In Sunlight - Pieces for Madeleine Mitchell
A most rewarding survey of new music
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Stephen Montague, Michael Nyman, Nigel Osborne, Stuart Jones, Anthony Powers, James MacMillan, Brian Elias, John Woolrich
Genre:
Chamber
Label: NMC
Magazine Review Date: 7/2005
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 76
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: NMCD098
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
On the Fiddle, Movement: Full Fathom Five |
Michael Nyman, Composer
Andrew Ball, Piano Madeleine Mitchell, Violin Michael Nyman, Composer |
On the Fiddle, Movement: Angelfish Decay |
Michael Nyman, Composer
Andrew Ball, Piano Madeleine Mitchell, Violin Michael Nyman, Composer |
On the Fiddle, Movement: Miserere Paraphrase |
Michael Nyman, Composer
Andrew Ball, Piano Madeleine Mitchell, Violin Michael Nyman, Composer |
Kiss on Wood |
James MacMillan, Composer
Andrew Ball, Piano James MacMillan, Composer Madeleine Mitchell, Violin |
Fantasia |
Brian Elias, Composer
Andrew Ball, Piano Brian Elias, Composer Madeleine Mitchell, Violin |
Taw-Raw |
Nigel Osborne, Composer
Madeleine Mitchell, Violin Nigel Osborne, Composer |
Folk Dances |
Stephen Montague, Composer
Andrew Ball, Piano Madeleine Mitchell, Violin Stephen Montague, Composer |
...that is Night |
John Woolrich, Composer
Andrew Ball, Piano John Woolrich, Composer Madeleine Mitchell, Violin |
In Sunlight |
Anthony Powers, Composer
Andrew Ball, Piano Anthony Powers, Composer Madeleine Mitchell, Violin |
(A) Different World |
James MacMillan, Composer
Andrew Ball, Piano James MacMillan, Composer Madeleine Mitchell, Violin |
Kothektche |
Stuart Jones, Composer
Madeleine Mitchell, Violin Stuart Jones, Composer |
Author: Andrew Achenbach
Take the most recent offering here, for example. Nigel Osborne’s Taw-Raw proves a rivetingly imaginative solo essay: brimful of ear-tickling sonorities, its title derives from the name given to the fiddle used by the Burmese Shan people (according to the composer, ‘an extraordinary hybrid of the coconut fiddle, Western violin and phonograph’). James MacMillan’s Kiss on Wood remains as mesmeric as I’d remembered from a previous encounter in its alternative guise for cello (Black Box, 1/01). The following year, in 1995, MacMillan presented Mitchell with the scarcely less haunting A Different World (a satellite work from his opera Inés de Castro).
Both Stephen Montague’s Folk Dances and Michael Nyman’s On the Fiddle also communicate strongly, the latter a diverting triptych based on material from three of his film scores (Prospero’s Books, A Zed and Two Noughts and The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover). John Woolrich’s subtly restrained ...that is Night boasts considerable economy of thought and forms a satisfying contrast with the tumbling ecstasy and primary colours of Anthony Powers’ In Sunlight. That just leaves Brian Elias’s substantial Fantasia (commissioned by Mitchell as long ago as 1986) and Stuart Jones’s Kothektche (a highly effective solo showpiece inspired by the energetic Turkish dance of the same name).
I’m happy to report that Mitchell turns in a wonderfully accomplished, irreproachably sensitive set of performances and she receives outstanding support from Andrew Ball. Really excellent presentation and sound, too. This enterprising collection deserves every success.
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