Guerrero - Missa Super flumina Babylonis - Noone

Rating: 5/5

Review :
A terrific disc

I love Michael Noone's recordings of Guerrero and this is another very fine achievement.

Although he doesn't get as much recognition as his near-contemporary Victoria, Guerrero's music is excellent.  It is inventive, rich and very beautiful – qualities which this recording brings out very well.  The singing by Ensemble Plus Ultra is excellent throughout with a lovely blend and balance and real engagement with the text.  The instrumental work, too, is top-class, with a fabulous rich sound which complements but never dominates the voices.  It's an exemplary performance, in my view.

The recorded sound and presentation are both of Glossa's usual very high standard and this is a terrific disc all round.  Very warmly recommended.

Bach - English Suites Nos 1,3 & 5 - Anderszewski

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A first-class recording

Just to add my voice to the chorus of praise for this excellent recording.  Anderszewski brings a slightly more modern feel to these Suites than some, but manages to do that without ever losing Bach's sense of dance, nor does he swamp Bach with a lot of over-fancy Romantic phrasing and other tricks.  These are full, rich and respectful interpretations by a master pianist, which are beautifully recorded and extremely rewarding all round.

I have dearly loved piano recordings of the English Suites by Murray Perahia and Angela Hewitt; Anderszewski's interpretation sits alongside them in my affections.  This is a first class recording which I can recommend very warmly indeed.

Bach - Goldberg Variations etc. - Halls

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent set

I think this is an excellent set.  Its centrepiece is the Goldberg variations; there are a lot of truly great recordings of the Goldbergs now, but for me this is among them. 

Since he made this in 2009, Matthew Halls has rightly achieved international recognition as an instrumentalist and as director of the Retrospect Ensemble.  You can see why here. He brings real thought and sensibility to the Goldberg Variations, as well as immaculate technique.  The Aria is beautifully judged, the dances really dance, Variation 15 has that wonderful sense of searching and mystery, Variation 29 is stately and powerful without the crashing clunkiness of some recordings, and so on.  The whole thing is an absolute pleasure, as are the Aria Variata and the Sarabanda con Partita.

The overall sound is just fabulous.  Halls plays a beautiful sounding instrument, from which he brings the full, rich resonance and Linn, as always, capture it superbly in the  recording.  With intelligent, thoughtful and readable notes and very attractive presentation, this is a really fine set all round and very warmly recommended.

Beethoven - Complete String Quartets - Takacs Quartet

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A wonderful set

This complete Beethoven cycle by the Takacs Quartet is regarded by many as one of the major musical achievements of the last few years. I agree - this is a simply wonderful set.  I bought the original discs as they came out and they have given me immense pleasure for years.

The Takacs Quartet are technically outstanding. Tuning is faultless and the precision of their playing together is quite remarkable. In the finale of Op.59 No.3, for example, Beethoven's final sprint for the finishing line is played with thrilling vigour and at a tremendous pace, but intonation and ensemble playing are rock solid, which cannot be said of some other recordings by leading quartets.  Here we have four marvellous musicians playing brilliantly and who are absolutely at home with the music and with each other.

This bedrock of technique allows their wonderful interpretation of the music to shine out. In Beethoven's sublime slow movements, for example, there is exactly the right balance of sweetness and intensity - never cloying but never impenetrable. This excellence of interpretation runs right through the whole set and if you're looking for a complete recording of Beethoven's quartets you couldn't do better, I reckon. Even if you have recordings you love, I'd suggest buying this set - you will find real insight and pleasure throughout. I can recommend it very warmly.

Rameau - Pieces de clavecin - Frisch

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A lovely disc

This is a lovely disc, which I am glad to see reissued.

Rameau's music is extremely enjoyable; the suites presented here are varied and interesting with a fine array of melodic and harmonic invention.  I have always found Rameau to be a very enjoyable listen, and Céline Frisch brings out the best in him.  She is thoughtful or energetic as appropriate and her technique is excellent so that she rises to the technical challenges easily.  The overall sound is wonderful, I think.  Originally recorded by Alpha, the harpsichord is deep and rich in tone and captured beautifully so that it's s thrilling sound throughout.

I have very fine recordings of Rameau by the likes of Christophe Rousset and Angela Hewitt, and this disc by Frisch is their equal in my view – which is really saying something.  As a selection of Rameau's keyboard work, you can't go wrong here and I can recommend it very warmly.

Bach - Trios - Ma, Thile, Meyer

Rating: 3/5

Review:
Slightly disappointing

I was expecting to love this disc  It is Bach played in slightly unusual arrangements by three towering virtuosi whose individual recordings of Bach I have enjoyed very much, so it sounded as though I couldn't go wrong.  Sadly, although a brief burst is enjoyable, I find the whole thing rather disappointing.

It goes without saying that this is fantastic music and that Thile, Ma and Meyer are all outstanding musicians.  It's just that the combination of mandolin, cello and double bass doesn't quite work for me I this music; it would be terrific to hear a movement as a concert encore, say, but a whole disc of it gets a bit much.  All three are having a great time with the music which is often a real boost to a performance, but here it spills over into the slightly comic rather than quirkily unusual which manages to make Bach's music sound just a little trivial.

This is all personal feeling, of course, and others may not agree at all.  Certainly it's brilliant playing throughout and it's excellently recorded, but this disc didn't really work for me and I can only give it a very qualified recommendation.

Guerrero - Missa Surge propera etc - Sydney Chamber Choir/Noone

Rating: 3/5

Review:
Rather disappointing

I love much of Michael Noone's work, but I'm afraid this isn't one of his best recordings,

Guerrero's music is very fine, with a rich, distinctively Spanish feel.  It lends itself very well to Noone's approach which mixes voices with contemporary instruments.  His fabulous recording of Guerrero's Requiem from 1999 adopts the same approach and remains a real favourite of mine.   The motets recorded here have much of the same quality but sadly, for me the same can't be said of the Mass.  The voices seem to lack the blend and balance they need; there is little cohesion in the choral sound and too often individual voices dominate inappropriately.  As a result the music loses much of its beauty and spiritual power and I found it a disappointment.

I am sorry to be critical of a musician whom I admire greatly, but this didn't do much for me and I'll be sticking to The Tallis Scholars' excellent recording of this mass.