Siesta Ensemble & Ovidio Gimenez Bassoon Delights

This CD contains four compositions by the Icelandic composer Haukur Tómasson. The pieces are Concerto for Violin and Chamber Ensemble, Annual Ring, Spiral and Stemma. Sigrún Eðvaldsdóttir plays the solo violin in the Concerto and the ensemble is conducted by Guðmundur Óli Gunnarsson.

Farrenc’s Piano Trios are full of dynamic energy. The Third Piano Trio interestingly replaces the violin with a clarinet and flute, and was praised by the contemporary music press for its “perfection of form, charm and elegance”.

This CD contains four compositions by the Icelandic composer Haukur Tómasson. The pieces are Concerto for Violin and Chamber Ensemble, Annual Ring, Spiral and Stemma. Sigrún Eðvaldsdóttir plays the solo violin in the Concerto and the ensemble is conducted by Guðmundur Óli Gunnarsson.

In spite of its youthful naivete, the music is unusually colourful and sensibly written, taking account of the various degrees of skills in the performers. Delectable.

Elgar was a slow developer, and these pieces written in his youth are hardly prophetic – but they’re craftsmanlike, charming and fun. This pioneering recording stands up well.

This disc, recorded in 2001, revisits an earlier recording made by the same group for ASV. This newer recording immediately impresses by its particularly faithful recording quality with the bass end of the instruments firmly placed but without undue prominence. This avoids any suggestion of bass heaviness leading to resonance or booming and allows the whole ensemble to benefit from a proper aural foundation. This sort of recorded accuracy is not as easy to achieve or as common to experience as one might hope so it deserves a special mention.