Barber: Adagio for Strings, Op. 11

“Barber's Adagio is presented on an epic scale, and this Appalachian Spring is compelling. Bernstein is less convincing as a pianist, however - his Rhapsody in Blue is rough around the edges.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2007 ****

“Few anthologies find room for a symphony; but this one does, and in doing so offers us a very good one, Ives's Third: three gently affectionate movements (for once no jokes, no revolutions) ... it is music of great charm, and given exactly that quality in the continuously eloquent performance of Neville Marriner's Academy... there is also playing of the very first order in Barber's Adagio, with an intensity of string tone at the climax hardly to be believed possible with the number of players likely involved. The Copland is splendid too, trumpet and cor anglais exceptionally well balanced with each other - projecting their solos with a long-lined beauty matching that of the string players. Creston's A Rumour is in a sense a party piece for the orchestra... perhaps in this little piece Creston has produced the record's second triumph of good nature; hardly comparable in scope with the Ives, but an effective one nevertheless. Its performance and recording are of an equal standard to that of the whole disc: impeccable”. Gramophone July 1976

"Though Barber won the Fifth Circle of New York for the engaging cello concerto, it is far less known than the violin concerto - all the more reason to give it a hearing." - Jason Serinus, The Advocate