Shadow & Light: Canadian Double Concertos (Larysa Kuzmenko, Alice Ping Ye Ho, Christos Hatzis; Centrediscs CMCCD 31823
“This is a terrific program of double concertos—violin, piano, and orchestra—by three Canadian composers. Larysa Kuzmenko (b 1956) was thinking about Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth when composing the 18-minute Skartaris—named for the Icelandic volcano in the novel…. It’s a wonderful work, as is the playing…. Alice Ping Yee Ho (b 1960) had 19th-Century capriccios and the classical spirit of clarity and virtuosity in mind while composing the 15-minute Capriccio Ballo…. There are magical sounds, especially at 7:00, where delicate bell-like tones are heard…. The final work is Arabesque, by Christos Hatzis (b 1953), a complete contrast to the first two. The four-movement, 29-minute work traces a life: childhood in I (‘Innocence’), youthful exuberance in the disco-dancing II (‘AD 1980’), introspection in III (‘With Regret’), and the defiant refusal to surrender in IV (‘Gypsy Heart’).”
– Barry Kilpatrick, American Record Guide
