Classical Source January 2013

Concertos have long been central to Matthew Taylor’s activities – yet the Viola Concerto (2010) took shape as a series of ‘humoreskes’ inspired by Sibelius’s magical set for violin and orchestra, with Taylor only latterly realising its concerto-like status. Thus a wistful and atmospheric Andante is followed by a tensile Presto the more arresting for its compression – before a Larghetto which, its eloquent solo line unfolding over rapt Tippett-like harmonies, forms the heart of the work. The slow fourth movement is essentially an accompanied cadenza, leading directly into the final Allegro whose ‘riotoso’ marking points up its always impulsive and energetic manner – evidently inspired by the composer’s daughter Imogen; the work is dedicated to ‘Imo’. The work received an assured and also insightful account from Sarah-Jane Bradley, who emerged effortlessly over inventive and economic orchestral writing (with no flutes or clarinets, but a piccolo and two horns alongside timpani and strings) to which Garry Walker – having directed a fine account of Taylor’s Second Symphony at this venue four years ago – did ample justice.

Gramophone November 2012 (Naxos English Viola Music)

Sarah-Jane Bradley's viola has a singing quality beautifully suited to this essentially ruminative, lyrical repertoire and Christian Wilson's role as accompanist is most sensitively judged in allowing the plaintive viola to express its full range of plangent gestures. The Sonata (1922) by Bainton…is an impressive piece…splendidly shaped by Bradley.

The 2 Fantasias for viola and piano feature deep meditations for viola, the first based on a Welsh folk tune, the second on a Hungarian melody, with the piano often weaving an elaborate accompaniment. Superb performances from the dedicated Sarah-Jane Bradley and Anthony Hewitt. Altogether an illuminating portrait of a composer who deserves to be better known

The Telegraph October 2012 (Alwyn Festival)

But one piece did strike me as being of enduring quality: a concertino for viola and orchestra from 1939 called Pastoral Fantasia that sounded like Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending at lower pitch (the ascent not so dazzling), with less passion, but still saturated with a melancholic beauty that the soloist here, Sarah-Jane Bradley, delivered beautifully. 

"This latest installment in Naxos's review of English viola music is particularly succulent..Sarah-Jane Bradley plays with great passion, finding just the right touch of roughness for the bits of stylised Irish fiddling, whilst soaring freely above Wilson's busy piano effusions..Bradley performs all these pieces with quiet authority and a beautiful, finely chiselled dark sound"

The Observer August (Naxos English Viola Music)

 "No viola jokes, please - this is a seriously good recording. Sarah-Jane Bradley lends her lustrous tone and superb musicianship to works written by English composers all born within a generation of one another - Edgar Bainton, Theodore Holland, York Bowen and Granville Bantock - and each inspired by the great viola virtuoso Lionel Tertis. Bainton's lovely, lyrical 1922 viola sonata gets its first recording here, as does Bowen's brief but heartfelt Piece for Viola. Bradley's gift for a rich, sustained line is best displayed in the Romance of Holland's theatrical Suite in D, while Christian Wilson's alert and sensitive pianism is particularly evident in Bantock's folk-themed Sonata in F. He and Bradley make a terrific partnership."

"Beamish's mastery of atmosphere and Sarah-Jane Bradley's viola made "Under the Wing of the Rock a humane triumph"

The Guardian, May 2012 (Inner Voices Festival, David Matthews, Kings Place)

"A stirring performance of the viola concertino Winter Remembered with Sarah-Jane Bradley as soloist, was a wonderful reminder of the depth and reach of Matthews' consummate artistry"

 International Record Review, March 2012(Benjamin viola concerto)

"Bradley gives a performance of sustained intensity and expressively nuanced tone"

"These performances have fine dash and infectious commitment about them, while the sound is extremely vivid to match. Do lend an ear to this most enterprising issue."

"..the fruity quality of Sarah-Jane Bradley's viola..that viola weight is vital for the Elegy, Waltz and Toccata, where the soloist has to find the strength to dominate a busy orchestra in the finale"

Both soloists make an amazing contribution to this disc..seriously impressive..Sarah-Jane Bradley brings drama and drive to the thorny viola concerto..This is a fantastic CD. I hope all enthusiasts of British music will rush out to buy it" 

Although this recital was part of the usual London Chamber Music Series, it coincided with the Jewish Book Week. Sarah-Jane Bradley and Anthony Hewitt paid their own tribute with works by two Jewish composers.Mendelssohn's Viola Sonata is a teenage work but extremely accomplished, as we have come to expect. Not having heard it for a while, I had forgotten how much of the viola part was written in two voices - Bradley's double-stopping was beautifully in tune. The partnership with Anthony Hewitt was a good one, as he played up to Bradley's famed tone without trying to drown her. Although Mendelssohn does not provide a slow movement, the final variations gave the duo plenty of chances to expand their phrasing. There were gorgeous effects in all three movements but especially in that finale.We rarely hear anything by Joseph Joachim in a concert. His Hebrew Melodies, inspired by Byron's poetry, can be very involving if the players sustain a long line and find colours to vary the prevailing plaintive tone. Bradley had clearly thought long and hard about how to voice the viola part and the result was most satisfying.Peter Fribbins was present to hear his two Fantasias, composed several years apart but both well written and effective. In the first, based on a Welsh folksong, he demands some difficult A-string acrobatics and harmonics from the violist, well executed here. The second Fantasia, based on a Hungarian folksong, sets an interesting viola line against rippling scalar passages on the piano for much of the time.Although the Fribbins pieces were well worth hearing, one felt the need for something a little faster to end the recital. A substantial encore, 'Dance of the Knights', one of Vadim Borisovsky's masterly transcriptions from Romeo and Juliet, filled the bill nicely.                                                                        

 "The record industry has recently discovered the viola, with Naxos contributing some of the most interesting releases among the abundance of new issues. All the works here were originally composed for the instrument save for the Dohnányi which is played in an arrangement by the soloist. Such a transcription is not without the composer's blessing, Dohnányi accompanying the violist, Lionel Tertis, in a London performance of the work. It certainly sits happily on the weightier instrument, often taking it into the warm resonance of the lower strings as the mood swings from happiness to a sad nostalgia. In three movements it offers enough to challenge solo technique without encouraging a virtuoso treatment. Martinu's Sonata comes from the last years of his life and has the composer in a homesick folk idiom. Tonal and immediately attractive, it has an abundance of harmonic pungency. Still immersed in Germanic influences the young Kodály's Adagio is laden with sadness. It was Byron's poems based on biblical stories that inspired Joseph Joachim's Hebrew Melodies, the three movements communicating the feelings of people in exile. Somewhat meandering in content it's episodic nature has many moments of tender beauty. Composed as a competition test piece, Enescu's Concertstucke is a real challenge of left-hand dexterity, linked with the need to create long flowing passages. Sarah-Jane Bradley, the viola of the much recorded Sorrel Quartet during its lifetime, and a member of the Leopold String Trio, plays a gorgeous viola from 1806 by Chanot, its rich and fruity tone immaculately played and with expressive musicianship. Many of the pieces call for an equal partnership from the piano admirably handled by Anthony Hewitt. Premiere league sound."