‘Not for nothing have I referred to Bowyer as the Marc-André Hamelin of the organ. Seeing what Alkan requires the feet unaided to wring from a pedal board is hair-raising by itself, but hearing those requirements realized with interpretive point is simply jaw dropping… Bowyer’s ear is cocked for Alkan’s quirky divagations, his tongue-in-cheek detours… For the moments of menace or soaring grandeur mingling with the blithesome and faux-naïf there is no comparison—Bowyer is the thing itself. […] Enthusiastically recommended.’
Adrian Corleonis
Fanfare - November/December 2008
‘...in Bowyer we have a performer who not only guides us through the music with the assurance of one who sees nothing out of the ordinary in Alkan’s musical language but who cuts through the immense technical difficulties like a hot knife through butter. […] breathtaking footwork… […] some of the most vividly focused and technically fluent organ-playing imaginable.’
Marc Rochester
Gramophone - June 2008
‘Kevin Bowyer and Toccata Classics have done Alkan a huge service. Bowyer is the ideal advocate for this music: not only is he a consummate and highly intelligent musician, but his technique seems to know no bounds. […] This CD demands to be heard by a wide musical audience and not only by Alkan and organ aficionados. High accolades should also be awarded to Toccata Classics for such an enterprising release’
Robert Costin
MusicWeb - February 2008
‘This is a dazzling achievement and the most enjoyable organ disc that has come my way this year. […] Congratulations to Bowyer and to Martin Anderson of Toccata Classics.’
Peter Grahame Woolf
Musical Pointers - December 2007
‘Unfamiliar repertoire and monstrous challenges are probably what Kevin Bowyer devours daily before breakfast…. […] In every track on these two CDs, Bowyer’s flawless technique and missionary commitment provide ample ammunition to silence all potential doubters. The critical encomia that have already greeted Volume I are well justified; Bowyer’s phenomenal mastery is every bit as engaging in Volume II. In looking forward to the third and final CD in this series (anticipated for 2009), one can only wonder why these seminal works have had to wait so long for the recognition that they so richly deserve; the simple answer, however, is that it has been equally necessary to wait for an organist of rare intelligence capable of rising to the often fearsome challenges of this remarkable music.’
Alistair Hinton
Music & Vision Daily - 29 June 2008
Want List for Adrian Corleonis 2008
‘Two decades ago, Kevin Bowyer’s first collection of Alkan’s organ works alerted listeners to the quirky riches of that composer’s last creative phase, whose conspectus is rounded off here. As ever, Bowyer plays with an ear cocked to Alkan’s beguiling, often startling, eldritch vein—for those who delight in bizarrerie.’
Adrian Corleonis
Fanfare - November/December 2008
"... flawless technique and missionary commitment ..."
Alistair Hinton
CD Spotlight
"The CD comes with a thick booklet including the organ specification and most excellent notes by Malcolm MacDonald. In first-rate sound, the rich acoustic of Blackburn Cathedral has been captured without losing any of the details of either the music or its interpretation. The third and final volume is eagerly awaited; in the meantime, this issue, as with Volume 1, comes very highly recommended as an authoritative journey through Alkan’s organ music."
Peter Joelson
The Classical Source
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