Santana IV
Santana
Keywords
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Reviews (9)
Klassik.com
d. 8. Sep. 2022
By
By
Jürgen Schaarwächter
d. 8. Sep. 2022
"Drei Volksliedbearbeitungen (ja, Volksliedsammler und -bearbeiter war Vaughan Williams auch) lockern das Programm auf, ehe sich zu Spence und Drake das Piatti Quartet gesellt in einer Wiedergabe von 'On Wenlock Edge' (1909), einem Liederzyklus auf Gedichte von A. E. Housman. Opernhaft kostet Spence die Stimmungen aus, öffnet und schliesst mit grosser Geste, so dass das Intim-Liedhafte, das in diesem Opus immer wieder mit dem Ausbruchhaft-Kammerkantatenhaften wechselt und verschwimmt, nicht immer ganz organisch klingt".
Presto classical
d. 3. May 2022
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By
Katherine Cooper
d. 3. May 2022
"Editor's choice - April 2022: The Scottish tenor packs considerably more punch than I'm used to hearing in this repertoire, and I love it - Spence carries his vocal weight with consummate style and sensitivity, reserving the real firepower for climatic moments and bringing an exquisite tenderness to the more intimate songs such as 'Silent Noon'. The Piattis and Ridout, too, sound every bit as engaged with the texts as their singer throughout".
The observer
d. 26. Mar. 2022
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By
Fiona Maddocks
d. 26. Mar. 2022
"On Wenlock Edge & Other Songs, Nicky Spence's superb Vaughan Williams disc (Hyperion), also featuring Four Hymns, The House of Life and three folk songs. He has excellent partners in the pianist Julius Drake, viola player Timothy Ridout and the Piatti Quartet. The Scottish tenor's gift for combining pure tone with direct, daring expression makes this a covetable disc ... 'Bredon Hill' conjures the hot stillness of a summer's day, piano tolling and pealing as "distant bells", the high strings suddenly transforming all to icy winter and sorrow: magically done by all, as is the whole disc".
MusicWeb international
2022 October
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By
William Hedley
2022 October
"Recommended: This collection is made up of three early works plus three folk song settings ... We have here, then, a fine Vaughan Williams collection, but the performance of On Wenlock Edge, in which Spence and Drake are joined by the superb Piatti Quartet, is the finest of all ... Listeners can almost feel the shimmering heat as they view the 'coloured counties'; exquisite string sonorities are perfectly complemented by Julius Drake, with beautifully voiced chords produced from an instrument in which, so it seems, hammers striking strings plays no part ... These performers respond with masterly skill. This is a truly great performance of a work that has been lucky on record. The trudging steps at the end of 'Clun' bring to an end a collection that no Vaughan Williams enthusiast should miss".
BBC music magazine
2008 May
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By
Stephen Johnson (f. 1955)
2008 May
"Vurdering: BBC music choice" - "Padmore's performance: fine tone, a strong sense of pitch, crystal clear enunciation and a wonderful feeling for long lines. The members of the Schubert Ensemble make superb musical partners here".
BBC music magazine
2022 May
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By
Anthony Pryer
2022 May
"Choral & song choise: The famous cycle On Wenlock Edge (1909) has often been recorded, but this is a fine rendering with 'Bredon Hill' providing some particularly sublime moments. As always Julius Drake's accompanying is evocative and nuanced, and in 'Is my team ploughing?' the Piatti Quartet swathe the song in a delicate veil of tensile sound".
International record review
2008 February
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By
John T. Hughes
2008 February
"This is a powerful cycle, worth hearing. All the participants respond well to its requirements, as they do to the Vaughan Williams and Guerney songs".
High fidelity (Kbh.)
Årg. 41, nr. 1 (2008)
By
By
Mogens Wenzel Andreasen
Årg. 41, nr. 1 (2008)
The gramophone
2022 May
By
By
Andrew Achenbach
2022 May
"Editor's choice: Nicky Spence and colleagues serve up a nourishing feast of Vaughan Williams's vocal music, culminating in a performance of 'On Wenlock Edge' which, in its thrilling assurance, strength of imagination and rapt instinct, inclines me to rank it alongside the very finest I know ... Marvellous, too, to have such a superbly ardent, insightful account of the glorious 'Four Hymns' for tenor, piano and viola ... In sum, a hugely enjoyable offering for the RVW sesquicentennial".