ALTERNATIVE READINGS
Métier, Divine Art Recordings Group, 2024
BBC Music Magazine CHAMBER CHOICE, May 2024 read here
“Anyone nervous of the so-called New Complexity could do far worse than ease into this style via this recording” - *****
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Gramophone:
“The centrally placed highlight, and the longest work, is Wisdom (2020), a mesmerising response to the still raw realities of pandemic and lockdown.
The persuasive assurance of these performers and their technical assistants is consistently of the highest calibre.”
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Get the album: here
Preview track: “Blessed be I” here
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“Alternative Readings” is a recording that brings together the visionary compositions of Michael Finnissy, one of the foremost composers of our time, and the exceptional artistry of the Marsyas Trio, mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean - the winner of the 2024 RPS Young Artist Award, and pianist Joseph Havlat.
Finnissy’s distinguished career, marked by British Composer Awards, prestigious teaching positions, and a Koussevitzky Foundation commission, is a testament to his unparalleled ability to weave together diverse musical idioms, embracing inspiration from literature, poetry, visual art, and global folk traditions.
His music transcends conventional boundaries, challenging societal norms and acting as a catalyst for change. His compositions reflect a deep connection to humanity, with the voice playing a central role in conveying powerful narratives.
The album’s centerpiece, “Wisdom”, commissioned by the Marsyas Trio during the 2020 lockdown, delves into the collective human experience of isolation and connectivity. Lotte Betts-Dean’s mesmerizing voice, accompanied by the Marsyas Trio, brings Finnissy’s reflections on this unprecedented period to life.
The symmetry of the album unfolds around “Alternative Readings”, a chamber work for flute, cello, and piano, presented in two unedited, distinct versions recorded on the same day, exploring the nuanced interplay of physical communication in music.
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In the Theatre of Air
NMC Recordings, 2018
Get the album: here
This album presents trio works by women composers of multiple generations; five of them living British composers, and one notable American. The release marks the 100th anniversary of (some) women getting the vote in the UK, and celebrates the diversity of compositional style, the wealth of talent, and accomplishments of living British women composers today. The album includes five premiere recordings: Judith Weir's Several Concertos, Thea Musgrave's Canta, Canta!, and recently commissioned works for the trio by Hilary Tann and the two youngest composers on this album: Georgia Rodgers and Laura Bowler.
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A Triple Portrait
Meridian Records, 2015
Elena Firsova is an émigré composer born in Russia and resident in the UK since 1991. She was one of Khrennikov's seven blacklisted composers in 1979. The CD was released in celebration of Firsova's 65th birthday and fills a gap in her discography, being the first disc dedicated entirely to her chamber music. The Marsyas Trio is joined on several tracks by violinist Patrick Dawkins (Ligeti Quartet), violist Morgan Goff, mezzo-soprano Hannah Pedley and German soprano Maacha Deubner.
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Haydn, Mendelssohn & Martinu
Apple and Biscuit Recordings, 2021
Recording Engineer & Producer: Alex Barnes (Apple and Biscuit Recordings)
Recorded: August 2011 at All Saints' Church, Bark Hart Road, Orpington, United Kingdom. Released February 1, 2012
Photography: www.benjaminharte.co.uk
CD booklet design: Kiril Baykov www.dramaexport.org
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ENUMA ELISH
Will Frampton's dramatic song cycle Enûma Eliš ('When on High') sets extracts of the ancient Babylonian myth of creation.
Producer & Mixing: Will Frampton
Engineer: Sean Woodlock
Recorded: 30th July 2017 at Goldsmiths Music Studio, London
Cover Art: “Jupiter and the Sun rising over Babylon” by Richard Frampton