Jac van Steen - Discography
Four impressive orchestral works from the pen of Englishman David Matthews (born 1943).
In order of disc appearance, the ten-minute Toward Sunrise (Opus 117) is atmospheric and suspenseful, a myriad of details and colours complementing the melodious and sonic allure as the music heads toward a tumultuous conclusion.
Finally, A Vision of the Sea, Matthews’s Opus 125, which, to my mind, for all its picturesque touches, is a (twenty-minute, one-movement) Symphony in all but name, music with strong ideas that is always going places, and arriving, while also beguiling in terms of timbre, elemental at times, and with the capacity to paint pictures; an oceanic Sibelius 7, maybe.
With excellent presentation and sound – Mike George producing, Stephen Rinker engineering – these finely-honed and dedicated performances by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Jac van Steen (recorded November)
www.colinscolumn.com
Click to listen
Both concerti are replete with mind-boggling technical hurdles which the formidable Brazilian pianist Clélia Iruzun elegantly tosses off and then balances with passages of exquisite lyricism in a stunning performance that also boasts the solid support of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra superbly led by Dutch maestro Jac Van Steen.
Rafael de Acha - Music notes - July 14, 2020
This disc’s title comes from a Kandinsky quote: “the deeper the blue becomes, the more strongly it calls one towards the infinite.”
There's plenty of colour here, musical and interpretative, though violinist Janet Sung’s collection works best as an examination of links between teachers and pupils.
Vaughan Williams’s rather lovely Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra would presumably be programmed more if it lasted an extra 10 minutes.
An electrifying performance by both Iruzun and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Jac Van Steen’s baton. Recommended.
KH - Artmuselondon - August 21st 2020
“The instrumental fabric is equally strong, with beautiful playing from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, on the top of its top form, conducted by Jac van Steen.
More wonders rise up in Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, intimately scaled, fresh and touching.
Glorious voices, vibrant accompaniments, well-planned repertoire — both these releases deliver in spades. “
Geoff Brown - The Times
Friday January 31 2020
Jac van Steen gets excellent, vivid playing from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales but it's Hughes's performance that carries the whole enterprise: vivid, powerful and superbly commined, bringing a real complexiq and vulnerability to the character.
Gramophone - Hugo Shirley
February 2020
For the 2019 awards the Jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) has nominated 319 audio and video productions (321 in 2017, 357 in 2018) from 107 labels (119 in 2017, 120 in 2018).
To become a nomination, a production needs to be proposed by at least two jury members. With 13 nominations, ICMA’s Label of the Year 2018, Alpha, shares the first place with Deutsche Grammophon. They are followed by Accentus (12), Harmonia Mundi (12), and Audite (11).
The finalists will be known by December 10, and the ICMA winners will be published on 17 January 2019. The Award Ceremony and Gala concert will take place at the KKL in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 10 May 2019, with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Foster.
This CD box set, released seventy years after World War II ended, contains music composed by those who were persecuted during that same war; any performance of these works was strictly forbidden at the time. Nineteen Dutch composers were deported to concentration camps of which only six survived the atrocities. Others went into hiding or they survived using fake identities. Almost all saw their musical career end inopportunely.
De 10-CD box ‘Forbidden Music in World War II’ is uitgegeven in 2015, zeventig jaar na de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Deze bijzondere collectie bevat muziek van negentien Joodse componisten die tijdens de oorlog werden vervolgd en wiens muziek verboden was. Een prachtige verzameling werken van een verloren generatie. Music Frames
Hier kunt u 1 of meer fragmenten van alle tracks van de cd's beluisteren
2 CDs Mozart: Piano Concertos for One, Two and Three Pianos
Valerie Tryon (piano), Mishka Rushdie Momen (pianos), Peter Donohoe (pianos)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Jac van Steen & Boris Brott
Mozart's progress from child prodigy to mature brilliance, from innocent insight to inspired innovation, is measured out in his piano music. Somm's survey of six works for one, two and three pianos brilliantly charts both his phenomenal development and his far-reaching transformation of the concerto form. Two of today's finest, most accomplished and admired pianists – Valerie Tryon and Peter Donohoe – bring unrivalled experience to bear in impeccable, incisive and illuminating accounts of the solo and duo works. The young, fast-rising Mishka Rushdie Momen joins them for the discretely dazzling Piano Concerto No.7 (K242) for three pianos.
Piano Concertos by Isaac Albeniz & Francisco Mignone
Clélia Iruzun (piano)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Jac van Steen
Albéniz: Piano Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 78 "Concierto fantastico"
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Jac van Steen
Clélia Iruzun (piano)
Recorded: 21-22 November 2016
Recording Venue: Blackheath Concert Hall, London, England, U.K.
