BBT Track Record
The success of our award winners is developing a valuable creative legacy for the Trust itself. Media recognition further emphasises the excellence and unique talent of our winners and the projects they choose to fund with their awards.
Here are some comments from selected critics on our BBT artists about the projects they chose to fund with their awards and fellowship monies:
Andrew Kennedy tenor - BBT Award 2006
"A great deal of thought has gone into this recital reflecting on the First World War and its legacy in British song and poetry. Fine musicianship too, with Julius Drake's accompaniments matching Kennedy's tenor in subtlety."
The Times June 2008
Project: The Dark Pastoral (first of two CDs recorded by Altara Music) with Julius Drake and Simon Russell-Beale. Released June 2008.
Colin Currie percussion - BBT Award 2005
"Currie's virtuosic performance confirmed that the percussion repertory has been enriched."
John Allison, Sunday Telegraph May 2008
Project: world premiere of Simon Holt's a table of noises, specially commissioned for Colin Currie by BBT and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
"...this is ultimately Currie's disc and his playing, with its vibrancy and focus, is captivating throughout."
Daily Telegraph September 2007
Project: Borrowed Time music by Dave Maric (Onyx CD 4024)
Christian Poltéra cello - BBT Award 2004
"I was quite bowled over in discovering the Cello Concerto [Frank Martin], so eloquently and sensitively played here. It is no exaggeration to say that this rapt performance presents this noble concerto with an inspirational intensity to compare with the celebrated Du Pré/Barbirolli recording of the Elgar Concerto."
Ivan March, Gramophone April 2008
"Poltéra delivers an utterly compelling and committed performance…a wonderful disc [Christian Poltéra Plays Frank Martin]"
Erik Levi BBC Music Magazine April 2008 (BBC Music Choice)
"If you want a superb collection of Honegger's music for cello, both chamber and orchestral, then this CD is just the ticket... by any standard this is a sensational performance."
David Hurwitz, Classics Today November 2007
Project: A series of three CDs on BIS showcasing the cello works of Swiss composers Othmar Schoeck, Frank Martin and Arthur Honegger.
Simon Crawford-Phillips and Philip Moore piano duo - BBT Fellowship 2004
"Glanert whisks us on a journey through space - to Mars... The seed material is a little scale in thirds, running up and down... Glanert the magician turns it into a pulsing particle of matter, constantly mutating and exploding. Moore and Crawford-Phillips proved ideal spacemen, with Brabbins and the orchestra riding alongside."
Geoff Brown, The Times March 2008
"...an initial musical cell - in this case a simple scale in thirds - is varied or permutated to create a sequence of episodes of stunning diversity. The huge technical demands placed upon both soloists were met with great distinction."
Brian Davidson, International Piano Magazine May/June 2008
Project: world premiere of Detlev Glanert's Double Concerto specially commissioned for the Piano Duo by BBT and BBCSSO.
Antoine Tamestit viola - BBT Award 2006
"Tamestit's lively, historically informed manner extends through the earlier movements of the Partita, the rhythmic character of each dance emerging with great clarity. The performance of the Ligeti – a magnificent, enthralling piece that's already emerged as a peak of the viola repertoire - is extraordinarily clean and accurate."
Duncan Druce, Gramophone August 2007
Project: Bach Ligeti CD (Ambroisie AM111)
Soovin Kim violin - BBT Award 2005
"...these caprices are rich with feeling in addition to being fleet and dazzling in a pyrotechnic sense...Kim imbues his performance of each caprice with such dynamic contrasts that your ears keep up with it...it is a terrific recording, and is easily recommendable."
All Music April 2006
"Kim emerges thrillingly triumphant.[...] A thrilling debut disc"
Classic FM Magazine
Project: Niccolò Paganini: 24 Caprices Azica Records (ACD-71235)
Royal String Quartet violin - BBT Fellowship 2005
"The Fabryka positively exudes cool relaxation... The auditorium itself is more like a large cellar than a typical chamber music venue - a budding rock band or jazz quartet would readily feel at home there. Which is why the Royal Quartet's decision to launch their festival there in November 2004 might well have seemed daring, even reckless.. But the mix of venue and a handful of enthusiastic players really works, and draws a large appreciative audience of predominantly, but not exclusively, young people. Here, surely, is a classic case of Warsaw's ability to retain its history and respect its architecture and yet brings to it a fresh purpose of relevance to Varsovians and their visitors today"
Daniel Jaffe, BBC Music Magazine September 2006
Project: supporting the Quartet's annual Kwartesencja Festival in Warsaw at the Fabryka Trzciny
Christianne Stotijn soprano - BBT Award 2005
"Here's something special: a riveting solo debut recital from the young Dutch mezzo Christianne Stotijn"
BBC Music Magazine April 2006
"Stotijns voice - rich and suggestive, sly and sorrowful as required, with shades of Janet Baker's gravitas, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's candour, and Anne Sofie von Otter's playfulness - is tailormade for Mahler's Rückert Lieder and Das Knaben Wunderhorn"
Independent on Sunday 29 Oct 2006
Project: Recording two CD's with Onyx Classics - Schubert, Berg, Wolf Lieder (ONYX 4009) and Mahler - Urlicht (ONYX 4014)
Ralph van Raat piano - BBT Fellowship 2005
"...van Raat obtains a near-hypnotic control in the two early pieces, almost mechanical in its reliability, and he bubbles with life in the later two"
International Piano Magazine March/April 2007 Martin Anderson
"Van Raat made "Phrygian Gates" grippingly sing, breathe naturally, blindingly change colours, fill the space with sonorous sounds and whisper intimately. Breath-taking"
Anthony Fium, Luister, June 2007
Project: Recording of John Adams Complete Piano Music Naxos 8 559285
Viviane Hagner violin - BBT Award 2004
"...though obviously a splendid violinist, it's her musicianship and emotional involvement that continually stand out"
Gramophone May 2007
"Technically faultless and consistently interesting, this is an extraordinary recital"
Independent on Sunday March 2007
Project: CD recording with Altara - Bach, Bartok, Hartmann: Ciaccona (Altara ALT1016)
Leopold String Trio - BBT Award 2004
"This is an ensemble with a mission - to reignite the public's interest in the string trio repertoire. Long seen as a poor relation to the mighty string quartet, this concert made a real statement about the integrity of the string trio genre...The Leopold Trio's programming is inventive and thought-provoking"
Classical Source 11 November 2006
"Both programmes - the fifth and sixth of eight - characteristically combined established works with some interesting novelties [...] - in short, a thrilling performance that set the masterpiece (Mozart's E flat major Divertimento K563) in a new light"
Daily Telegraph 16 November 2006
Project: A series of 12 programmes over three seasons to showcase the string trio repertoire presented at London's Wigmore Hall and the Turner Sims Concert Hall in Southampton
Emma Bell soprano - BBT Award 2003
"Distinctive and individual, Emma Bell's soprano voice carries the blend of technical accomplishment and expressive richness required to exploit the musical and emotional variety of Handel's music"
Music Week 10 Sept 2005
"Bell delivers expressive, grief-laden accounts, restraining her big voice with remarkable musical refinement...This is an enjoyable debut from an artist of immense potential"
The Sunday Times, 25 September 2005
Project: Two CDs with Linn Records - Richard Strauss, Bruno Walter and Joseph Marx (Linn CKD238) and Handel Operatic Arias accompanied by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Richard Egarr (Linn CKD 252)
Martin Fröst clarinet - BBT Award 2003
"At all extremes Aho calls not just for techincal prowess but musical character and intelligence - the ideal challenge. Fröst rose to it brilliantly..."
Financial Times April 2006
"An atmospheric piece, it moves from a tempestuous opening via achingly beautiful solo passages and a vibrant scherzo to a dazzling, multi-phonic coda. The perfect showcase for the remarkable skills of the Swedish soloist Martin Fröst..."
The Observer April 2006
Project: Clarinet Concerto commissioned from Finnish composer Kalevi Aho, premiered April 2006 (BBC Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vanska).
Hyunah Yu soprano - BBT Award 2003
"...mouth-watering evidence of significant potential"
Gramophone January 2007
"The lightness of her voice is tempered by the sheer physical beauty of the sound, a beauty that adds to the weight without overbearing it. One could listen with great satisfaction to her simply vocalizing. [...] Highest recommendations"
Audiophile Audition April 2007
Project: EMI Debut Disc Bach - Mozart Arias (EMI Debut 368255-2)