Classical Music Reviews

Sarah Kapustin, violin; Roeland Jagers, viola Navis Classics (2020) ‘Reflections’ is a new release from Navis Classics featuring Sarah Kapustin on violin and Roeland Jagers on viola. The duo present a clean yet breathy tone. You often hear the performer’s breath (performers’ breaths) in the exquisite ‘live’ studio production. The phrasing is dynamic and forceful but not forced. It is at the edge of a natural and easy sense of both timbre and rhythm. The collection opens with a series of short and intriguing canons by Josquin des Prez. In order, these form a satisfying narrative. The semi-dissonant cadences resolve with a legitimate melancholy befitting these extraordinary times. It seems to disperse into the resonant and electrifying Martinu ‘Duo’. Like off-kilter Vivaldi, brief, beautiful, but brilliant. ‘Allegro’ and its bookend are stirring and fiery. And, in between, the variant phrases of ‘Lento’ reflect upon the route travelled. A pair of Bach canons arranged by Forbes embody an