COMPOSERS: Magill
LABELS: Athene
WORKS: Titanic; The Titanic Waltz
PERFORMER: Ronan Magill (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: ATH CD 13
Ronan Magill here performs his own composition inspired by the famous disaster, and subtitled ‘an atmospheric poem in five pictures’. Images of the powerful forces of nature – the sea and the iceberg – are heard in sequence with a series of miniatures depicting the Titanic’s fateful voyage. The playing is impressive and the recording even more so, superbly capturing the music’s imaginative use of the full range of the instrument. The concept is ambitious, but while it might make a strong impression in live performance, on disc it adds up to rather less than the sum of its parts. The related miniatures which comprise the rest of the programme, including two waltzes the ship’s band performed, are both sensitive and charming. Terry Barfoot
Magill
Ronan Magill here performs his own composition inspired by the famous disaster, and subtitled ‘an atmospheric poem in five pictures’. Images of the powerful forces of nature – the sea and the iceberg – are heard in sequence with a series of miniatures depicting the Titanic’s fateful voyage. The playing is impressive and the recording even more so, superbly capturing the music’s imaginative use of the full range of the instrument. The concept is ambitious, but while it might make a strong impression in live performance, on disc it adds up to rather less than the sum of its parts.
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 1:23 pm