Hazard Chase artists feature in Gramophone magazine
Hazard Chase artists feature across the full spectrum of the December 2007 issue of Gramophone magazine, with reviews in the Orchestral, Chamber, Instrumental, Vocal and Opera sections, an interview with Isabelle Faust and a mention of Julian Bream’s Gramophone Award for Best DVD, which he received last month for his wonderfully compelling, 'My Life in Music'.
Stephen Layton leads the reviews section with his recent Bruckner recording with Polyphony and the Britten Sinfonia, which is featured as an Editor’s Choice. Described as “a Bruckner disc for the ages”, the reviewer concludes with the assertion that “…we’re unlikely to hear choral singing as fine as this for a good few years to come.”.
Pianist Martin Roscoe is reviewed twice in the Chamber music section for the most recent release in his series of recordings of the Beethoven Violin Sonatas with Peter Cropper (“…Martin Roscoe is as ever an acutely responsive partner … Roscoe’s piano playing is a consistent delight…”) and his recording with Ashley Wass of Bax’s music for two pianos (“…Ashley Wass and Martin Roscoe are outstandingly idiomatic and breathtakingly secure interpreters…”).
Isabelle Faust’s new recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto and Kreutzer Sonata emerge very favourably from a comparative review of Vadim Repin’s CD featuring the same repertoire. Her recording, with the Prague Philharmonia, is praised for its “…clarity and bite…” and described by Rob Cowan as a performance that “…keeps me hooked for the duration…”.
“The sisters are sensational” is the opening line of the review of Katia and Marielle Labeque’s recording of Debussy and Stravinsky on their own label, KML Recordings. “…A CD to recommend unreservedly…”, their innovative idea of presenting the recording on CD with an accompanying DVD, directed by Tal Rosner, gives rise to debate and discussion and the combination package is described as “…surely the shape of things to come…”.
Finally, conductor Martin Yates receives a good review for the latest release in his ongoing series of recordings of the music of Richard Arnell: “I’d heard extremely positive things about Richard Arnell’s Fifth Symphony and this splendidly gutsy perofmrance by Martin Yates and the RSNO explains why … Yates and a fired-up RSNO give their all, and the sound is immensely full-blooded to boot…”
