraordinary things with breath control in Oh! Quand Je Dors and Wolf's Um Mitternacht, and his sense of line is exceptional...Iain Burnside is wonderfully responsive to his shifts in mood and style. An idiosyncratic disc, but very fine.” The Guardian, 9th August 2012 ****

“[the programme] plays out its chronological narrative – songs depicting specific hours of a sleepless night – with logical and psychological inevitability...Berger sustains a magnetic affection throughout the varied sequence, aided by Iain Burnside’s deft pianism.” The Scotsman, 30th July 2012 ****

“From start to finish, the artistry of Alice Coote and Graham Johnson is of the highest order.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2012

“Almost every track on the mezzo’s recital springs a surprise” Financial Times, 11th February 2012

“['Love's Philosophy'] needs and receives a bolder and stronger delivery than its neighbour, rising to a showy conclusion. It allows Coote to introduce an almost operatic approach as her voice peals forth...the Holst songs, mesmerizingly captured by Coote, whose voice seems almost detached as she intones 'Betelgeuse', recorded, like the rest of the programme, in clear sound.” International Record Review, February 2012

“[Victorian parlour repertoire] proves both admirably suited to her distinctively creamy yet expressive voice, and occasionally revelatory...The well-structured programme concludes with Holst's late Humbert Wolfe settings, in which Coote finds surprising power. Journey's End is tragically bleak” BBC Music Magazine, April 2012 *****

“Tudor and Renaissance styles mix happily with echoes of Delius in this wide-ranging CD...Tim Travers-Brown sings with a sinewy grace throughout and Jeremy Filsell accompanies with mercurial charm.” The Observer, 10th May 2009