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Review
The pieces for viol consort on this gorgeous Linn release are consistently astonishing.It's not just Phantasm's luxuriant sound listening to a well-played viol ensemble is like bathing in warm chocolate more that Lawes's music is so endlessly entertaining...The package is rendered complete by erudite,exuberant sleeve notes by Phantasm's director William[sic] Dreyfus,whose enthusiasm for Lawes's music is intoxicating.22nd September 2012. --The Arts Desk
Phantasm and organist Daniel Hyde capture the mercurial nature of the music in these poised,erudite accounts, which include some unusual versions not previously available on CD.The players animate Lawes's stately dances with fleet rhythms,elucidate his dark counterpoint and create an aptly vaporous quality in his more haunting, ethereal pieces...Linn's surround-sound allows you to wallow in the midst of it all.September 2012. --BBC Music Magazine
This new recording wins the palm.The balance between viols and organ is far superior,and the group is more attuned to the emotional extremes under the music's grave surface.Their performance of the Aire from the Set a6 in G is nearly twice as fast as[Hesperion XXI's],and is gripped by an astonishing,stinging intensity.3rd August 2012. --The Daily Telegraph
Phantasm and organist Daniel Hyde capture the mercurial nature of the music in these poised,erudite accounts, which include some unusual versions not previously available on CD.The players animate Lawes's stately dances with fleet rhythms,elucidate his dark counterpoint and create an aptly vaporous quality in his more haunting, ethereal pieces...Linn's surround-sound allows you to wallow in the midst of it all.September 2012. --BBC Music Magazine
This new recording wins the palm.The balance between viols and organ is far superior,and the group is more attuned to the emotional extremes under the music's grave surface.Their performance of the Aire from the Set a6 in G is nearly twice as fast as[Hesperion XXI's],and is gripped by an astonishing,stinging intensity.3rd August 2012. --The Daily Telegraph
About the Artist
Phantasm has been widely acclaimed for its previous recordings with Linn; its 2011 recording of William Byrd was named Disc of the Month by BBC Music and its 2009 Linn debut of music by John Ward was described as stunning by Gramophone. The award-winning ensemble has been applauded across the globe for its moving performances and is recognised as the most exciting viol consort active on the world scene today. Critics have described their performances and recordings as 'intoxicating', 'revelatory', 'electrifying', 'interpretations pervaded by a truly burning spirit'. The quartet's international members (from Britain, Finland and the US) are based in Oxford and have toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, and East Asia.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Decades ago I bought the old Argo record (still not transferred to CD but it is now on MP3 - see my review) of Lawes's consorts played by the Elizabethan Consort with Thurston Dart at the organ, and since then I have been hooked on William Lawes's music. A true original, there is no other composer for viols (apart from Purcell) who can match his harmonic daring and emotional complexity. As Samuel Johnson said of John Donne's poetry: "the most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together". There is angst and edge in this music mixed with a sweetness, rumbustiousness, and striving for serenity in 'distracted times'. And there is a very English awkwardness and insularity which I love. The most apt comparison really does seem to be with either the late Beethoven quartets or even the Bartok quartets, although those works are more outward facing than the introspective world of Lawes.
This CD contains essentially Lawes's greatest works and the performances are stunning. Phantasm handle the complex textures of the 5 and 6 part consorts, which can sound muddy in the wrong hands, brilliantly. Like a great string quartet you sense that the personality of each player is clearly coming through. Phantasm brings out the way Lawes pits the instruments against each other, sometimes with a violent struggle, while still maintaining the necessary decorum and shape of each work. In fact the way in which Lawes works within the decorum of his times and yet continually subverts and distorts it has never been conveyed so passionately.
In his sleeve notes Laurence Dreyfus gives an insightful personal commentary on each piece which enhances the listening pleasure of the music. The recording is also excellent.
This is a real corker of a disc that ought to win awards. Buy it!
This CD contains essentially Lawes's greatest works and the performances are stunning. Phantasm handle the complex textures of the 5 and 6 part consorts, which can sound muddy in the wrong hands, brilliantly. Like a great string quartet you sense that the personality of each player is clearly coming through. Phantasm brings out the way Lawes pits the instruments against each other, sometimes with a violent struggle, while still maintaining the necessary decorum and shape of each work. In fact the way in which Lawes works within the decorum of his times and yet continually subverts and distorts it has never been conveyed so passionately.
In his sleeve notes Laurence Dreyfus gives an insightful personal commentary on each piece which enhances the listening pleasure of the music. The recording is also excellent.
This is a real corker of a disc that ought to win awards. Buy it!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By droflim
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Phantasm is a great ensemble and this is a remarkable disc. Hitherto unfamiliar with William Lawes I found this a persuasive introduction. The copious "notes for the perplexed" in the booklet explain things very clearly, if somewhat perplexingly for a non musician; however you get the idea Lawes was a bit "out there" for his time (the notes are also on the Linn website). The sound is splendid - especially in surround which has such a real presence you almost expect players to appear before you. As for the playing - well could you ask for more? Remarkable. Anyone with an interest in music of this period should hear this. The word "Phantasmic" should be coined to mean just how good this is.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is an absolutely brilliant disc. Phantasm have been making consistently outstanding recordings for many years now, and this is among their best.
Lawes' music is generally dark in tone, and (as Laurence Dreyfus's excellent notes make clear) quite radical for its time. Phantasm really get under the music's skin, bringing a terrific variety and intensity to every piece, so that Lawes' fascinating counterpoint is clear while the melodic themes and overall structure of the pieces remain an integrated delight. Their playing is, as always, fabulously virtuosic and their sound is simply wonderful and Linn's excellent recording captures it perfectly (with the bass viols seeming to have an almost earth-shaking power at times). It is an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish.
With exceptionally full and illuminating notes and lovely presentation, this is a terrific disc all round and very warmly recommended.
(I would also strongly recommend some of Phantasm's other great recordings, for example music by John Ward Ward: Consort Music for Five and Six Viols /Phantasm and two great discs of Jenkins John Jenkins - Five-Part Consorts and Jenkins: Six-Part Consorts /Phantasm)
Lawes' music is generally dark in tone, and (as Laurence Dreyfus's excellent notes make clear) quite radical for its time. Phantasm really get under the music's skin, bringing a terrific variety and intensity to every piece, so that Lawes' fascinating counterpoint is clear while the melodic themes and overall structure of the pieces remain an integrated delight. Their playing is, as always, fabulously virtuosic and their sound is simply wonderful and Linn's excellent recording captures it perfectly (with the bass viols seeming to have an almost earth-shaking power at times). It is an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish.
With exceptionally full and illuminating notes and lovely presentation, this is a terrific disc all round and very warmly recommended.
(I would also strongly recommend some of Phantasm's other great recordings, for example music by John Ward Ward: Consort Music for Five and Six Viols /Phantasm and two great discs of Jenkins John Jenkins - Five-Part Consorts and Jenkins: Six-Part Consorts /Phantasm)
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