Caroline Dale English Chamber Orchestra Steve Sidwell
"It would be hard for anyone to top the humanity of Caroline Dale's interpretation. Nor her warmth, sonority and depth of tone, which just accentuates the music's sustained, almost heady emotion. The ECO support her with playing that perfectly straddles the borderline between the earthly and the eternal."
Classic FM Magazine, February 2011
****
" ... I can think of many reasons to listen to this music, but none more profound than the fact that all of us can sees a mirror image of portions of our own souls in it. Warmly recommended."
Audiophile Audition
"Caroline Dale … is as eloquent a soloist as one could hope for … The recording is excellent: present, and the perfect reflection of Sheppard's haunting language."
Fanfare
A close brush with his own mortality eighteen months ago was the driving force behind Mike Sheppard's decision to focus solely on his composing, putting aside his other commercial interests as a music publisher and producer. The Soul Rests Eternal marks the first fruits of this new direction.
The works take the listener on a journey exploring the emotional landscape of grief, bereavement and loss, but also hope, optimism and a celebration of life. Seen through the twin perspectives of the composer's eyes and a more global view, the album takes an emotional journey from the immediate to the eternal; the banal to the sublime. A 'radio-friendly' collection of three to six minute works, Classic FM have confirmed playlisting for the album upon its release in November.
Performances on the disc come from internationally renowned cellist Caroline Dale and the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by the emmy-award nominated musican Steve Sidwell.
