Tamsin Waley-Cohen‘s latest album with Huw Watkins has been reviewed in the Times, The Strad and BBC Radio 3 Record Review:
The Strad
A premiere recording is just one highlight on this thoughtful programme
“Tamsin Waley-Cohen has a silvered tone: lean and pure, but with power when required. Her unassuming aristocratic sonority allows the music to flow, unimpeded by excessive vibrato.
Her impeccable duo partnership with Huw Watkins is alert to nuance and characterisation, allowing the delicate invention to shine through.
The ensemble is neat and well-shaped, with a rustic edge to the folk-inspired Eglogue.
Both artists lend great tenderness and haunting expression to the Andante, their reverie abruptly replaced with virtuosic tempestuous invention in the Allegrissimo.”
Read the full review:
www.thestrad.com/reviews/the-strad-recommends-tamsin-waley-cohen-reflection/20744.article
The Times 4*
“There is nothing timid about the playing of that feisty violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen
splendid playing
Waley-Cohen and Watkins leap around from movement to movement, pushed to extremes, alternately screeching, whispering and bustling through… Meaty listening.”
BBC Radio 3 Record Review:
Piece played: Lento from the Violin Sonata by Huw Watkins
“Watkins composed this piece for Tamsin Waley-Cohen…he has such a profound knowledge of the instruments he’s composing for, but also of the artist herself… It’s a tender, romantic piece at heart. The poignancy of it was highlighted by the fact that it was premiered in November 2020 just before the 2nd Covid lockdown and so it was live-streamed from an empty Wigmore Hall. That felt really poignant, thinking back to when people couldn’t go to concerts.
“There’s a sense of loss the sound. It is incredibly beautiful and haunting and lyrical. It was inspired by Brahms’ A Major Violin Sonata …echoes of the traditional Sonata form and also something much more innovative.
“What about their playing? They hear and feel each other’s emotions – you can sense it – and complete each other’s musical sentences. They’re so well practised. It feels like a conversation…like two friends who know each other; two professionals at the top of their game. As a recital it works very well”
Listen again:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002qqlt