Colours of the Heart:Delius, Debussy, Ravel, Grieg
1st Album based on the story of 'Delius and Gauguin'
Delius and Gauguin met in Paris in 1894.
Centered around them, a circle of artists exapnded - composers, painters and writers including Grieg, Ravel, Munch, Rodin, Ibsen and Hamsun. What music emerged from the conversations between these artists?
Midori Komachi (violin), Simon Callaghan (piano)
Highly sought after for their performances of the Delius Violin Sonatas, these two award-winning artists, have based this new album around their 'Delius and Gauguin' project, which celebrates the colourful inspiration shared by the composer Frederick Delius and painter Paul Gauguin, along with pieces by other closely associated
composers.
Delius: Sonata for violin and piano No.3
Debussy: Sonata for violin and piano in G minor
Ravel: Sonata for violin and piano in G major
Grieg: Lieder for violin and piano arr. Sauret (premiere recording)
The Strad Magazine, January 2015
'Sensitive accounts of music full of sensual allure...(Komachi) judges the sleek, neo-Classical lines of Ravel’s 1928 Sonata to perfection, balancing exquisitely its espressivo ‘cool’ and super-compressed nostalgic yearnings.' - Julian Haylock Read the review
International Record Review, December 2014 ‘Komachi has chosen a particularly imaginative approach…Komachi’s booklet essay avoids descriptive analysis (easily accessible online) in favour of a detailed overview of Gauguin’s painting (reproduced in the booklet) and its influence on the composers and works featured. Well worth reading in its own right, it is an added enhancement of a recital in which this violinist more than holds her own’ – Richard Whitehouse
Music & Vision Magazine, October 2014
"If ever there was a CD in recent years that has captivated me so completely, it's this one.The partnership is incredible...The Debussy is one of the finest interpretations I have ever heard, and certainly the most interesting...somehow all the interesting textures, changes of mood and bursts of colour are so well brought to life." – Geoff Pearce
The Quarterly Review, August 2014
"Midori Komachi’s response to this work is remarkable, not least because of the astonishingly bold tone of her playing, which soars with virtuoso brilliance – yet
re-adjusts its focus entirely at those important moments when gentle, hushed, shadow-music suffuses the score. Partnered by another exceptional young player, pianist Simon Callaghan, I doubt if
the chamber works of Debussy have found two finer exponents." Stuart Millson Read the review
'I take my hat off to Ms Midori Komachi in admiration for her enterprise in realising this imaginative collection. She turns in, with pianist Simon Callaghan, very creditable performances of these colourful, off-the-beaten track works. She also contributes some interesting and erudite sleeve-notes suggesting links with Gauguin’s painting Nevermore (Delius was its first owner) and the work of Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) especially his The Raven.' -
Producer: Jeremy Hayes
Engineer: Ben Connellan
Recorded at Potton Hall, Suffolk, UK on 21st & 22nd February 2014.
Available on:
CDs (Worldwide Shipping)
Digital Download
