Norway’s Klassisk Musikk has awarded a top six-out-of-six rating to Sean Shibe’s Vesper, praising captivating performances that draw the listener into their specific sound worlds.
The review highlights James Dillon’s 12 Caprices as near-microscopic in scale compared to the rest of the album, describing each piece as a polished, aphoristic gem that together forms a sequence greater than the sum of its parts. Shibe’s musical sensitivity is called just as impressive as his often astonishing technical virtuosity throughout.
The review also praises Thomas Adès’s Forgotten Dances, calling the suite one of the most fully realized pieces on the record, and highlights Habanera, drawn from Adès’s opera The Exterminating Angel, as the most energetic music in an otherwise varied but often contemplative program. A collection of Harrison Birtwistle miniatures, several written as gifts for his guitarist son Silas, is singled out as a highlight, alongside Beyond the White Hand, described as a calm, kaleidoscopic, and magical eighteen-minute work.
Vesper is out now on PENTATONE.
