Marilyn Strevens – Samek Music

The American Record Guide

The Clarinet world owes her its gratitude.

International Record Review

Victoria Samek’s energy as a curator of Clarinet Classics continues to impress.

Penguin Guide

Sir Malcolm Arnold has always been an enthusiastic composer of wind music. East Winds, made up of talented young wind-players, here give brilliant performances which consistently bring out the wit of the writing. This is a well-chosen and wide-ranging selection of works which make up a delightful sequence. East Winds bring out the fun delectably.

Gramophone

The East Winds blow in with a delightful Arnold selection
East Winds, made up of talented young players, here give brilliant performances which consistently bring out the wit of the writing. Already the virtuosity of the writing is astonishing, displaying Arnold’s great gift of complex counterpoint which is immediately accessible. East Winds time these charming pieces perfectly, with tiny hesitations in exactly the right places to heighten the wit.

The Clarinet

Victoria Samek is recognised as an outstanding clarinettist and champion of contemporary music….She weaves sustained phrases with a clear supple tone, moving gracefully through the work’s (Paul Harris – Adagio), wide range and delicate altissimo register.

International Record Review

Victoria Samek on tenor sax being partnered by incisive soprano, creamy alto and unexpectedly agile baritone. Like everything else here, the work (Horovitz Variations on a Theme of Paganini) is a delight from first to last.

International Record Review

The commitment and quality of the playing is at once apparent; Victoria Samek and Michael Bell are a formidable duo.

Classical Music

Bennett effortlessly fuses strands of serialism, jazz, Stravinskian wit and (in the case of the beautiful clarinet quintet) shades of English pastoral. Expertly performed and beautifully recorded.

International Record Review

Victoria Samek, admirable curator of the whole of the Clarinet & saxophone Classics label offers playing to admire; technically infallible, sober and beautifully controlled. Michael Bell is her most able partner.

Sunday Times

The latest disc from an attractive label is celebration of clarinet music written in the first half of the 20th century…John Ireland’s Fantasy Sonata, a suave, wistful single movement… beautifully played.

Gramophone

Samek…in a personal booklet-note admits that revealing the ‘intimate nature of the music’ was her own special aim. This is apparent throughout in her tonal mellowness…

Fanfare

Samek plays all the works with a virtuosity, finesse, and full attractive tone.

BBC Music Magazine

Narcissus would be worth queuing for. Musgrave excels in musical drama.

Gramophone

Performances are as attuned to Musgrave’s idiom as one would expect from Samek…this is a disc that listeners and performers alike should investigate.

The Times

Three important works of the British composer Thea Musgrave are usefully gathered on this disc under the composer’s baton. Victoria Samek is a sympathetic advocate of the concertos, rising impressively to the demands.

Gramophone

All five pieces are better than interesting and one wants a better word than ‘enterprising’ (which so often means a good try…) for The Mühfeld Trio’s remarkable success rate in their commissioning. The recording is first class.

Musical Opinion

Victoria Samek projected the personality of the bass clarinet and Thea Musgrave’s music with technical mastery and glowing musicianship.

The Daily Telegraph

Victoria Samek has a beautifully rounded tone, a sensitive feeling for style and seemingly effortless technique.

The Sunday Times

Most sheerly seductive record of the year.