Latest CD Release:
Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata
Grieg: Cello Sonata
Jamie Walton
Daniel Grimwood
Order code: SIGCD172
Barcode: 635212017227
“Jamie Walton, a knockout talent very much in the British individualist tradition is partnered by the equally individual Daniel Grimwood, and they make a wonderful team. But when I say ‘individual’ I absolutely don’t mean eccentric of mannered. In fact what I love about both these performances is their spontaneity, flow and warmth, their natural ease with the idiom of both composers. Walton achieves a fabulous legato in the Rachmaninov Sonata, so that one feels it is really being sung, with no instrumental hardware getting in the way of the line, particularly in the liquescent Andante. There’s a reckless enjoyment to the Scherzo, and he also produces a sufficiently burnished, brassy sound in the finale to leap free of the piano’s heavy part, but with a touch as sensitive as Grimwood’s one feels even a smaller-toned cello would shine. This performance stands comparison with the very best. Walton can produce a special purity of tone, heard to great effect in a searching slow movement, but he also lets the air into his bowing in a highly articulate Allegro agitato…both players create a blazing climax, in which we taste the extent of their charismatic daring. Highly recommended.”BBC Music Magazine (5***** Chamber Choice of the month)
“The well-developed and like-minded artistic partnership of cellist Jamie Walton and pianist Daniel Grimwood makes for a strikingly beautiful, deeply affecting performance…One of the conspicuous virtues of these interpretations is their sense of proportion, balancing as they do the rich seams of mellifluous melody and the bursts of dynamism with a mature and well-defined sense of style. Warm and heartfelt, the performances tap the music’s lyricism with discreet sensibility. Both in concert and on disc, Walton and Grimwood are proving to be exceptionally perceptive players, and this recording further testifies to their technical acumen and their gifts of insight.”Telegraph (5***** CD of the week)
“They have manifestly not based their interpretations on those of other artists…but have concentrated entirely on the music on the printed page and have managed to bring these works convincingly to life in a way that has impressed me very much. This is fine chamber-music playing from both artists. What is also impressive about this disc is that Walton knows when to take a back seat, so to speak, with a consequential enhancement of the music’s expressive nature. Throughout both works, his playing is outstanding, his phrasing a constant delight and always mindful of the needs of the phrase in question and its place in the overall context.”International Record Review
“One of the more remarkable and admirable aspects of Walton’s playing is his deep and penetrating musical maturity.”International Record Review, 2009 “Walton is a superb and unflashy exponent…there’s no ego here, just consummate musicianship.”The Times, 2009 “Jamie Walton very much follows his own star. His expression is clean and uncluttered, his musicianship unusually selfless.”The Times, 2008 “This young British cellist is effortlessly accurate and, more important, emotionally engaged and engaging.”Financial Times, 2008 “Flawless intonation and an expressive core, communicating its spirit right to the back seats of the hall.”Daily Telegraph “One of the true greats”The Strad “Stupendous technical facility” Wiener Zeitung
Jamie Walton is a rising international soloist with a distinctive voice of his own. He has appeared throughout much of Europe, the USA and the UK in some of the world's most prestigious concert halls and festivals. These include radio broadcasts and numerous festivals including Montpellier, Lucerne, Brighton, Harrogate, Ansbach, Schwabach, Schloss-Elmau, Chichester, Cheltenham, Three Choirs and regular appearances in chamber music, concerto, recital and broadcasts in Vienna.
Jamie is represented by Jonathan Cooke Limited.