Metamorphosen

“… Unreservedly recommended.” *****

Nominee in the Orchestral category

David Gutman

“… The entire disc, well recommended, bears testimony to the ferociously sensitive discipline of the Sinfonia of London and its gifted music director.” ****

“While Metamorphosen may be the finest music here, lending its name to yet another distinctive album from John Wilson’s Sinfonia of London, the unusual couplings are especially welcome… These militant, tightly controlled, sometimes breathtaking performances demand to be heard …”

Recommended

“…Altogether this disc is a total treat. You may come for the Strauss, and you won’t be disappointed if you do; but you’ll stay for the Schreker and Korngold, and you’ll have a whale of a time while you listen.”

“What a fine and stimulating recording of this is… perhaps nobody since Barbirolli has been able to make strings sing like Wilson; Schreker’s “Intermezzo” here has a sheen to it that is intensely delicate one minute and impossibly sumptuous the next… Strauss’s “Metamorphosen” has rarely had such an agonizingly drawn out, lovingly burnished performance as this. Even better is the rarity that accompanies it: Korngold’s Symphonic Serenade… The hush that Wilson finds for its slow movement is indescribably haunting.”

Recommended

Performance *****      Sonics (Multichannel) *****

“…Highly recommended.”

Record of the Week

“Context in a concert programme does not come cleverer than this.” ****

Classial Album of the Week

“… whatever the mood, the Sinfonia’s tone stays full-blooded and refulgent, just like Chandos’s recording.” *****