Do these guys have a Conductor?
05/30/2002
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I am a very hearty Percy Grainger fan, but I am very dissappointed with the quality of the pieces on this CD. While the strings and Phillip Martin on the piano seem to carry their weight fairly well (the recording of Mock Morris is very nice), the wind players leave much to be desired. Balance and stylistic problems plague this CD. The first trumpet plays decent but can't time his breaths worth anything and the low woodwinds and brass put out a pitiful amount of sound. The flute's interpretation in "Blithe Bells" is stylistically terrible. There is also a horrible electronically synthesized solo in "Green Bushes" (Imitating Bassoon maybe???) which completely destroys that piece. Overall I'm very unhappy with this CD. If you're looking for Grainger, purchase the Chandos Grainger Edition CD's with the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Ensemble. Those CD's are vastly superior to this poor attempt at Grainger."