Steve Reich's accolades that accompany the recording of three of his most popular works by the London
Steve Reich Ensemble speak to the quality of the performances: "The London Steve Reich Ensemble is an outstanding group of young musicians. They have a superb feel for how to play my music and you can experience that on this excellent CD. These performances pulse with life." The ensemble was founded in 2005 by pianist Vincent Corver and pianist Kevin Griffiths and is made up of students from London's Royal Academy of Music. The players perform with an assurance matching that of many professional groups. Besides having the basics of intonation and rhythmic precision down pat, they give the music a linear shapeliness and rhythmic punchiness that keeps it from ever feeling automatic or simply motoric, the downfall of many performances of music with these kinds of repetitive patterns. The music bristles with the liveliness of organic development rather than being merely a mechanistic working out of a process. Corver and Keith Ford take Piano Phase at breakneck speed, shaving off nearly a quarter of the time of an average performance. The ensembles play with dazzlingly bright tone, which fits the character of these pieces beautifully, and CPO's sound captures the brightness and sparkle of the performances.