Sainton's 'The Island'
K. Farrington | Missegre, France | 02/18/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With an excellent coupling that is as apt as it is welcome (for we do not have another recording of the Hadley currently available), Bamert produces an excellent performance from his orchestra. The magical seascape is no mere repetition of Bax's 'The Garden of Fand', the music is more muscular and terse here and Sainton shows how close he can come to the European tradition while still retaining his English flavour. The Frank Bridge of 'Enter Spring - Rhapsody' is perhaps closer than the sleeve notes mention of Elgar and Bax. Sibelius is there in the Presto while the close has the sensuality of Debussy. Sainton is a tone poet of the first magnitude and the CD leaves one whistfully wondering why he did not produce a larger oeuvre. Perhaps he was too self-critical, but whatever his reason we must treasure these few pieces as gems of late romantic inspiration."
Deeply heartfelt and powerful music
Oliver Owen | Texarkana, TX USA | 01/17/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"While I agree that the work by Sainton is a lovely seascape, the real masterpiece on this disk, in my opinion, is the work by Hadley. It has an emotional intensity that is rare in works of the English pastoral school, perhaps because of the way that the composer uses the changing scenes of nature as a metaphor for human life itself in all its joy and anguish. On the one hand, Hadley paints an achingly beautiful landscape of luxuriant spring to symbolize the joy, expectation, and hope of youth; on the other, he paints an equally bleak and chilling landscape of winter to symbolize the tragic losses, shattered dreams, and loneliness that life can bring. There is a mingled poignancy and pastoral beauty in this work that is deeply moving. There is also a deeply cathartic feeling to this work (similiar to Suk's Asrael symphony), in which the composer, after giving full expression to his feelings of lament, arrives at a sense of quiet resignation in the end, as he bids his love a final "farewell." Deeply heartfelt and powerful music."