Concert Reviews

solo/chamber

MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
A hugely virtuosic performance was presented with skills that you would hardly believe possible. Moore’s lively and clear approach to the pianism was balanced by his ability to linger dreamily over the rich romantic phrases too. In the final pages he dared all – and won.

THE GUARDIAN
Philip Moore is a pianist of real fortitude. His andante theme [from Brahms’s Piano Quintet] was beautifully stated – unfussy and eloquent.

THE SCOTSMAN
*****
Giving a beautifully precise yet poetic realisation of an intensely complex score [of Crumb’s Makrokosmos III] were pianists Elizabeth Burley and Philip Moore. At times almost trance-like in its hypnotic power, it was completely absorbing in its impact.

THE SCOTSMAN
Moore’s solo account of Debussy’s Berceuse Héroïque was luminously moving.

THE HERALD
Philip Moore provided exquisite pianistic cushioning throughout.

STRATFORD HERALD
His sense of poetry in this solo recital was a delight. He has the ideal sensitivity for the Romantic period, and is able, at exactly the right moment, to pull back on the most tender melodies, to moving effect. The Rachmaninov Preludes were played with tremendous vigour, style and flourish. A thrilling performance. After the interval we heard Chopin Etudes, so enchanting that members of the audience could barely restrain themselves from an audible hum.

NEW YORK CLASSICAL REVIEW
The program was expertly played – Druckman, Currie, Crawford-Phillips and Moore performed the piece with obvious command and confidence.

THE TIMES
There was music to grab you by the lapels in the Philharmonia’s Schnittke concert. A piano crunch and throbbing string chords led us into his last Concerto Grosso. Martyn Brabbins conducted bouncy performances from James Clark (violin), Philip Moore (piano) and an ensemble game for anything.

THE HERALD
*****
[Beamish’s transcription of La Mer] needs great players. And by Jove did it have them in violinist James Clark, pianist Philip Moore and cellist Will Conway.

THE GUARDIAN
[Reich’s Quartet] was played with an unassuming virtuosity and a well-nigh faultless sense of ensemble. [Sextet] demands immense reserves of stamina and concentration on the part of their players, challenges superbly met in performances at once hypnotic and thrilling.

BACHTRACK
*****
A mesmerising performance [of Reich’s Quartet] performed immaculately and with great virtuosity.

THE GUARDIAN
There was gorgeous solo playing and revelatory moments of transparency and sparseness.

THE SCOTSMAN
Easily the most imaginative musical programme to come out of this Edinburgh International Festival so far, with blistering performances to boot! Few concerts come more stimulating than this.

THE HERALD
Bewitching and revelatory.

LONDON EVENING STANDARD
They played it as if it was a matter of life and death.

THE SUNDAY TIMES
A daring but triumphant Wigmore debut.

musicOMH
As eloquent as anything we’ve heard in London so far.

THE HERALD
The Hebrides Ensemble melded themselves into the concert’s haunting sound world, mixing flamboyance and stasis to equal advantage.

piano duo

THE GUARDIAN
Inquisitive joy shaped a lunchtime concert by the piano duo Simon Crawford-Phillips and Philip Moore. After Ravel’s arrangement of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, at once stark and languorous, they brought gleam and definition to Mozart’s Andante with Variations, K501 and Sonata in F major, K497. As a finale they chose Stravinsky’s Firebird, in Moore’s virtuosic arrangement of the suite: fingers, hands and arms locked in a complex ballet of their own.

artsdesk.com
The Edinburgh Festival audience could hardly have asked for anything more lively, incisive and dramatic. It was a quiet revelation: the duo shaped Adams’ repeating phrases beautifully, and characterising his textures vividly.

THE SCOTSMAN
★★★★★
Injecting yet another breath of fresh air into The Queen’s Hall recital series this year, Colin Currie, Sam Walton, Simon Crawford-Phillips and Philip Moore brought music for percussion and piano that was a complete revelation. It was brilliantly put together. Bartok’s Sonata was totally mesmerising in a sensationally synchronised reading that accentuated the pianos’ percussive properties in its angular rhythms.

THE HERALD
★★★★★
This was a performance of remarkable refinement.

THE TELEGRAPH
The conversational sophistication in Mozart’s E flat two-piano concerto is rarely as fully revealed as it was here by Simon Crawford-Phillips and Phillip Moore. Each was consummately fluent in passagework that is far trickier than it sounds, and each hit the happy mean between flexibility and continuity in phrasing, while together they relished the grace and wit of Mozart’s exchanges.

BACHTRACK
Simon Crawford-Phillips and Philip Moore shone with immaculate solo and ensemble playing, sparkling throughout and full of personality.

INTERNATIONAL PIANO
Simon Crawford-Phillips and Philip Moore were closely attuned, with a shared blend of cool intellectualism and poetry. A mesmerising arrangement of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune was played with limpid touch and sensuous beauty, Lutoslawski’s Paganini Variations with wit and bravura.

CLASSICAL SOURCE
Such were the wide range of colouring and subtle nuances conjured by Moore and Crawford-Philips, that one could almost declare Debussy’s transcription of Prélude à l’après-midi d’un Faune a worthy alternative to its more illustrious counterpart. The intimate, tuneful Canonic Etudes by Schumann were beautifully brought to life, the pianists’ delicate shading and lightness of touch capturing the contrasting moods delightfully.

MUSIC WEB
There was an abundance of shading and I was especially impressed with the tone colour employed by Moore in the second subject of the first movement of Symphonic Dances; it was warm and fluid, with such an easy feel and restrained use of rubato. A cracking show which was excellent in every way and should not be missed when it is broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

THE SCOTSMAN
Brahms’ Sonata in F minor was a revelation, with a vivid energy and rich texture which the seamless synergy of these two players drew out to maximum effect.

CROYDON ADVERTISER
The finest duo in the market right now, and in a highly competitive field.

MUSICAL OPINION
Philip Moore’s transcription of Stravinsky’s Firebird sprang from their fingers with all the brilliance and vigour of an orchestral performance.

SARGANSERLAND (Switzerland)
Simon Crawford-Phillips and Philip Moore amazed with their playing! With light fingers and brilliant technique they created a thoroughly convincing Schubert Andantino, every note full of feeling.

MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
Three movements from Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite proved a stunning climax to a varied programme. It’s easy to see why this duo is in such demand.

THE INDEPENDENT
The final stages of this [Promenade] concert were the best: a wittily pointed account, by Philip Moore and Simon Crawford-Phillips, of Stravinsky’s Concerto for two pianos.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
A bonus in this concert was the piquant, spirited playing of Stravinsky’s Concerto for Two Pianos by Philip Moore and Simon Crawford-Phillips – a real shot of adrenalin.

THE INDEPENDENT
Crawford-Phillips and Moore were the 20 fingers of steel.

CROYDON ADVERTISER
It was as if all expression were spontaneous. In the absence of the orchestra, the fullest sonorities were explored in a display of technical wizardry at whose conclusion one could only gasp and ask: how did they do that? You missed it? Kick yourself!

EVENING STANDARD
They filled the Wigmore Hall with cheering fans. Their Schubert was a thing of beauty. They played the Variations on an Original Theme D813 with skill and variety, his Fantasie in F minor D940 with profound understanding of its angry power, and won an audience chuckle with the subtlety of their touch in Rawsthorne’s The Creel.

MUSICAL OPINION
A stimulating programme enhanced by their clarity of approach and perceptive readings. Schubert’s F minor Fantasie was infused with intensity. Ravel’s La Valse was a real tour de force with lucidity and momentum. The rumbling bass at the start, the brightly etched waltz theme, and glissandi which erupted with frothy colour in the apotheosic conclusion, were all vividly projected. Absolutely breathtaking.

Recording Reviews

solo/chamber

BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
These are superb performances, with delightfully jaunty piano in the Pièce. Janiczek and Moore combine transcendent intensity with finely judged pacing in the Theme and Variations, placing this firmly among the best accounts on disc.

SA-CD.net
A superlative recording. Rarely have Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus and Louange à l’Immortalité de Jésus sounded so ethereal. The balance is perfectly judged to give all the tonal variety that Philip Moore extracts from the piano. Absolutely captivating and highly recommended.

THE SCOTSMAN
The fiery Fantasie for violin and piano has an intrinsic, dynamic tunefulness that is hotly pursued in this performance by violinist Alexander Janiczek and pianist Philip Moore. A highly significant recording.

KLASSIK.COM, GERMANY
Rarely has the song of the warbler been heard so vividly as in this recording. The “Fantaisie” deserves special praise: Moore and Janiczek give this premiere recording a mature interpretation. Messiaen fans will grab this SACD!

BBC MUSIC
Breathtaking sensitivity and depth from the Hebrides Ensemble in this outstanding performance. This disc is more than just a premiere recording; this is special playing from a special group of musicians.

HIGH FIDELITY, DENMARK
I have not heard any better recording of these works.

DAILY CLASSICAL MUSIC
It’s not an overstatement to suggest that this [Hebrides Ensemble] disc is sensational. As an approach to Maxwell Davies’ music, it could scarcely be bettered.

NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST
Simply unmissable. Images of natural and spiritual worlds are translated into highly personal music.

HR AUDIO
An inspired performance … a faultless account … the immediate accessibility of the ‘Sextet’, aided by the brilliance of the LSO Percussion Ensemble’s stunning playing, will surely bring new converts to Reich’s archetypal and iconic oeuvre … The performances and the recorded sound are so outstanding. Unreservedly recommended!

piano duo

Stravinsky Ballets For Piano Duet (Deux-Elles)

GRAMOPHONE
The duo’s ensemble is astonishingly good and the sheer panache of these performers makes this a most satisfying release with a unique feature.

INTERNATIONAL PIANO
Philip Moore’s own highly effective version of The Firebird is in my view worth the price of this disc alone.

CLASSICAL SOURCE
If it weren’t for the sheer complexity of the textures, you could be forgiven for thinking you were hearing one pianist. Their cleanly articulated and vigorous playing provides coloration in abundance.

Ravel La Valse For Piano Duet (Deux-Elles)

SUONARE NEWS, ITALY
The performers are full of hidden poetic humour. They lead us to the heart of Ravel’s “Enchanted Garden” with touching simplicity.

CLASSICAL MUSIC WEB
Balances are expertly projected, and the little touches of nuance and phrasing are a constant delight.

BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
Moore and Crawford-Phillips play Debussy’s Prélude a l’après-midi d’un faune with immense grace and sensitivity. In Bizet’s Jeux d’enfants they are innocent and full of enchantment, and play with such charm as to persuade that this is the most delightful piece ever written for the medium. In Ravel’s Ma mere l’Oye, childlike simplicity and technical sophistication go hand in hand.

SUNDAY TIMES
In Ravel’s fascinating transcription of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune they articulate the evanescent orchestral substance of the original with analytical precision, while retaining a magical limpidity and flow.