Schurmann: Music for Violin and Piano – Alyssa Park (violin), Mikhail Korzhev (piano)
The Anglo-Dutch composer Gerard Schurmann, born in the East Indies in 1924 and based in the USA since 1981, first made his mark in Britain in the 1940s and ’50s, as a pianist and composer, particularly of chamber music and, later, film scores. His concert output is intense, passionate, tightly argued, and charged with energy, but also infused with lyricism, as the four pieces on this disc demonstrate.
"...It seems unbelievable that such distinguished music (some if it composed 40 years ago) should have had to wait until now to be committed to disc: all are premiere recordings. The recording not only indicates that the artistes have risen to the technical and interpretative challenges posed by these works, but discovered in concert presentations that this music (which is not only highly individual but contemporary in outlook) directly communicates with ’an immediate warm response’ both during and after performance. Quite an achievement."
Tim Mottershead - Tempo magazine - January 2013
"...Outstanding performances are allied to finely judged recordings, and a predictably first class booklet note. The results are hugely satisfying." Jonathan Woolf - MusicWeb-international.com - 8 August 2012
"... the performances are excellent. Park’s warm and solid tone makes one want to return to the Duo and Autumn Leaves. As for Korzhev, he projects strength, atmosphere and the ability to tangle even the knottiest passages. The engineering is honest and unobtrusive."
Raymond S Tuttle - International Record Review - April 2012
