Tribute to Madam

Barry Wordsworth | Royal Ballet Sinfonia

This thoroughly worthwhile collection of first­rate British ballet music is aptly centred on the distinguished dancer‚ impresario‚ teacher and choreographer‚...

Reviewed in issue 1/2002

Jacob Symphonies Nos 1 & 2

Barry Wordsworth | London Philharmonic Orchestra

Gordon Jacob’s First Symphony (1929) employs sizeable forces (including triple woodwind and two harps) and has five movements: two feisty...

Reviewed by Andrew Achenbach in issue: 9/2007

English Chamber Music

English Qt | Sarah Francis

Bax's fine Quintet, its three movements composed in 1922, is the weightiest piece here, with numerous melodies that sound like...

Reviewed in issue 2/1985

Debussy Piano Works, Vol. 1

Gordon Fergus-Thompson

Faultless in matters of taste and style, Gordon Fergus-Thompson's Debussy really suffers very little from comparison with that of the...

Reviewed by James Methuen-Campbell in issue: 5/1990

Corigliano (A) Dylan Thomas Trilogy

Something’s going to have to be done about mainstream contemporary composers, without a Plan B of their own, freeloading off...

Reviewed by Philip_Clark in issue: 1/2009

Virtuoso Oboe

Gordon Back | John Anderson

The Capriccio of Ponchielli has lots of decorative passagework, and invites and receives the most stylish bravura from the soloist....

Reviewed by Ivan March in issue: 9/1996

American Composers at Play

Attacca Quartet | Ricky Ian Gordon | Stephen Powell

Judged on artistic terms alone, Stephen Powell’s interpretations make for a deeply satisfying solo debut recital album. His achievement is...

Reviewed by Thomas May in issue: 03/2021

Druschetzky; Fischer Works for Multiple Timpani and Orchestra

Bournemouth Sinfonietta | Gordon Hunt | Harold Farberman | Jonathan Haas

''Eight timpani'' does not mean eight one-drum players in the style of a Russian horn band, it means eight drums...

Reviewed in issue 10/1989

Restored to Glory

Thomas Trotter

Celebrating Birmingham’s newly refurbished Town Hall and organ, this programme is the kind that a century ago would have had...

Reviewed by Jeremy Nicholas in issue: 12/2007

Icebreaker - Terminal Velocity

Icebreaker

The British ensemble Icebreaker emerged in the late 1980s as one answer to the identity crisis that new music suffered...

Reviewed by Philip_Clark in issue: 7/2006