Chausson: Concert in D major for violin, piano, and string quartet

“Violinist Jennifer Pike, pianist Tom Poster and the Doric String Quartet have done much more than scratch the surface of this piece...it is their handling of the gradually building tension in the slow movement, from disquiet to impassioned pleading via reflection and agitation, that marks out as an especially fine performance.” --BBC Music Magazine, April 2013 *****

“[Pike and Poster] play superlatively - beautifully merging into the texture of the whole...The recorded sound is warm and resonant without being overwhelmingly lush...Anybody who is at all interested in late romantic chamber music should snap it up without delay.” --MusicWeb International, April 2013

“There are plenty of opportunities for Jennifer Pike to display her sinuous, tender tone, while Tom Poster reminds us yet again why he's so highly regarded as a chamber musician...A real front-runner for the Concert, and the most convincing of advocates for the more problematic String Quartet.” --Gramophone Magazine, May 2013

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Poème

“probably the finest [Lark] on record...Fischer's detailing of the avian solo line is so filled with little wonders and fresh insights that it is almost like discovering the music for the first time...Kreizberg and his Monte Carlo orchestra follow every fluctuation in Fischer's free-flowing solo line so that the orchestra and the soloist really do appear as one...This exceptional recording is a fitting tribute to a great musical partnership.” --Classic FM Magazine, July 2011 *****

“The intelligently constructed programme is the most intriguing the pair have produced...Aside from the occasional woolly texture, support from Kreizberg's Monte Carlo Philharmonic is superlative...This beautiful disc is one of Fischer's best, and also stands as a fitting testament to Kreizberg's art.” --BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 *****

“Chausson's Poeme thrives on the sort of fluent dialogue that Fischer and Kreizberg achieved as a matter of course and, although Fischer's playing is charged with emotion, she's placed in a sensible relation to the orchestra...Kreizberg's witty handling of the variations section [of the Suk] really made me smile...Fischer's tonally alluring, full-blooded performance sits perfectly within the context of an imaginatively chosen prgramme” --Gramophone Magazine, August 2011

“Fischer's Chausson Poeme is lovely, with a finely spun solo line and impeccably judged double-stopping: it's passionately projected without the sound ever being forced. The orchestral support here has real fervour...Fischer is characteristically subtle [in The Lark] and she pays careful attention to detail...[She] is an engaging, sensitive soloist, possessing a fabulous technique, and the programme is very enjoyable.” --International Record Review, July/August 2011

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