Reviews of CD - Baroque Cello Illuminations

Anyone who finds Baroque instrumental music boring should listen to this! Angela East's expertise and enthusiasm have long been familiar to followers of the Revolutionary Drawing Room and Red Priest, and she brings to these suites and sonatas an uninhibited expressive style and a determination to present the character of each movement in the strongest, most searching light. Gramophone

East is throwing light on the missing element in much baroque performance: the performer. Rubato, extreme dynamics, rhythmic variation generate the excitement of spontaneity.
Classical Music 'Recording of the Fortnight'

She makes music which can sometimes sound merely intellectual and academic genuinely affective...her performance (Bach Cello Suite No 1) deserves to be ranked with the best, (Pierre Fournier and Paul Tortelier) - I haven't heard Steven Isserlis's highly praised performances on Hyperion but I can't imagine this his version of No 1 surpasses East.
MusicWeb International

Not only a joy to listen to, with some gutsy playing, these are all pieces commonly used to teach cello students, to the disc is good educational value too. Early Music Today

A nice disc of 'old favourites cello teachers like to teach.' All despatched with style and conviction and a good model for cello students everywhere.
Musical Pointers

Angela East plays with all the verve and technical mastery of one of the world's finest baroque cellists.
New Classics

Listening to this CD is like greeting an old friend you haven't seen for ages. So much is warmly familiar it makes the heart glad and slightly nostalgic. I have never before heard a recording of the de Fesch Sonata in D minor, for instance, which I remember playing in my distant school days. And yet there are embellishments and delicate ornamentation that give an exciting freshness to the interpretation and promise that revisiting these old friends will be very worthwhile as there is more to discover. This CD takes treasured favourites firmly away from being pieces used simply on a learning pathway to over an hour of glorious Baroque played on period instruments.
European String Teachers' Association Magazine

An exciting and imaginative showcase of exam chestnuts, some bypassed in concerts purely because of their pedagogical association, I particularly liked the ornamental embellishments on the repeats in the Eccles Sonata, which so artfully depart from the plain melodic line. The Strad

I really liked the Vivaldi and the Bach, which just has to be on everyone with a soul's Desert Island Discs list - and the performances are colourful and imaginative, with some lovely ornamentation. Early Music Review

Reviews of BACH The Cello Suites

Yes, having sampled one, I have gone on to listen to the others, and am happy to confirm that these CDs earn a place in any cello fancier's library.

There are two special features, the first a series of images which she relates to the different Suites (photos Graham Flack) and the second Angela East's saga from her initial recordings (Quebec 2001 & New York 2004) to fulfillment in CD release September 2009 Musical Pointers

Other reviews in no particular order:

Herald Tribune, Sarasota FL A superbly lyrical rendition of the Prelude from JS Bach's Suite no. 5 for solo cello was the occasion for sharp intakes of breath and sighs of contentment from the audience.

The New Hampshire:
Her musical talent was very clear. She played the piece (Bach Suite no 5) completely from memory, completely engrossed in the piece, she never faltered. Feb 13, 04.

Music & Vision, Keith Bramich:
Angela East, the group's (RP) cellist (and secret weapon), wore a black outfit with large gold lightening bolts and stars and boasted the wildest hairdo. her powerful performance provided a taster to her 2001 recording of the complete Bach Cello Suites on Dorian. June 1, 03

Leighton Park School magazine:
The cellist Angela East gave masterclasses to four pupils. These consisted of a piece played by the cellist, then an illuminating discussion of technique and playing style, with examples, and finally a run through where the pupilattempted to incorporate as many of the suggestions as possible. To the audience it was very interesting to contrast the rather nervous before with the more confident and stylish after!

Angela left us all eager to hear her Tale of Five Cellos, the entertainment in the evening. We were indeed fortunate that she could manage to squeeze us into her amazing international timetable. She enthused us all with her grace and charm as well as leaving us gasping at her command of these demanding instruments. March 03

Dumbarton Concerts reviews, Washington DC:
....Angela East's lovely, introspective reading of Bach's Prelude in D minor.. Jan 27 03

Sentinel, N. Ireland:
We are very pleased to be able to bring Angela East back to the city again so that she can pass on some of her exceptional skills to music students in the local area. Nov 8, 00

Recorder magazine: Review of RP CD 'Nightmare in Venice'
Angela East's eerie and unnerving staccato opening gives us a hint of the horrors that await us. Angela East's performance of R. Johnson's Flatt Masque is simply delicious. In Corelli's La Folia East's solo opening is haunting with a rawness about it, before the madness transcends. This arrangement has everything in it from a cheeky extract of Elgar's Cello Concerto (you have to hear it) to some wonderfully intense showmanship that makes one proud to be British.
Spring 03

Gramophone Stanley Sadie 'Critics' Choice Dec 95
The outstanding issue is the Revolutionary Drawing Room's recording of Boccherini quartets from his Op 39 and 41, music that combines gently sophisticated utterance with real depth of feeling which these players never fail to catch.

Virginia Gazette:
One only has to reflect on cellist Angela East's soulful playing of Bach's Prelude in D minor to realize the depth of feeling and sincerity that is this group's (RP) foundation. 15 Feb 03

Early Music Review:
The three quartets on this disc receive extremely stylish playing from a quartet (RSQ) who will give the Salamons a run for their money. Sep 95

www.amazon.com, a music fan from Scarborough, Canada:
In the hands of Red Priest, this music literally jumps off the page and into your face! First this group contains four of the most outrageously virtuoso players I've ever heard. They make a piece crackle with excitement. second they manage to inject a lot of saucy fun into their performances. Aug 29, 00

The Strad:
Following the lead of clarinettist Colin Lawson, the string trio projected the music in mellifluous gusts of sound, with the emphasis being on line and forward movement. (Hummel Clarinet Quartet, RDR) Dec 95

...what a ravishing work it seems now (Berwald Septet). Given a performance that was both sensitive and dynamic, the work is memorable for its entrancing combination of emotional sequences.. Dec 95

Fanfare (USA): review of Boccherini String Quartets CPO
...technically immaculate, the cello's lower tones are simply ravishing... Aug 95

Musical Opinion:
(RSQ) This young group is highly sensitive, their daringly slow tempo for the Moderato in Haydn's Op 20 no 2 was brilliantly justified and the lilting dance rhythms of the Op 77 no 1 Minuet illuminated Haydn's genius to great effect. Summer 97

Baarnsche Courant, Holland:
In the Donizetti, their (RSQ) spacious delivery really hit the spot. The ensemble in RSQ is near enough perfect. While during the rehearsal they regularly interrupted one another fiercely to pick out a detail or chide someone for an off note, in performance they radiated harmony and unanimity. Donizetti's quartet no 17 proved exciting music. The cellist radiated a great gloominess and gave a warm full undertone to the music. Rhythmically RSQ were always spot-on, syncopation, rubato and all. May 1, 98

Strings magazine: Review of RP Seasons CD
A wholly irreverent and highly enlightened approach to the piece we all love to hate.

The Easterner:
Angela East lends her brilliant dynamic style to the cello. 30 June 04

Review of RSQ in Cratfield Church:
Gut strings, some differences in bowing technique due to the use of a bow slightly different from today's and selective use of vibrato result in a lighter sound and beautifully clear textures, realised perfectly in Haydn's Opus 20 quartets. July 14 03