R E V I E W S:
BBC Music Magazine 4 stars:"You would expect an album of works from Marcel Proust's fin-de-siècle Parisian sound world to be rich in suggestion, atmosphere and sensuousness, and so it proves to be. Ysaÿe's Poème Elégiaque sighs and swoops; Franck's beautiful Violin Sonata is by turns fragile, passionate, desolate and joyous. Miriam Davis's violin is songful, Michael Bulychev-Okser's piano always a sympathetic partner in dialogue.
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“The young British violinist Miriam Davis possesses a warm tone and the ability to connect with the listener through her intensity and emotional involvement.”
“Every mood from the gently lyrical to the passionately Romantic is fully communicated.”
“What elevates the whole performance is the evidence everywhere of their persuasive musical instincts.”
“Davis's confident handling of every technical difficulty in the solo part and her ability to hold the limelight so impressively with her cultivated playing.”
Huntley Dent - Fanfare
“They conspire to create the perfect ambience”
“..the point is the performance, full of half-lights and moments of illumination. It takes real maturity and years of study to understand this music, and this pair seems to have mastered it.
“Beautifully varied, expressive but again without distension, this is simply wonderful.”
“The reference recording in modern times (Franck Sonata) is Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien on Hyperion (reviewed Fanfare 42:5); I find Davis’ more throaty, full-bodied approach more convincing, for all of Ibragimova’s fervent playing in the faster movements.”
COLIN Clarke Fanfare Magazine
“Davis's tone and complete understanding of the repertoire absolutely carry the momentum of her performance here.”
“…quite nearly breaks your heart by the end.”
“beautiful, vulnerable, dramatic performances that recall the glorious novelty of a time which is now sadly lost to the past.”
Jacqueline Kharouf - Fanfare
“one of the finest recent recordings of this fantastically over-recorded work.” (Franck Sonata)
“This performance captures that quality better than any I've heard apart from Arthur Grumiaux. It also gets at the slithery, almost breathy violin tone quality that the music often seems to demand better than do a lot of recent performances, which emphasize solidity and stability rather too much.” (Debussy Sonata)
Michelle Dulak Thomson -Fanfarę
“A delight – the sounds heard from the stage were richly nuanced, with natural bravura within tasteful limits.”
Andre Hinn - Muusika Magazine Estonia
“Together, Davis and Bulychev- Okser created a musical dialogue that dragged the audience on an emotional and engaging journey, demonstrating how their artistic combination was the true protagonist of an unforgettable evening.”
“Davis, with her impeccable technique and ability to convey emotions through the strings of her violin….”
Annalisa Civitelli - Brainstormingculturale.Italy