Barbara Hannigan, Royal Academy of Music & The Juilliard School - Stravinsky - The Guardian
... the mix of the familiar – Ragtime, the Dumbarton Oaks Concerto and the Octet - with more rarely heard works like the Septet and the exquisite little Three Japanese Lyrics (which Stravinsky composed after hearing Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire for the first time) is nicely balanced.
The disc is the latest product of a long-term collaboration between the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Juilliard School in New York, and the ensemble, made up of students from both institutions, is clearly a very capable one. Conducted by Barbara Hannigan, they bring a nicely abrasive edge to Dumbarton Oaks, and a sinewy vigour to Ragtime, which is lent a real tang by the prominence of the cimbalom...