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"The album of music by Kawai Shiu, titled Stream and Seasons, nearly explodes with virtuosity and color. The performances are fearless and impeccable; the music is exciting and sensitive. 'Autumn Palette', only 2-1/2 minutes long, is a brilliant opening piece–full of fire, dense and compact but never forced. Farewell Bacchae is extended clarinet at it's best, widely expressive but cohesive, and clarinetist Li Xin is marvelous. The solo piece La Rosee Fond is a delicate arabesque in the very upper reaches of the instrument's range. In all of the pieces the timing is wonderful, both Shiu's and the performers'."
—BYELICK, AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE JULY/AUGUST 2011
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"I've reviewed a few pieces from Stephen Yip across several different compilations, and I am always pleased by what I hear. In the Garden continues this with dynamic contract, good use of slides and extended techniques and changing timbres. The bass clarinet is often in the foreground, with the flute and piano. The piece is dark and chromatic, but no too dense or too dissonant. Repeated motives characterize instruments and, like the Zen garden it imitates, create specific scenes for the listener to interpret. David Lipten's piano music is fiery and angular. Best Served Cold takes off right from the start, abruptly changing directions, repeating motives, or diving into the low register. It is in stark contrast to Ever Since, though they maintain the same mood owing to similar tonal language. Snap is a race against time with repeated notes beginning in the piano's upper register. The material slowly brings the piece into the middle octaves, but it cannot stop it from jumping multiple registers. Piano Gesang, by Igor Shcherbakov, is a haze of free atonality. Like the other composers on the disc, Shcherbakov concerns himself with color, though he uses it to mask a romantic melody that keeps attempting to break through."
—LAMPER, AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE JULY/AUGUST 2011
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Classical CD Reviews: DOUGLAS KNEHANS "Fractured Traces" by Daniel Coombs, © Audiophile Audition.
Amazing blend of cello and other sounds like you've never heard before! Full Review Click Here.
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Classical CD Reviews: KAWAI SHIU "Unassuming Music" by Daniel Coombs, © Audiophile Audition.
A fascinating and demanding collection of works by an impressive new composer! Full Review Click Here.
Classical CD Reviews: The Pridonoff Duo–Virtuosity Squared by Gary Lemco, © Audiophile Audition.
Highly volatile selections for two pianos, brought off with elasticity and explosive élan by the Pridonoff Duo. Full Review Click Here
Classical Music Sentinel Review: Music of Life—Orchestral Masterworks of Karel Husa by Jean-Yves Duperron - January 2012
This is a composer whose writing is influenced more by the emotional content and impact of the music, rather than its techniques. Full Review Click Here
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"…I also give my kudos to Ablaze Records for sound quality but, more importantly, the commitment to new music that their company represents. Their website reveals that composers are openly solicited to submit scores and recordings for consideration on an ongoing basis. Additionally, the company is presently accepting orchestral scores to put on a contemporary orchestral works CD! This is but one of the creative ways that living composers can have their works heard without waiting to hear back from the conventional symphony orchestra route…"—Daniel Coombs, Audiophile Audition 2011
"Ablaze Records is a relatively young recording label based in Australia and the U.S. dedicated to the recording, distribution and promotion of works by living composers. If this CD (Music of Life—Orchestral Masterworks of Karel Husa) is any indication, they certainly are poised to not only fulfill that mandate, but to do it right." —Jean-Yves Duperron, Classical Music Sentinel, January 2012
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