“I enjoyed the performances very much, especially the Bruckner and Suk. The sound has a vivid, lifelike immediacy all too rare in studio recordings and the orchestral balance is just right.”
—Norman Lebrecht, private correspondence, 7th April 2009
“The dynamic range and depth of sound achieved by Geoffrey Terry make these stereo recordings amongst the finest ever made in the Royal Festival Hall.”
—Czech Music Direct
“I agree [that] your recordings are really excellent fidelity and much better than most commercial ones.”
—John Sunier, Editor/Publisher, Audiophile Audition, October 2009
“Your CDs [...] are spectacularly good. The sound is the best I have ever heard: so clear, vivid and natural.”
—George Schatzkamer, New York, August 2009
| CD1/2008 |
“[Jan Novák’s] music has hints of Martinů, but also has real character of its own, and the work is well played here: I know of no other recording of it, and lovers of Czech music should try to hear it.”
“…the live sound is excellent…” —International Record Review, April 2009 “Engineer and producer Geoffrey Terry has captured Jiří Waldhans at his most colorfully magnanimous, a real cornucopia of sound.” [Rating ****] —Gary Lemco, Audiophile Audition, 26th October 2009 “[Dvořák’s 9th Symphony] Why am I listening to a 43-year-old live performance of a symphony I’ve heard more often than Happy Birthday? Because the Brno Philharmonic in 1966 are a real Czech orchestra, unlike the modern soundalikes, and the conductor Jiří Waldhans is unafraid to let his brass let rip in organic style. This may not be everyone’s glass of Pilsner, but I found it marvellously refreshing.” —Norman Lebrecht, La Scena Musicale Online, 19th August 2009 “These must be the best sounding recordings ever made in this acoustically troubled venue. Everything is bright, clear and rich, and the performances are outstanding. The Dvořák grips from the very opening and has now become my favorite version of the work [...] Highly recommended.” —Don Hansen, San Francisco on the BBC Music Magazine forum, 13th January 2010 “I’ve listened now twice to the Dvorak 9th on my main hi-fi system, and am pleased to count it as my favourite performance – direct, no putting an ‘interpretation’ on the music, just presenting it as is. Thank you for preserving it, and now presenting it.” —Peter Stanger, conductor and pianist, private correspondence, April 2010 “This [Novák] is music of welcome vitality and uninhibited brio.” “The recording quality is certainly first class and has real clarity and natural balance.” —Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, April 2010 “I played Terry’s recording of the [Novák] work repeatedly when the CD arrived—it’s so full of life, one can’t tire of it.” —Martin Anderson (proprietor, Toccata Classics), Fanfare 33:5, May/June 2010 “The great historical recording of this work [Dvořák] is Talich’s from the early 50s. This is as good a performance, and the sound […] is far superior to the Talich. It has a lightness and clarity that is amazing for its age … [This disc] is worth buying for both the Dvořák and the Novák.” —Carl Bauman, American Record Guide , July/August 2010 |
| CD2/2008 |
“…a sparkling performance of the Third Piano Concerto by Prokofiev … [Peter Katin’s playing] combines agility, poetry and character most impressively, as well as bristling with rhythmic life.”
“…the recorded sound is splendid – natural and full…” —International Record Review, April 2009 “The sound is outstanding and the playing very fine.” —Norman Lebrecht, private correspondence, 10th January 2010 “There’s a surprising richness to the full orchestral blend, Terry’s two-microphone technique triumphing at least in part over the notoriously dry acoustics of the Royal Festival Hall.” “The pianist is assured, athletic, and technically immaculate … Highly energized and flawlessly performed, this [Prokofiev] is an interesting reading that deserves the enthusiastic applause it receives.” —Barry Brenesal, Fanfare 33:5, May/June 2010 “[Peter Katin is] a splendid exponent, whose legerdemain is matched by an acute structural sense, and whose tonal qualities are laudable. The ensemble between pianist and orchestra is pretty solid. The piano’s treble sonorities against the high winds are a notably successful feature of a recording that in no small degree manages to bring some warmth to the hall’s acoustic.” —Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, May 2010 |
| CD3/2009 |
“…this release consists of entirely discography-filling material … The recorded sound is excellent … A warm welcome […] to this disc, which offers considerable rarity value to the violin aficionado.”
—Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, August 2009 “The live recordings […] show some of the ‘bel canto’ playing for which Campoli was so well known … The recording is very good indeed though the violin is quite closely miked, giving an intimate feel to the playing.” [Rating ****] —Peter Joelson, Audiophile Audition, 28th September 2009 “…I’ve never heard [Campoli’s] fabled tone (nor perhaps anyone else’s) in such vivid fidelity; a similar lushness characterizes the piano’s tone as well … even if the performance didn’t flow so smoothly as it does, the recorded sound would magnify all the reading’s virtues in ratio in which many recordings diminish them.” “At moments, Campoli’s sound could freeze a windsock in a hurricane … these live performances sound communicative as well as brilliant … This issue deserves to be a part of most collections … Very strongly recommended.” —Robert Maxham, Fanfare 33:4, March/April 2010 “The beauty of this recording is in the stellar playing, the sincerity of the musicianship, the straightforward sophistication of the interpretations, and the intimacy and high quality of the recorded performances.” —Elaine Fine, American Record Guide , July/August 2010 |
| CD4/2009 |
“There is potency and vivid pleasure throughout the performance … This [recording] fills a real need and catches [The Czech Trio] on the wing, on tour, and on splendid form. The recording is equally vivid and allows one to hear considerable detail without detracting in any way from the ensemble sureties on show. It goes to show how immediate, and yet sympathetic, good microphone placement can be. This excellent disc earns my warm admiration.”
—Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, January 2010 “This performance [of the Dumky Trio] is perhaps the finest that I have heard. It has the proper Czech lilt. The notes reprint some of the reviews of the concert that appeared in the newspapers in the days that followed, and they concur that the Dumky was superbly played.” “The Beethoven Trio was also well played … Overall, it is one of the finest performances of this work that I know.” “The Martinů is the encore. It’s too bad that the whole trio wasn’t performed as it, too, is very well played.” —Carl Bauman, American Record Guide , July/August 2010 |
| CD5/2009 |
“…a thoroughly sympathetic reading from Ferencsik … The huge orchestral tuttis impress us with their singing intensity … Tumultuous applause [from] a slightly hysterical mob of Londoners who thought this concert a smashing success.” [Rating ****]
—Gary Lemco, Audiophile Audition, 4th November 2009 “This is also one of the very few performances I’ve heard that catches the [Kodály’s] humorous edge, rather than just its color … [A] complete live concert more than worth the price of admission was caught in fine sound; and we are the beneficiaries. Definitely recommended.” —Barry Brenesal, Fanfare 33:5, May/June 2010 |
| CD6/2009 |
“The performance is excellent and the sound for its day is superb.”
—John F. Berky, Editor, Anton Bruckner Symphony Versions Discography, October 2009 “This 1967 Seventh differs from Masur’s other accounts in its greater spontaneity and the exceptionally vivid quality of its recorded sound … if you are seeking to have a memento of Masur’s Bruckner at its most appealing, this CD is the way to go.” —Jeffrey J. Lipscomb, Fanfare 33:5, May/June 2010 “[W]e must give serious consideration to the frisson of this live London performance … There are […] strong reasons interpretatively to prefer this 1967 reading and, with highly sympathetic sound into the bargain, Masur admirers have now found another reason to acquaint themselves with this performance.” “Once again [Orchestral Concert CDs] shows that a simple yet optimum recorded set-up can deal very nicely indeed with even a problem venue such as this.” —Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, June 2010 |
| CD7/2009 |
“Let’s say straight off that it’s a splendid, often thrilling performance. The bright sound of the hall, allied to the excellent recorded set-up by engineer Geoffrey Terry, has ensured that certain moments register as seldom if ever before.”
“This latest entrant takes a worthy and high place in the pantheon of recordings of this masterwork.” —Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, October 2009 “This is an intensely dramatic, detailed Asrael, alive to the sudden changes of emotional character throughout.” “Terry accomplished a great deal with his two-microphone technique … [N]othing can dilute the power of the performance. Even if it had not been captured half as well, it would still be worth hearing. As it is, we can only be glad the engineering side of matters was in such capable hands … The performance is incandescent…” —Barry Brenesal, Fanfare 33:5, May/June 2010 “What is fascinating to me is how one can hear deep into the orchestra at minimal (read: ability to talk with someone else while listening) volume, which effectively replicates my experience when I attend a ‘live’ symphony concert event.” —Gordon Gray, Jackson, WY, private correspondence, 29th May 2010 |
| CD8/2009 |
“The Mozart and Haydn works are […] both for the most part enjoyably stylish with impressively sonorous, unanimous string playing in the former and many fine solo contributions in the latter.”
—Boyd Pomeroy, Fanfare 33:5, May/June 2010 “The orchestra is a fine one, but its style, particularly in Bach, reflects older ideals … On the other hand, their style, which brings out a cantilena quality […], reveals dimensions of his harmony and phrasing that period groups regularly overlook.” “Bosse is a fine soloist in the concerto” “The sound is good for a concert recording of the period” —Paul Althouse, American Record Guide , July/August 2010 |
| CD9/2009 |
“On this disc the orchestral sound in the hall is well captured, in good stereo with a lifelike balance and dynamic range…”
“I am glad to have discovered [Saša Večtomov’s] playing, for on this evidence he was a world-class artist … [his] aristocratic playing deserves a hearing, and the disc should certainly be of interest to cellists and collectors of multiple versions of the concerto.” —Boyd Pomeroy, Fanfare 33:5, May/June 2010 “As the concerto develops it’s clear that Večtomov, so august a member of the Czech Trio, was certainly a big enough concerto soloist, but one who does not seek to impose his personality onto the music. Instead he illuminates it from within.” —Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, June 2010 “Večtomov is an excellent cellist … the performances are worth listening to, and of historical importance.” —Carl Bauman, American Record Guide , July/August 2010 |