Amongst the Gramophone Awards shortlist 2020, we are very pleased that five of our wonderful Rayfield Allied artists have been included for their remarkable contributions to recording classical music. The nominations include:
CHORAL:
Joshua Ellicott (tenor), Fflur Wyn (soprano) and Matthew Brook (bass-baritone) pg 12 - Dunedin Consort, Handel's Samson
“In the title role, tenor Joshua Ellicott…drew me more deeply into Samson’s plight: in his spiritual anguish (‘Total eclipse’ is moving in its quiet inwardness and lack of rhetoric), in the graphic encounters with Dalila and the Philistine heavy Harapha, and in his serene, cathartic ‘Thus when the sun’..."
"As Samson’s father Manoah, Matthew Brook field a ripe yet agile bass. His Chastened tenderness in ‘How willing my paternal love’ is profoundly moving.”
“Soprano Fflur Wyn and tenor Hugo Hymas, singing with attractive youthful tone, do well in supporting roles.”
Richard Wigmore, Gramophone
Paul McCreesh (conductor) pg 13 - Gabrieli Consort & Players, An English Coronation: 1902-1953
"On his tireless voyage of ceremonial and liturgical reconstruction, Paul McCreesh’s 20th-century coronation anthology is arguably his most ambitious and intricate to date… Well-articulated insights into the rich theatrical dimension of this quartet of coronations work best in the large works, all of which sound spectacular in the ringing acoustic..."
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Gramophone
CONTEMPORARY:
Harrison Birtwistle (composer) pg 21 - Gawain's Journey. Responses, Sweet Disorder
"Gawain's Journey (1991) finds this most unequivocal composer in a more combative mood. As devised by Elgar Howarth from Birtwistle's fourth opera, Gawain, it stands as a cohesive paraphrase on that piece and a gripping autonomous work."
Richard Whitehouse, Gramophone
OPERA:
Paul McCreesh pg 36 - Gabrieli Consort & Players, Purcell King Arthur
"Throughout the opera McCreesh’s speeds are relaxed rather than driven – no bad thing, to my mind, and it results in Dryden’s wonderful poetry being acted with personable clarity, and the lucidity of musical gestures ensures that affection and intimacy are hallmarks of a performance that conveys a humane smile."
David Vickers, Gramophone
To see all the shortlisted recordings, as well as the original Gramophone reviews, please click here.
