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| Handel Trio Sonatas, Opus 5 (Avie 2068) |
'…the
Brook Street Band. The smartest new baroque band around, they deliver these seven
sonatas with consistent panache and musicality…if you need instant sunshine,
play this disc.'
Geoff Brown, The Times, July 2005 4 * Rating
'so
infectious is the enthusiasm of these gifted players for their Baroque master
that you will find it hard to suppress a smile at the sheer energy and effervescence
that bounce out of this disc'
Anthony Holden, The Observer, July 2005
'The
Brook Street Band are a lively ensemble of period instrumentalists, always stylish,
occasionally daring in their expressive response to this glorious music…'
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times, July 2005
'The
four members of the Band play with flawless ensemble and beautifully controlled
intonation, their unruffled and confident approach underlined by their generally
comfortable pacing…'
International Record Review, Christopher
Price, November 2005
'The
Band is highly polished…and infectiously enthusiastic'
BBC Music
Magazine 4 * Review
'They
play Handel with sprightliness and a joie de vivre that lets you know this composer
will never go out of style…the performances on this CD have such spontaneity…'
Atlanta Audio Society Classik Reviews, December 2005
| Handel Oxford Water Music (Avie 0028) |
'The
Brook Street Band…are gaining quite a reputation for their stylish and imaginative
programmes. They bring a delightful freshness and lack of affectation…playing
in a vivacious style…that makes it very clear that they are enjoying themselves.
Their pleasure in the music is infectious.'
Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice
Stanley Sadie, Gramophone Magazine,
February 2004
'…The
Brook Street Band…play with style and zest, keeping the rhythms light and
springy and ornamenting deftly…eager continuo…delightful music-making,
with violinists sparring elegantly in the faster numbers and bringing a delicate
sense of timing and colour to the slow movements'.
Richard
Wigmore, BBC Music Magazine, March 2004 Double 4* rating
'…a
stylish adventurous programme distinguished by this vivacious group's infectious
relish in its work'.
Anthony
Holden, The Observer, February 2004
'This domesticated, miniature Water Music has its own charm, especially in such a sparkling performance as this. Tempos are lively…rhythms springy, phrasing vital and varied. Above all, the players…radiate an infectious sense of enjoyment.'
Richard
Wigmore, Telegraph, December 2003
'I had never heard [The Brook Street Band] before this recording came my way, and I'm glad that...I now have. Those who avoid period instruments because they find the sound too thin would do well to listen to this recording, for [they] all play with a big, sonorous timbre...'
Stephen
Pettitt, International Record Review, March 2004
'No
matter how many recordings of this music you may already have, if you buy one
Baroque music disk this year, let it be this one...It is a tremendous pleasure
to be a reviewer when a disk like this comes along…[a] magical balance of
crispness, bounce, swing, sweetness and dignity...The Brook Street Band are stratospheric
in quality…'
Paul Shoemaker, Music Web
Recording of the Month,
December 2003
'It's
a delight to hear vigorous yet informed playing, combined with such a crisp, well-balanced
recording… Well researched and compiled…the accomplished performances
of Handel's earliest version of the famous Water Music suites are fresh and sparky,
enlivening this all-too familiar music.'
Jane Jones - Classic FM,
February 2004. 4* rating
''....clear
textures, sparky playing and discrete embellishment ... musically very satisfying.The
Brook Street Band have something new to say in this form.'
Mark Argent,
Early Music News, October 03
| Concerts |
'...a
winning mix of vitality, warmth and expressiveness...a riveting performance which
varied between affecting simplicity and visceral excitement...'
Tim
Homfray, The Strad Magazine, December 2003
'...
the players sustained the freshness and elegance.and let their unabashed enthusiasm
overflow - stimulating performances to satisfy the most ardent baroque fan and
win over those for whom this is still virgin territory.'
David Sonin,
Arts Critic of the Ham & High, October 2003
'The
musicians endeared themselves to the audience... These lively, enthusiastic,young
women, eager, knowledgeable, highly skilled, put their whole selves into what
they are doing. They care passionately about the music, as their lively commentaries
made clear, and this communicates itself to everyone present.'
Stanley Sadie, July 2002
…'No
complaints about the words in the concluding aria from Handel’s Ode for
St Cecilia’s Day. "What passion cannot music raise and quell",
Bott sang as the Baroque cello soared...'
The Times - Geoff Brown
January 2000
…'The
concert ended most appropriately with Handel’s aria "What Passion Cannot
Music Raise and Quell" from Ode for St Cecilia, the obbligato baroque cello
(Tatty Theo) and ripieno cello (Anthony Pleeth) weaving and circling round Bott's
fine soprano line...'
The Independent - Annette Morreau January 2000
'...a
wonderfully authentic... fascinating and compulsively watchable theatrical experience...'
The Stage
'The
Band showed what a well-integrated unit it is with great rhythmical sense in Bach's
Magnificat. Real rejoicing, exultant, brilliant sparkling trumpets.'
Michael Drake, Eastern Daily Press, May 2002
'…the
strings had ample opportunity to show their brilliance...excellent commentary
and introductions by Tatty Theo...the harpsichord [was] played with the sensitivity
and lightness of touch of an excellent accompanist...'
Shropshire
Star, October 2001
'I
have worked with this immensely talented group of musicians on many occasions
and think that they have the highest possible potential for the future.'
Ivor Bolton
'...the
splendid, stylish and scholarly Brook Street Band.'
Eastern Daily
Press
'The
Brook Street Band are about as good as you can get...'
Herts Advertiser