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 NEW RELEASE!
A Liszt Album
Recorded: January 11, 2008 & July 22, 2010
Release date: November 15, 2011
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Price: $7.99
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This is a DIGITAL ONLY album - available for download
 Enoch Arden
Recorded: August 17, 19 & 20, 2006
Release date: April 15, 2010
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Price: $15.00
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"The most important thing for a speaker of Enoch Arden to do is to take the proceedings deadly seriously, which is what David Ripley does. He’s a fine actor, with a strong presence, and manages to bring great feeling to the many dramatic—in fact, melodramatic, in the other sense of the word—passages. Pianist Chad R. Bowles has less to do than Mr. Ripley but does it well. His pianism is strong, fluent, nicely nuanced." AUDIOPHILE AUDITION
"Chad Bowles is a fine pianist, who brings the roaring sea’s, the gentle Annie Lee’s, the bashful Philip Ray’s, and the stern Enoch Arden’s memorable tunes all to life ... David Ripley recites the poem in a very involved and colorful way. His articulation is somewhere in between the British and American accent and has a very natural flow ... Though this composition will appeal mostly to fervent Straussophiles, this is almost an hour and a half of complete enjoyment, if one just gives it a chance." FANFARE MAGAZINE
"The present version comes as close as any to the effect I would imagine the work would have had on late nineteenth century audiences ... when performed with sincerity and vigour as it is here it is no mere curiosity." MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL
"...further proof of this melodrama's apparently inexhaustible appeal." WORLD MAGAZINE
"Bass baritone David Ripley's voice is clean, majestic, and as one would expect, very appropriately theatrical in this unusual work. Pianist Chad R. Bowles accompanies him (though with a minimum of music, as Strauss chose not to score the work very fully) with perfect Straussian emotion full of sensitivity, delicacy, and passion … This is a most interesting work that Strauss lovers would enjoy listening to, performed by two fine artists." ALLMUSIC GUIDE
"Strauss has managed to capture the quiet nobility of the poem and spirit of the age ... Ripley presents it well, highlighting the drama without over-sentimentalizing, so often a risk, then and now, with late Victorian works ... The piano accompaniment seems better suited, in its greater subtlety and salon intimacy, to this story of domestic life than an orchestral one ... The booklet contains a fine essay by Ripley, with leitmotifs reproduced ... the recorded sound is good." CLASSICAL VOICE OF NORTH CAROLINA
 DEBUT RECORDING!
Haydn Piano Sonatas
Recorded: November 7-9, 2008
Release date: November 15, 2009
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Price: $15.00
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"American pianist Chad R. Bowles carves out a distinctive niche among the many recordings of Haydn's keyboard sonatas available. Bowles' approach is tough, sinewy, and directed toward the contrapuntal framework in these works that are usually so much associated with surface wit ... The rise of the first movement opening Piano Sonata in E flat major, Hob. 16/49, to its high points, seemingly chiseled out of a cluster of dissonances, is worth the price of admission by itself ... The entire album is absorbing ... the playing throughout is technically solid, thought out in detail, and independent. An impressive release made in the far corners of a country where classical music is sometimes thought to be under siege." ALL MUSIC GUIDE
"Chad R. Bowles studied with Earl Wild, among others. His ability to negotiate the fingerwork doesn't come into question. Each microquaver stands out clear and separate, even at speed, and Bowles plays these sonatas with great affection and respect. He certainly gets the wit in these scores." CLASSICALNET
"Bowles is brisk and to the point...with a heady sound and great elan. Bowles is bracing, classical, and refreshing. He studied with Earl Wild, and his Haydn reminds me of Mr. Wild's Mozart; his teacher's influence is benevolent." AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE
"...this instrument—in the hands of this pianist and recording engineer Zane Baker—is warm and vibrant, producing a rainbow of colors ... Bowles plays with uninhibited imagination and sweep; one feels he loves this music, even before reading his program notes ... wit, zest, and the unexpected are on display throughout ... I’m usually serious and attentive when listening, but Bowles had me laughing and dancing during the Presto finale of the E-Major Sonata. I recommend this disc as -the- starting point for anyone not familiar with Haydn’s sonatas ... If you are already familiar, if you delight in this music as I do, all the more reason to catch up with Mr. Bowles." FANFARE MAGAZINE
"Mr. Bowles' playing is muscular, well articulated, energetic and precise. He presents the counterpoint with clarity and balance ... The recording quality is excellent ... The sound is full and smooth, and staccato is well caught." MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL
"Haydn: Seek No Further! Bowles’ steady, buoyant rhythm is enlivened by his response to the nuances of Haydn’s articulation. He has fast fingers, makes sense of the ornaments, and “gets” Haydn’s jokes ... Happily, he lets the 2nd movement (Hob. XVI:49), the most extended and expressive slow movement in any of the sonatas, unfold unhurriedly with playing of great care and delicacy ... In Bowles’ performance (Hob. XVI:32), the minuet, here functioning as the sonata’s slow movement, is played with touching simplicity, and the outer movements are brilliantly controlled. This is a well chosen selection of Haydn’s sonatas. Bowles’ enthusiastic playing and clear recorded sound make it a success. Recommended." CLASSICAL VOICE OF NEW ENGLAND
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