Search - Mackenzie, Brabbins, BBC Scottish Symphony :: Orchestral Music

Fair pastries...at best

Jeffrey Lee | Asheville area, NC USA | 02/21/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I thought I'd give Mackenzie another chance after having reviewed a piano concerto of his in its coupling with Tovey's Piano Concerto on another Hyperion disc. I find The Overture to the Cricket on the Hearth to be sprightly and tuneful, but after that, I'm simply unable to get much involved in this composer's music. In some places, The Twelfth Night episodes remind me of very early Dvorak, but these and Mackenzie's other works provide limited satisfaction because they seem to be confined to a limited range of expression in terms of variety, maturity and depth. In short, they are lacking in real substance. I'll acknowledge that the composer may have just intended these pieces to be of lighter fare, but despite this I'm not too moved. There are moments of charm and excitement, and Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish Symphony offer very fine playing. Sound reproduction is excellent too. Nevertheless, I'm ultimately left unsatisfied. My feeling is that all of the composer's compositions on this disc should have been placed under the title, "Generic Folk Song Suite". For background listening...maybe. For continued, serious listening...well..."

Now let me see.........

Paul | Houston | 08/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoyed the disc. Most of the pieces aren't serious, brooding deep compositions, however they are pleasant and very well recorded - a hallmark of HYPERION engineeers. Look elsewhere in his catalog for more indepth compositions."