University of York Music Press

'Each movement offered different challenges for the player, from the second’s furtive opening in very high register to the third’s extreme dynamic contrasts and the fifth’s relaxed, hushed series of harmonics to the sixth’s carefully placed pizzicato statements. Forming an impassioned central climactic point, the fourth movement presented imposing chordal sequences enclosing a softly eloquent, directly expressive episode. The final seventh movement was the most extended and varied, encapsulating all the previous material in a deeply considered summation. In the closing bars, the solo line faded away with an illimitable, ever-ascending glissando, the last of several inventive effects in the score, imaginatively interpreted by Madeleine Mitchell. It is a tribute to the refinement and subtlety of her artistry that this often demanding and intricate music was able to unfold with a feeling of exploration and interpretative freedom within the context of a cogent, carefully planned framework.

‘In this satisfying and enjoyable recital, consummate musicianship was placed entirely at the service of wide-ranging and stimulating repertoire.’