Excerpt from The Sphinx by Nikolai Myaskovsky. Twelve Songs by Bal’mont Op.2 No.11
Debut CD on Orchid Classics SPHINX
LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE, AUSTRALIA
“Blessed with a rich, burgundy tone, he’s especially powerful in the middle to lower register but possesses easy access to passing top notes. He also has admirable control over a gentle vibrato with which he is able to warm a lyrical line.’’ Clive Paget, Limelight Magazine
OPERA TODAY
“There’s more scene-and-mood painting in ‘Stalactites’, [Taneyev], in which bitter tears drip from the frozen icicles, a melancholy, hypnotic fall of chilling suffering. Though sombre, McLaren’s vocal line incorporates telling nuance – of dynamics, colour and pulse – and warmth to balance the general funereal ambience. This is beautiful singing, somehow both tragic and uplifting…” Claire Seymour, Opera Today
Read the full Opera Today review here.
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
“Hamish McLaren’s rich and sombre voice is perfectly suited to this heart-on sleeve pathos…the discovery of these songs is commendably adventurous…This feast of Slavic gloom…” Natasha Loges, BBC Music Magazine
In May 2021, Hamish’s debut CD was released on the Orchid Classics label.
It’s Editor’s Choice in the July edition of Limelight Magazine in Australia. You can read the full review here.
