Andrew Achenbach reviews Roderick Williams and Susie Allan’s new recording of Sir Arthur Somervell: A Shropshire Lad & Maud in the August issue of Gramophone Magazine:
“Superbly partnered by Susie Allan (whose deft touch and ingratiating tone are a constant source of pleasure), Roderick Williams gives an outstandingly sympathetic rendering, his consistently perceptive characterisation especially potent when the darkly oppressive tenor of the opening song (‘I hate the dreadful hollow’) returns with a vengeance from No. 10 (‘The fault was mine’) onwards. … no criticism can be levelled at Williams and Allan, who also lavish affectionate advocacy upon both A Kingdom by the Sea and ‘Shepherd’s Cradle Song’. Boasting astute and thought-provoking essays by Jeremy Dibble and Roderick Williams himself, as well as complete texts, SOMM’s presentation leaves nothing to be desired. Pleasingly rich sound and truthful balance, too.”
—Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone