Reviews (2003—2012)
“Jamie Walton is a conviction cellist, playing the music he feels is most timely rather than what the industry demands…the Shostakovich sonatas is among the most affecting performances I have heard since Rostropovich died.” Norman Lebrecht, 4****
“Walton and Grimwood are emphatic where the music calls for it . .This is another successful disc for a partnership that clearly enjoys playing and recording together. Their forthright style in each of these three pieces pays dividends” Classical Source
“Jamie Walton’s mature cello timbre and perceptiveness in matters of interpretation are winningly applied to this coupling of two 19th-century sonatas. His musical partnership with Daniel Grimwood brings special immediacy and finesse to these performances, in which Saint-Saëns’s Second Sonata asserts both lyrical sweep and dramatic tension, the more familiar Chopin Sonata sounding fresh, supple of phrasing and subtle in expressive nuance. Finely honed stylistic judgment here goes hand in hand with re-creative panache.” Telegraph 5*****, June 2011
“Jamie Walton is an interesting cellist. His style is clean, with hardly any appreciable vibrato or portamento. I’m a big fan of this sort of playing, and to find this aesthetic discipline being applied to the most Romantic of Romantic repertoire is little short of a miracle. Just listen to the clean declamation on the high phrases in the outer movements of the Chopin, that’s really elegant and all the better for avoiding the big swoops between the notes that so many other cellists would apply automatically here. I also like Walton’s low register, which is rich, deep and satisfying.” Classical CD Reviews
“Jamie Walton’s new coupling of Saint-Saens’ Second Cello Sonata and Chopin’s only sonata for the instrument, restores faith in a too often maligned composer.While Walton and pianist Daniel Grimwood approach both works with an affection and scrupulousness that almost make Chopin’s opening Allegro hang together, one senses Saint-Saens is their favourite.Perhaps there is a hint of curmudgeonly bluster to set off Saint-Saens’ Sonata but, in between this, comes the most bewitching and Gallic calm. The scherzo may steal a glance back at Mendelssohn but the colours are a little darker. Walton and Grimwood dash through the pizzicato and arpeggios of its fourth variation, and dispense the contrapuntal sallies of the sixth with just the right arch of the eyebrow.” New Zealand Herald 5/5
“This program, which combines standard works with those less well-known, should encourage listeners to give repertoire such as the Saint-Saëns sonata a hearing. Walton and Grimwood play this work in an appropriately grand manner; Walton gets a beautifully full tone from his 1712 Guarneri cello. The Chopin Cello Sonata is unmistakably a masterpiece of the Romantic cello repertoire. The first movement begins in a melancholy, rather troubled mood. Walton and Grimwood observe the Allegro moderato marking, and their deliberate approach gradually ratchets up the tension. The duo seem to be feeling their way into this movement at times; this creates a sense of genuine engagement as the musical argument gradually takes hold. Walton’s double-stopping is very smooth; The Scherzo draws subtly varied bowing from Walton, from the staccato opening to the legato Trio; he plays this beautiful but exposed melody with immaculate intonation. The slow movement is taken at a true Largo, and the long melody draws more sensitive playing from the duo. The Finale is one of Chopin’s equestrian movements, like that of the Third Piano Sonata. The duo again observes Chopin’s Allegro non troppo grazioso marking, giving the music time to breathe. Walton’s double-stopping impresses here also, and his upper register sounds very secure; the interplay between him and Grimwood is lively and responsive to every nuance. The Introduction and Polonaise brillante is done with a lively prancing rhythm, and the melodic writing for cello and the filigree piano part are each played in fine spirit. The recorded sound and balance are very good.” Musicweb International
“Jamie Walton’s sound in this excellent recording is open and luminous. Daniel Grimwood is more than a match for his extravagant part; after a pleasingly bold opening Maestoso, the Scherzo, explodes into life with a thrilling motoric rumble, powered by this mercurial pianist. There’s plenty of Mendelssohnian magic here in both the lazily eloquent and feet-footed variations, and an infectious sense of enjoyment. Walton is suave and dreamy in the epic Romanza. Their fine performance of Chopin’s great Sonata clears its technical hurdles with ease.” BBC Music Magazine 4****
“Among its recent recordings, I certainly can’t think of a better one than this. There are places where Walton succeeds in evoking both the quiet rapture and gruff virtuosity of Piatigorsky’s own playing on his essential recording with Munch (RCA), and Briger draws some positively luminous colours from the Philharmonia, while also keeping the orchestra tight and rhythmical where necessary. Piatigorsky is essential in any Walton collection, but this new disc has earned a place there too – not just because of its value in including the two versions of the finale but also because it’s a most characterful and eloquent reading in its own right, all with the advantage of excellent modern sound and a recorded balance that allows plenty of orchestra detail to come through without ever overwhelming the soloist.
“This disc is likely to be of particular interest to Walton collectors, since this hitherto unperformed revised ending is included here: in fact Jamie Walton and Alexander Briger do better than that, since they include both versions, with the familiar (original) finale appearing as an extra track at the end of the disc. Walton’s revision may be only a couple of dozen bars long, but it does produce a weightier, more dramatic end to the work. It’s fascinating to hear it, especially as the performance itself is of the highest quality. Walton’s sound is superbly suited to this work – he has a singing, expressive upper register as well as the agility to dive fearlessly into the more virtuoso passages: this is playing of tremendous authority and control, and he’s matched by an exceptionally alert and sympathetic partnership from Briger and the Philharmonia. I’ve loved this concerto ever since first hearing it at a Prom in 1970 (with Maurice Gendron and Boult, no less), but is was subjected to some dismissive notices when it was new: critical opinion was firmly of the view that it was a dud, and that Walton was out of step with the times. I have to say that the view seems quite ludicrous now – this work has surely established itself as one of the last century’s most impressive and atmospheric cello concertos.
“It will come as no surprise that the Shostakovich First Cello Concerto is very fine here too. Again, Walton and Briger generate impressive levels of rhythmic energy, and the playing has all the spiky allure anyone could wish for in a this piece. There are classic versions of that offer strong competition, including Rostropovich and Ormandy on Sony, but this new disc is wholly convincing. Walton is a player of such imagination and individuality (as well as having a marvellous technique) and thanks to the unique double finale version of the Walton, the result is a disc that is as fascinating as it is enjoyable. Given that everything is recorded in admirably clean but warm sound, this disc deserves the warmest recommendation.” International Record Review
“Cellist Jamie Walton offers William Walton’s Concerto with an exceptional bonus: as well as playing the original 1956 version with it original ending as a supplement, he records the 1975 revision. The difference between the two versions is limited to the coda of the finale but on balance the slightly more extended 1975 version makes a more satisfying conclusion after the strong contrasts of the somewhat idiosyncratic finale’s set of variations with their all-too-brief bursts of allegro.
“The elegiac quality in the work very much suits Jamie Walton’s style, with his sweet, smooth cello tone, but he is also capable of powerfully attacking the vigorous writing as in the central Allegro with its sharp syncopations. Alexander Briger is a most sympathetic accompanist, and though the balance favours the soloist, the clarity of Walton’s often brilliant orchestration is beautifully brought out.
“Shostakovich’s First Concerto is a most compelling performance, very strong rhythmically, with the Philharmonia’s first horn relishing what amounts to a concertante role in the first two movements. Again Jamie Walton exquisitely brings out the haunting beauty of the main theme in the slow movement, and produces an eerily chilling tone when that main theme is recapitulated on high harmonics. In the third movement, an extended cadenza, Walton builds up the argument powerfully, leading into the violence of the finale. A most valuable and enjoyable disc, adding impressively to the series Jamie Walton has recorded for Signum, which already includes Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto.” Gramophone Magazine
“Jamie Walton’s warm and beautifully focused way with the work excels in its own right. The finale’s notoriously difficult, stop-start design here works unerringly; and a not too quick tempo for the scherzo makes its intricate workings all the more vivid and rewarding to the ear. So does the recorded balance - a touch close, yes, but the upside is that the solo cello’s low register comes across more clearly than usual against the orchestra. The same unflashily vivid brilliance brings in a rich harvest in Shostakovich’s First Concerto…his keening way with the slow movement’s lyrical lament marks out a remarkable player.” BBC Music Magazine
Probing artistry: Jamie Walton breaks new ground with his namesake
“It was only a matter of time before Jamie Walton recorded the Cello Concerto by his namesake, Sir William. To do so earlier might have smacked of opportunism, but he is already known as a musician of probing artistry through concertos as diverse as the Elgar, Myaskovsky, Britten and Shostakovich’s Second (all recorded for Signum), not to mention a range of chamber works. This new coupling of the Walton with the First Concerto by Shostakovich is a gripping successor to those earlier discs, his rich, malleable tone and mature sense of style deployed with the discerning interpretative personality that places him in the front rank of today’s cellists.
“One other factor that marks out the performance of the Walton concerto is the decision to replace the familiar ending with the revision that Walton conceived almost two decades after the 1957 premiere. The great Russian-born American cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, who had commissioned the work and had given the first performance in Boston, apparently hankered after a conclusion that was ‘less melancholy’.
“In the bars that Walton eventually substituted, he certainly did not compromise the reflective mood of the final part of the concerto, and, if anything, they emanate a more poignant sense of tragedy. However, Piatigorsky approved, but died before he could play the new coda. This is its first appearance on disc and anyone preferring the original ending, or wishing to compare the two, can switch to track 8, where the whole of the finale as Walton first wrote it is included as a bonus.
“With the Philharmonia alert both to the brio and to the underlying pensive traits of the concerto, Jamie Walton has an ideal partner, echoed in a performance of the Shostakovich that is lithe, pungent and, just as it should be, profoundly disquieting.” The Telegraph 5***** Star CD of the week
“Jamie Walton is a marvellous young cellist, and this new disc of Walton (no relation) and Shostakovich is out of the top drawer. Walton’s Cello Concerto, a bittersweet work from 1956 first performed by Gregor Piatigorsky, requires a special type of player, one able to capture the magic without excess and an effortless technique. Jamie Walton is such a player, and right from his first entry—a beautifully taut, gutty moment—he carries us with him to the end. Alexander Briger, who has collaborated with him on earlier discs, conducts with superb understanding. The same applies to the Shostakovich. Every cellist must compete with the memory of Rostropovich in this work, but Walton is his own man in a performance I will return to often.” 5***** The Dominion Post (Wellington, New Zealand)
Two players find a perfect balance in three large-scale Romantic sonatas
“Most collectors approaching this CD will be drawn by the works of Brahms and Strauss but the bonus, a sonata by Austrian composer Ludwig Thuille, is a genuine find, powerfully dramatic and lyrical by turns. The touchingly elegiac yet romantic Adagio is truly beautiful, followed by a dancing, light-hearted finale. Thuille was a friend of Strauss, yet today he is all but forgotten. Perhaps this warmly sensitive performance will restore his reputation.
“This highly rewarding recital opens with Brahms, which the composer described as a piano/cello sonata, the two instruments being equal partners, and they certainly are here. The way in which Jamie Walton and Daniel Grimwood share the partnership is striking, with the cello and piano satisfyingly interwoven through three perfectly balanced movements. The first, romantically passionate but with an underlying minor-key, melancholic flavour, is followed by one of the composer’s most winning allegrettos (here described as a quasi menuetto) with a flowing, landler-like centerpiece. The vigorously bold fugal finale delayed the completion fo a work, begun in 1862, until 1865.
“Strauss’s underrated Sonata is obviously an early work but is rich in freshly memorable themes. It also ambitiously includes a fugato in the first movement, which is a conventionally but imaginatively structured, the secondary material particularly appealing, while the Andante is a sad song without words and the finale a canonic vivo, here full of life and sparkle. The playing of Walton and Grimwood throughout is totally responsive, and again integrated with almost uncanny perfection. Congratulations, too, to sound engineer Chris Braclik for his excellent balance in London’s Henry Wood Hall.” Gramophone Magazine
“This most Germanic of romantic cello sonatas collections is all about youth — or rather later youth, when early artistic experimentation gives way to something a little more controlled. All three sonatas here come from the formative stages of their composers’ careers, and — to keep the theme going — they are played by the youthful British pairing of cellist Jamie Walton and pianist Daniel Grimwood. Richard Strauss wrote his Cello Sonata in F Op. 6 at the age of 18. It’s a mix of Brahmsian conservatism — that he’d soon abandon - and high-flung heroic gestures, which would become his trademark. Walton captures the rapturous exuberance of the cello part from the opening chords to the leaping lines of it hunt-like finale, and the technically demanding piano part is played very convincingly by Grimwood. Tricky piano parts are a staple of many romantic sonatas; they’re sometimes even more demanding than the solo part. With his Sonata in E minor op. 38, Brahms lets the pianist know that they’re a soloist in their own right. Grimwood tackles this part brilliantly, particularly the work’s closing fugue. Walton is no slouch either, and I love the way he accelerates into the climax of the opening movement. The disc closes with Ludwig Thuille’s Sonata in D minor Op. 22, in his sleeve notes, Grimwood argues that Thuille deserves more recognition, and I agree — this is a fascinating work from the composer’s early output that contains plenty of harmonic inventiveness and intensity.” Muso Magazine (50th edition special) - 5***** Star CD of the month
“A performance like this one is so good that it has you, for a moment, suspending disbelief. Jamie Walton and Daniel Grimwood launch into the impassioned braggadocio of the opening with such fervour and attack that the result is thrilling, even as you recognize that the whole passage is deliberately OTT. They do equally well with the climactic inflation in the finale, and ably prevent the weakly Mendelssohnian slow movement from falling too deeply into sentimentality. This is certainly among the best available versions of this , if anything, over-recorded work, ranking with the ardent rhetoric and instrumental display of Johannes Moser and Paul Rivinius on Hanssler, which I find preferable to Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax on Sony, where the pianist is so prominently balanced that he almost drowns out Ma’s cello at the big moments.
“Strauss’s sonata is a youthful indescretion; the sonata of his close friend Ludwig Thuille, by contrast, is a mature work by a composer of more conservative instincts but impeccable technique. Composed in 1901-02, this is a far more impressive piece than either of Thuille’s early string quartets,. Laid out on a grand scale - it’s the longest of the three sonatas here - it effortlessly sustains its length with music of consistently high quality and interest. If Brahms is an important influence, Thuille’s orientation is very different: the first movement’s turbulent opening subject, with its massive piano writing, gives way to a lyric-heroic second subject of almost Rachmaninov-like grandeur and sweep. The big, sombre Adagio slow movement is a noble conception, which allows the beauty of Walton’s tone to shine forth while testing his powers of sostenuto playing to the utmost. The muscular finale, by turns playful and sardonic, brings the work to a very satisfying conclusion. This is a sonata that deserves a place in the general cello-piano repertoire.
“In their different ways Thuille and Struass (at any rate the teenage Strauss) were very much in thrall to Brahms, who makes a logical third to this intelligently planned programme. Walton and Grimwood turn in a first-rate performance of the E minor Sonata, playing up the lyricism rather than the gruffness in the first movement but rising to a magnificently climactic point of return in the recapitulation. There is delightful give-and-take between the two players in the minuet-like second movement, while in the fugal finale they are like a single focused organism, firm of purpose in carrying the separate voices of the polyphony onward to an absolutely decisive conclusion.
“I would suggest that the Thuille sonata is enough on its own to make this disc worth considering. Not only are the performances uniformly excellent but the perfection of the instrumental balance and the vividness of the recording are quite exceptional.” International Record Review
“The well-developed and like-minded artistic partnership of cellist Jamie Walton and pianist Daniel Grimwood makes for a strikingly beautiful, deeply affecting performance. The coupling of Grieg’s sonata, played with the utmost poise, sensitivity, poignancy and spirit, doubles the disc’s value. In both sonatas, cello and piano are equal partners in the music’s expressive substance. Walton and Grimwood achieve ideal integration here. Likewise, when the piano in the Grieg’s finale exerts weight and launches into elaborate cross-keyboard bravura, Walton matches it with passion and thrust. The urgent energy in the outer sections of the Rachmaninov’s scherzo is gripping, the dark, anguished intensity of the Grieg’s opening movement powerfully voiced. But 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.”The Telegraph
“This new version, I am convinced—after studying it in detail over several weeks—is, overall, the finest yet put on record. One of the more remarkable and admirable aspects of Walton’s playing is his deep and penetrating musical maturity…Time and time again I found myself catching my breath at the sheer grasp of every detail and paragraph of the work; believe me, this performance is a completely engrossing and moving experience from beginning to end…this is Walton’s masterly performance and I commend it with enthusiasm.
“Walton has this gift of making us listen to, to participate in almost, his every phrase; he has fully entered the world of both works and our experiences are the greater for it…This issue stands alongside Walton’s earlier fine CD of Elgar and Myaskovsky concertos as outstanding examples of superb music-making.”International Record Review 2009
“Jamie’s account is meticulously fashioned, attractive and engaging, often with appreciable beauty of tone and admirably explicit structure…and clearly reveals its mix of passion and reflection and all shades of dynamic. The feeling is of a character evolving before your ears…Walton is his own man, offering here fresh performances of both concentration and engaging lyricism in recordings of illuminating clarity and density.”Musicweb-International 2009
“He takes on the heroic mantle with ease…with formidable tone production from wide, sweeping bows…Walton plays with a breadth and passion that is matched by Alexander Briger and the Philharmonia, and enhanced by the disc’s warm and immediate recorded sound…The rich reverberence of Walton’s 1712 Guarneri is also in evidence…he sketches some beautiful melodic shapes in this desolate soliloquy, using imaginatively varied vibrato…The transition in the last movement from the staccato march to the soaring four-note melodic figure never fails to move me.”The Strad (Concerto CD selection of the month)
“An insightful pairing on this follow-up CD to Walton’s impressive Elgar/Myaskovsky release. Walton is a superb and unflashy exponent—there’s no ego here, just consummate musicianship, excellently backed by the Philharmonia under Alex Briger, sensitive and biting in the Shostakovich, formidable and powerful in the Britten.”The Times (4 stars)
“Walton’s sinewy playing, full of perceptive solutions to the concerto’s many enigmas, traces a well-argued route through the music. He couples it with an equally compelling performance of Britten’s Cello Symphony.”The Telegraph
“This pairing makes perfect sense. Both works are dedicated to the great Rostropovich, whose muscular technique and the big tone is evoked here by the impressive Jamie Walton, who explores the brooding darkness of both pieces with the Philharmonia Orchestra under the commanding Alexander Briger…no one can pretend it’s comfortable listening; the cello is, after all, the perfect instrument to lay bare the soul.”The Observer
“The second Shostakovich cello concerto never matched the appeal of the first. Even Slava Rostropovich struggled to make it wince, let alone smile. Walton, a young British cellist, takes a less stressed approach, making the most of melodic fragments. His approach to the Britten Cello Symphony is almost the opposite. He goes for the sweeping gesture, redeeming the piece of its intermittent stutters. More than just a performance, it is an act of interpretation.”Norman Lebrecht, Evening Standard (4 stars)
“The Cello Symphony is Britten at pretty much his darkest, and Jamie Walton takes no prisoners in this unflinchingly articulated performance. You get an immediate reality check as Walton digs deep, glowering swathes of tone from his 1712 Guarneri in the threatening cutlass strokes launching the Allegro maestoso’s opening paragraph. The instrument again sings gloriously, higher in its register, in the recitative-like introduction to the Adagio. That movement is given a stunningly concentrated performance, with superbly characterful playing from the Philharmonia Orchestra under Alexander Briger, and a broodingly rapt cadenza from the soloist. Earlier Walton demonstrates a master’s chops in the skeetering, scatter-gun writing of the Presto inquieto, where prodigious bow control and lightning shifts in dynamic are necessary. Walton has both in spades, unquestionably.
“His account of the Britten is so good it arguably tips on its head the glib assumption that Shostakovich’s Second is musically the finer concerto. What’s not in doubt is the quality of Walton’s performance of the Shostakovich, again uncompromisingly confronting the grimness of the musical argument, and catching the cuttingly laconic mood of the central Allegretto with particular sharpness and acuity. Both these pieces were written for Mstislav Rostropovich: it’s saying something for the quality of Walton’s work here that comparisons with that great player would be not so much odious as sheer impertinent.”Terence Blain, MUSO magazine
“This pairing makes eminent musical sense. Walton plays both pieces magnificently. He is as emotionally committed as anyone, and makes a big, beautiful sound while unflinchingly probing to the very heart of this powerful music… And under Briger, the Philharmonia also plays beautifully.”Stephen Pettit, The Times magazine
“These are well-matched works by two friends, and Jamie Walton follows his memorable Elgar with superb performances of them both, reaching deep into their often sombre and tragic musings…Alexander Briger’s conducting of the Philharmonia supplies the perfect backcloth for the emotional drama, as it does also in Britten’s Cello Symphony, not the easiest of his orchestral works to take to one’s heart, but one that repays close study, especially in such an eloquent interpretation.”Michael Kennedy, The Telegraph magazine (5 stars)
“This is probably the best performance of the Elgar Cello concerto that I have heard. Walton grips the listener with his superb timing, accuracy of intonation, beauty of tone, musical involvement, and nobility of expression. I have never heard the opening five bars of this work played so compellingly, encapsulating all that is to come…a masterly and and convincing performance…what is on the CD is good enough to last a lifetime. I really cannot praise this performance too highly. For faithfullness to the text, interpretative musicality, accuracy, ensemble and warmth and beauty of tone, Walton cannot beaten.”Elgar Society Journal
“One of the finest recordings of the Elgar. Jamie Walton has a formidable technique; his playing in the scherzo and the finale is beyond compare; and he captures the autumnal melancholy without loss of vitality. His pianissimos in the finale coda are a wonder. He has like-minded collaborators in the Philharmonia and Alexander Briger, who also support him in Myaskovsky’s sombre concerto of 1945.”Telegraph Magazine (Michael Kennedy, 5 Stars for the Elgar CD)
“First class impeccable playing…warm, passionate, refined with a fine lyrical impetus…great character and musicality.”Penguin Classical Music Guide 2008
“He has a multi-variegated vibrato which he employs with consistent subtlety. The result is a reading of real nobility and refinement, one that illuminates the music from within, and that never stretches the material too far. He maintains tension throughout the concerto and revels in the very fast bowing of the scherzo; dextrous wrist and forearm control here as he dispatches the writing with illuminating rapidity but not superficiality. It’s actually terpsichorean. He never lets the slow movement’s tempo relax too far or slacken. His expressive shading is certainly deliberately circumscribed but it is exceptionally well characterised. In his avoidance of rhetorical gestures he reminds me of the great French lineage in this work: Fournier, Navarra and Tortelier in particular. The sense of lyric nobility is palpable and admirable.
“I’ve racked my brains to think of a faster performance of the Myaskovsky concerto but I don’t believe I have. Walton’s even faster than Rostropovich in his Moscow/Kondrashin performance. I’m powerfully impressed by Walton’s playing. This is a warm, sympathetic recording, that never wallows, that remains strongly directional whilst never stinting the many lyrical episodes. There’s no lingering in the first movement second subject…linear clarity allied to tonal warmth is the guiding principle underlying this performance. Don’t expect any gauche exaggerations either. This ensures the second of the two movements—the one that usually suffers the most from over-indulgent performers—is heard as an unbroken line with a basic tempo adhered to, not inflexibly, but with musical and structural insight…seems to me to belong to the Anglo-French school in his interpretative stance in both concertos; affecting but not lachrymose, noble but not unyielding. I happen to be sympathetic to his approach and consequently find his playing admirable.”Music On The Web
“Barbirolli would have surely approved. Elgar, too, would surely have admired Walton for his restraint and nobility of tone, particularly in the two adagio passages…this very reticence makes the music’s deeply ingrained sadness even more affecting.”Mail on Sunday (David Mellor recommendation)
“For a new recording of this now universally admired masterpiece to be considered to come within the highest bracket of interpretation, you can be sure that it is indeed exceptional. The new recording by Jamie Walton is such a performance…Walton’s interpretation is one of the finest I’ve encountered, and in certain places it is the best of all. If you want to know what this work is about, hear and absorb this performance. Myaskovsky’s cello concerto is a great work…he delivers an equally moving and totally convincing reading. Good as that [Rostroprovich] recording remains, it is outclassed in sonic terms by Walton’s digital version, and in terms of interpretation, this young man is already in the same high class.”International Record Review
“This fine disc is further testimony to the musicality, maturity and insight that distinguish Jamie Walton’s cello playing; a disc that has an ineluctable power to draw you into its expressive realms.”The Telegraph
“Jamie Walton very much follows his own star. His expression is clean and uncluttered, his musicianship unusually selfless. Only the music’s will matters. The cello quakes with vibrato, but sensibly avoids floods of tears. The pensive beauty of his slow movement is very moving, under his noble carriage…this CD still stands out in a crowded field.” The Times
“Walton’s performance of the Elgar would be worth recommending on its own: this young British cellist is effortlessly accurate and, more important, emotionally engaged and engaging, especially in the Adagio. But there are plenty of good versions of the Elgar available; there are hardly any of Myaskovsky’s equally lyrical and melancholic concerto, which makes an inspired coupling. Despite living in such disparate lands and situations, these two composers shared a similar spiritual-musical world. Walton, with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Alexander Briger, deserves credit for making the point so sympathetically.” Financial Times
“A freshness of approach and of sound makes Jamie Walton’s reading of Elgar’s Cello Concerto an appealing proposition, despite the crowded market. He sees this work not simply as an orgy of expressive indulgence; instead, he measures carefully its introspection. His approach is not distant, however, but typically balanced and unselfish.” Sunday Times
“Jamie Walton’s debut concerto disc (a Saint-Saëns programme) announced a major young British cello talent. This new coupling decisively confirms that initial impression. Walton’s Elgar, in particular, is rivetingly direct in impact, casting aside generations of reverential interpretive luggage, and providing a direct line into the heart of this unquiet masterpiece.
“Walton’s interpretation of the concerto is entirely shorn of bogus sentiment, uncovering a finer differentation of emotions than any other player in my experience. There is, of course, plenty of introspection, yet Walton also highlights in the finale scampering passages of incipient elation, as well as sudden stabs of anger and defiance sharply reflected in Alexander Briger’s strongly shaped account of the orchestral accompaniment.
“It helps that Walton’s technique is of truly stellar dimensions: the horrendously taxing Scherzo, for instance, is stunningly articulated, indeed something of a revelation. There are no easy answers in Walton’s interpretation, no sweeping of uncomfortable discontinuities beneath the carpet. As such it absolutely demands repeated listening.
“The Myaskovsky concerto, a work much less familiar to UK audiences, is an imaginative coupling, its patiently unfolding opening Lento movement allowing Walton’s 1712 Guarneri to sing out gloriously. Predominantly dark-hued and ruminative, it’s a cunningly chosen partner to the Elgar, capping the attractions of a disc which will surely bring the name of Jamie Walton to a very much wider public.” Muso Magazine (Star CD of the Month)
“These are the finest recordings of Saint-Saëns’ two cello concertos that I’ve heard since Steven Isslerlis’ on RCA in the 1990s. In fact, the presence of both concertos and the wonderful first sonata on the same disc might make this new release preferable. Parts of the A minor concerto can sound vapid. Not here. Walton invests the whole work with poetry and passion, dignifying even its most facile sections. His Saint-Saëns is one of the finest around. The more elusive second cello concerto in D minor is winningly played. Walton produces the most glorious tone and his heart-warming playing is matched by the warmth of Briger’s sympathetic support. The Swan, with Daniel Grimwood and the sonata that precedes it… throws into focus the remarkable rapport between these two gifted players. The sonata keeps the impressively agile Grimwood busy, in a performance that makes this promising chamber music partnership one to be reckoned with.” Classic FM Magazine (5 stars orchestral CD of the month/"A New Champion for Saint-Saëns.")
“For all their improvisatory inflexions, for all their wide dynamic range, for all their tonal extravagance, they manage to maintain a soothing lyrical poise. The result is a lucid conversation without confrontation, a finely wrought performance that achieves a bold expressivity without tonal roughness or emotional hyperactivity.
“It says much for Walton that his readings stand the closest comparison with those of Isserlis, both in expressive imagination and virtuosity.” Gramophone Magazine
“Marvellously perceptive and discriminating performances by British cellist Jamie Walton—the second concerto is little short of revelatory, Walton making triumphant music of the work’s fiendish technical difficulties.” Muso Magazine
“Jamie Walton is a marvellous player whose musical intelligence and beauty of sound are a delight throughout—Walton produces a particularly copmelling tone with a quiet ardour that seems just right.”International Record Review
“Walton’s prizewinning tone—I would put him among the true greats.” The Strad
“Hauntingly lovely and played with a very pure, focused tone—the technically challenging second concerto shows off more of his formidable technique.
“Walton marks himself out as a gifted interpreter, his technical mastery and sonorous tone always at the service of the music…an artful blend of tenderness and sweeping passion. Moving as one with the ebb and flow of the music’s phrasing, he shows perfect control…exuberant and imaginative; eloquent and spirited.”The Strad
“Classical CD of the week: It is good to have a cellist of Jamie Walton’s calibre championing the two Saint-Saëns concertos—these performances deserve to be at the top of anybody’s list
“Magnificent cello, magnificently played—Jamie Walton has always proved that he can make you sit up and take note of his sheer musicality as much as his technical acuity, and here his sense of style and character seems to have developed even further. He has found in Daniel Grimwood a pianist who ideally complements his interpretative thoughts and helps to forge a true partnership. As to the two sonatas, you would have to go a long way to hear such gripping performances in which cello and piano were so finely matched in personality and the music’s temperament communicated so compellingly.
“Young and gifted, Jamie Walton produces a glorious, rich and expressive tone. He has given some outstanding recitals over the past few years—moreover, Walton has the strength of musicianship to assert his own personality on these performances. In both sonatas the sense of line is finely judged—smooth, lyrical, with a flow that follows the natural contours of the music. You only have to listen to the slow movement of the Chopin to hear their sympathetic appreciation of melodic shape and emotional inflection. The performance has terrific rhythmic character, with the finesse that the music demands. The Rachmaninoff Sonata finds a potent blend of poise and passion. In quiet moments there is an ethereal beauty to Walton’s shading, set in its proper context of a performance of Romantic ardour and sensitivity to the sonata’s temperament.
“Walton, and his finely matched pianist, Daniel Grimwood, have mature interpretations of their own so that you are drawn right into what they themselves have to say about this intriguingly ambiguous music rather than harking back to the dedicatee. Walton’s rich, seasoned tone, and his ardour, warms the lyricism…striking to the very heart of the music’s character. With a fusion of musicality, virtuosity and sensibility these are outstanding performances.” Daily Telegraph