CCMusic.com

Following a trio of highly praised releases for Orchid Classics, saxophonist Huw Wiggin returns with Rhapsody, an album of saxophone and piano music performed with pianist Noriko Ogawa and featuring several world-premiere recordings. The inspiration for the album came from Debussy's seminal Rapsodie, which established the rhapsodic theme of the repertoire chosen and commissioned by Wiggin and Ogawa. At the heart of the release is a new work, Night Paths by Joseph Phibbs, who writes in the album booklet of finding the saxophone a deeply expressive instrument, yet one tinged with feelings of solitude, even loneliness. Other new works on the disc also stem from established friendships: Wiggin has long been collaborating with Iain Farrington, and also relished the opportunity to commission a new piece from his school friend and colleague Jennifer Watson. This is an album that showcases the versatility of the saxophone, and alongside these captivating new works we hear wide-ranging pieces from the classical repertoire by Debussy, Eric Coates and Franz Liszt.