The Isis Ensemble

An Isis showcase pays tribute to some of their favourite composers

Jacques Cohen, conductor and music director of the Isis Ensemble, has here assembled an attractive collection of pieces by different composers, with which the group have had some notable successes. The most striking piece is the set of Variations on a Ukrainian Folksong by Malcolm Arnold. Originally for piano solo, Arnold wrote it while he was still first trumpet in the LPO for a Ukrainian violinist colleague, John Kuchny. Here Roger Steptoe has arranged it very ably for strings, making a striking work from modest beginnings. Fascinatingly, the theme will be recognised by many listeners for its refrain 'Yes, my darling daughter'.

Cohen himself offers Yigdal, a fantasia on a traditional Jewish theme, while the Suite for Strings by teenage Salomon Cuellar concludes with a delightful Allegro full of cross-rhythms. The Bee Sting Dance, which opens the disc, is an unrelentingly vigorous piece with an oriental flavour, full of cross-rhythms. The concluding item is a meditative prayer, Modlitwa, which Andrzej Panufnik wrote just before his death. His contribution is the opening and closing music, with the central episode filled in by his composer-daughter Roxanna. A mixed bag, very well played and recorded, an excellent showcase for the Isis Ensemble and its music director.

Edward Greenfield, Gramophone, May 2008

It is customary to put the encore at the end. On this CD it comes at the beginning, with Rohan Kriwaczek's Bee Sting Dance in Rohan's Kitchen , a wild, five minute romp, which incidentally establishes the virtuosity of the Isis Ensemble. There is no explanation here of how the CD was compiled; perhaps it is just to showcase the ensemble and its conductor, composer and arranger Jacques Cohen. The ensemble is certainly impressive. There is a powerful undercurrent of energy in even the quietest sections of Cohen's Yigdal, a fantasia on a traditional Jewish theme. This is an intense and sombre piece, to which the ensemble brings an almost vocal passion, with some fine solo playing.

Salomon Cuellar, who was born in 1990 and is currently studying at Dulwich College in London , must be more than happy with the crisp and sensitive performance of his Suite for Strings, full of vitality and subtle melodic shaping. The other original work here is the Modlitwa (Prayer), left incomplete by Andrzej Panufnik when he died in 1991 and completed bt his daughter Roxanna. The orchestra responds to its sad, meditative nature with gentle playing, imbued with warmth and restraint. Malcolm Arnold's Variations on a Ukrainian Folksong gives the orchestra its greatest workout, with a multitude of vivid colours and virtuosic flourishes, which it dispatches with aplomb. The recorded sound is rich and clear.

Tim Homfray, The Strad , May 2008