On Record – Rick Wakeman: Melancholia (Madfish)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

In the last ten years, we have had much more of an insight into Rick Wakeman’s world as a solo musician. These glimpses are afforded us through the albums Piano Portraits and Piano Odyssey, the start of a trilogy now completed by Melancholia.

Yet there is a greater personal edge to this particular set, started by Wakeman’s wife Rachel who was struck by hearing Rick playing privately and encouraged him to share his musical thoughts. The music she heard would become the track Garo, while the other eleven tracks on the album follow a similar, semi-improvised tread.

The music follows Wakeman’s train of thought, a clear thread running through each piece.

What’s the music like?

Melancholia is easy listening – which is of course both a blessing and a curse. If you listen closely, it is possible to tap into Rick’s mostly reflective moods, and admire the way he develops the source material. Clearly this is a master musician at work, the feeling being that we are eavesdropping on an advanced practice session where Wakeman takes us through his intimate thoughts and feelings.

Yet this does also work as a disadvantage, for the music falls effortlessly into the ‘peaceful piano’ section of any digital playlist. This is great for passive listening of course, but it means some of the deeper meanings within the music can be lost, especially given the similarity between the colours on each track.

Wakeman plays with elegance and attention to detail, with some lovely little ornamentations that have become second nature to him, rather like bringing a Bach invention to the table. Pathos is nicely turned, while Alone is led by an attractive melody. Watching Life has a satisfying balance of light and shade, while the title track fades into the distance, leaving room for thought at the end.

Does it all work?

Yes, providing the caveats above are taken into account.

Is it recommended?

It is – though anyone expecting the physical energy Wakeman brings to most of his keyboard playing will find it channelled for inward thoughts only here. Melancholia does, though, reinforce Rick Wakeman’s status as one of the most versatile British keyboard and piano players around.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,751 – Wednesday 16 December 2025

In concert – St. John’s College Choir Cambridge / Christopher Gray – Christmas Carols @ Wigmore Hall

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Choir of St. John’s College Cambridge / Christopher Gray

Beamish In the stillness (2007)
Rutter There is a flower (1986)
Parsons Ave Maria (c1560)
Hassler Verbum caro factum est (1591)
Britten A Hymn to the Virgin (1930, rev. 1934)
Walton All this time (1970)
Trad/German arr. Pearsall In dulci jubilo
Hieronymus Praetorius Magnificat quinti toni (pub. 1622)
Daley Love came down at Christmas (2004)
Poston Jesus Christ the Apple Tree (1967)
Kirbye Vox in Rama (c.1620)
Anon Coventry Carol
Dove The Three Kings (2000)

Wigmore Hall, London
Monday 15 December 2025

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What a lovely idea to bring a concert of Christmas Carols to the last of the BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts held in the Wigmore Hall in 2025. The Choir of St. John’s College Cambridge, suitably attired, were led in a stirring yet thought-provoking programme by their conductor Christopher Gray, who have just released O Holy Night, an album of Christmas carols, on Signum Classics.

Yet much of the selection here went beyond the album’s component parts, exploring responses old and new to specific parts of the Christmas story. In a curious twist, the oldest music heard proved to be the most adventurous and emotive.

The concert began with an account of Sally Beamish’s In the stillness which was notable for its crystal clear intonation and enunciation, features the choir would display throughout the concert. John Rutter’s There is a flower fared equally well, the anthem he wrote for the choir leading with a touching treble solo, before the complexities of Robert Parsons’ masterful Ave maria were aligned in commendable phrasing. Similar qualities befell the lively exchanges of counterpoint in Hans Leo Hassler’s Verbum caro factum est, before the remarkable invention of the teenage Britten was found in A Hymn to the Virgin, music that looks simultaneously forward and backward.

The choir performed these carols in carefully arranged sequences, ideally programmed for tonality and emotive impact. Walton’s exuberant All this time began the second sequence, the choir enjoying the push-pull rhythms, after which In dulci jubilo switched on its ever-beautiful light in the darkness, casting a spell in spite of a slightly ragged second verse. The clever text setting of Hieronymus Praetorius – not the normally performed Michael! – was especially enjoyable in his Magnificat setting, before the clarity of carols from Canadian composer Eleanor Daley and Brit Elizabeth Poston was beautifully achieved. The latter’s Jesus Christ The Apple Tree was particularly moving in the simplicity with which its paragraphs end.

The mood darkened appreciably for George Kirbye’s lament Vox in Rama, the inconsolable Rachel weeping for the loss of her children in the massacre ordered by King Herod, while the Coventry Carol too sounded sombre in this company. All the more reason to end with a characterful account of Jonathan Dove’s The Three Kings, brilliantly characterised by the trebles especially.

Two encores followed – a breathless and exciting arrangement of Adam lay ybounden by Laura Sheils, then a close-harmony version of We Wish You A Merry Christmas, channelling Cole Porter to show-stopping effect. It was the musical equivalent of a mince pie with extra brandy, the ideal way to send the Wigmore Hall audience humming into the afternoon!

You can listen to the concert on BBC Sounds here, and explore the choir’s recent discography at the Signum Classics website.

Published post no.2,750 – Tuesday 16 December 2025

Switched On – Various Artists – Pop Ambient 2026 (Kompakt)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Ambient music is often about keeping a constant flow of continuity, so that any changes occurring don’t upset the musical applecart.

Few things are as consistent in this area than Kompakt’s own Pop Ambient series, the compilation pushing on beyond a quarter-century as it looks to showcase the best ambient music to come the way of the Cologne label in the preceding year.

This collection offers 19 tracks, that, in the label’s words, are looking forward. “Joining good friends from the early days and reliable confidants are some new additions to the non-hierarchical charts of contemplative rapture culture.”

They describe their principal additions as “Micå, a Japanese electronic musician whose finely chiselled, graceful musical style has made it onto the new collection with two pieces. Also making his debut is Richard Ojijo, a seasoned sound engineer known, among other things, for his long-standing collaboration with the artist Marcel Odenbach and the Cologne-based label Magazine. Oskø aka Max Hytrek, a multi-talented newcomer to Kompakt and the music scene, debuts with his rapturously ecstatic piece Ar Vag. He’s followed by Sebastian Mullaert, appearing for the second time—this time teamed up with Sebastian Lilja aka Hush Forever. After his surprise return last year after a 20 year hiatus, we are delighted that Tetsuo Sakae aka Pass Into Silence is back again this year with one of his distinctive sound gems. As are Dirk Leyers (Closer Musik) and Mikkel Metal.”

What’s the music like?

Seasoned listeners will know exactly what to expect from this sort of compilation – and they won’t be disappointed with the unhurried selection on offer.

There is rich, restful ambience from the off in the shape of the new Micå addition Echoes Of Blue, while among the many highlights are the comforting waves of string sound on Segensklang’s Schauer der Musen, contrasting nicely with the more flighty Pale Blue Dot by Pass Into Silence.

Ümit Han provides a lovely combination of movement and stillness on Eines Tages, while the vast spaces become apparent in the weather-beaten music of Richard Ojijo and Luis Reich. An intriguing, woozy accordion number from Morgan Wurde brings accordion and brass into sonorous opposition, while Dirk Leyers’ Regolith goes stock still with the addition of some nocturnal voices.

Joachim Spieth goes darker with Onset, while the open spaces of the desert can be sensed once again in Blank Gloss’s Hairpin, Mikkel Metal’s Moss is like a sound wave lapping at a soft shore, while the last word goes to the quasi-orchestral Erlösung (translating as ‘Salvation’) from Segensklang, a study akin to watching a rowing boat, with hefty strokes from the strings above a watery drone.

Does it all work?

It does. Kompakt are past masters at this sort of compilation, and everything works in beautiful harmony and structure.

Is it recommended?

It certainly is. In such changeable times the ability of Pop Ambient to remain unaltered is a cause for celebration, providing musical balm for the soul.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,749 – Monday 15 December 2025

Let’s Dance – fabric presents Floorplan (Fabric)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Father and daughter Robert and Lyric Hood – aka Floorplan – arrive on Fabric presents with a good deal of history already clocked up with the label.

Robert remembers it well in the press release. “When you walk into Room 2 you feel like you’re walking into a moment. Once the room pulls you in, a connection is formed between a DJ & the atmosphere in that room.  It’s purely organic.” His contribution to the Fabric mix series – Fabric 39 – was made back in 2008, but now he has a slightly different modus operandi.  “Of the handful of techno clubs that I’ve shared stories about with Lyric, fabric was usually the one I talked about most, especially that sound system, and the crowds were just crazy”, he says.

What’s the music like?

An energy rush. Wasting no time, Floorplan set about their mix with a mission of bringing spiritually infused techno to a higher plain, with suitably euphoric vocals. Their own single You’re A Shining Star is an early highpoint, while the rolling bass underpinning My Desire For You is brilliant.

The highs continue as keyboards lead us skywards, with excellent vocals on Dale Move’s Praise, then Floorplan’s own We Give Thee Honor and Only God.  Shiela’s In The Morning – via a Floorplan mix – works really well, while the closing Higher from Andrea Belli and Dave Roy Bland is a suitable plain on which to finish.

Floorplan keep the mix moving, quickly flitting from one track to the other with the minimum of fuss but with a really satisfying flow to the mix.

Does it all work?

It does. Thrills and spills, wrapped up with the minimum of fuss!

Is it recommended?

Very much so. Quickfire music at the house / techno interface, and with a generous helping hand from the spiritual side. The vocals give it a constant high throughout. Highly recommended!

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,748 – Sunday 14 December 2025

In concert – Jonathan Kelly, CBSO / Kazuki Yamada: Richard Strauss – Tod und Verklärung, Oboe Concerto, Also sprach Zarathustra

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Jonathan Kelly (oboe), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Kazuki Yamada

Richard Strauss
Tod und Verklärung Op.24 (1888-9)
Oboe Concerto in D major AV144 (1945)
Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30 (1896)

Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Wednesday 10 December 2025

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse Picture of Jonathan Kelly (c) Stefan Hoederath

Richard Strauss is among a relatively select number of composers, the range and breadth of whose output makes it suitable for a whole programme – as was evident from this evening’s concert by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and music director Kazuki Yamada.

Never one to miss such an opportunity, Strauss had evidently conceived his tone poem Death and Transfiguration in the wake of illness only to extend its remit accordingly. Yamada duly had its measure: whether in the not so stark fatalism of its opening pages, the tussle with his approaching demise audibly relished by the protagonist then emergence of that transfiguring state which, after the brief and rather jarring interjection of earlier angst (no more convincing here than almost any other performance) sees this work through to a fervent culmination then on to its beatific close. Not consistently more than the sum of its best parts, and with internal detail sometimes obscured in the onslaught of its vehement tuttis, this was still an involving account – lessened not a jot by its underlining Strauss’s enjoyment of his emotional strivings.

Onward 46 years to the Oboe Concerto the ageing composer wrote at the promptings of US army corporal and professional oboist John de Lancie. Much the finest of those concertante pieces from Strauss’s ‘Indian summer’, its three movements merge into the finely balanced continuity that Jonathan Kelly (above) – making a welcome return to the orchestra of which he was solo oboist during 1993-2003 – relished throughout. The elegance of its initial Allegro here abetted by a degree of nonchalance, as was the poise of its Andante with deftest pathos, his reading came into its own in a Vivace whose cadenza passages were as eloquent as the coda that Strauss duly extended to make this movement an unerring fusion of scherzo and finale. Kelly understandably offered no encore, but he returned to join the CBSO after the interval.

That second half consisted of Thus spake Zarathustra – if not the most ambitious of Strauss’ tone poems in size then surely in scope, whether or not the depths of Nietzsche’s existential musings are really plumbed. The indelible ‘Sunrise’ treading a fine line between profundity and portentousness, Yamada charted its idiosyncratic journey toward spiritual enlightenment with a sure sense of where this music was headed – no matter that the outcome felt as much   a glorification of orchestral power and opulence as of anything more intrinsically humane.

Highlights during its course included the sustained emotional force in ‘Of Joys and Passions’, the textural unanimity of the strings across their fugal writing in ‘Of Science and Learning’, and suavity then mounting animation of ‘The Dance Song’ with leader Eugene Tzikindelean in his element – before ‘Song of the Night Wanderer’ brought proceedings down from their orgiastic heights into that sombre repose whose tonal inconclusiveness may be an indicator  of Strauss’s own perspective; the certainly of those opening bars left pointedly unresolved.

Its pizzicato chords on lower strings made a telling farewell for Eduardo Vassallo, principal cellist throughout much of the past 36 seasons. His broad sympathies including Argentinian tango, and a characterful Don Quixote to boot, leaves players and listeners alike in his debt.

Published post no.2,747 – Saturday 13 December 2025

For more on the CBSO’s season for 2025/26, head to the CBSO website – and for more on the artists in this programme, click on the names to visit the websites of conductor Kazuki Yamada, oboist Jonathan Kelly and principal cellist Eduardo Vassallo