28 July 2008
Elliott Carter oboe concerto
BBCSO/David Robertson

a virtuoso performance
musicomh.com

Blessed with the nimblest fingers and the breath control of a Buddhist monk, Nicholas Daniel couldn’t have been more mercurial as he traced Carter’s solo line. Tone, colour and attack changed with lightning speed; crossing the gaping intervals between two notes seemed as easy as jumping puddles. And he was puckish, properly puckish, settling into sustained lyric song only in the middle section, Carter’s own midsummer dream.
The Times, Geoff Brown

… the virtuosic soloist Nicholas Daniel. Carter lays out his glass beads in a game of mystifying complexity. A performer like Daniel reveals the luminous beauty in it, too.
Evening Standard, Fiona Maddocks

The performance of the Oboe Concerto was the distinct highlight of this programme, not least because its personality was projected so clearly. Carter explores the traits of the oboe almost as if the instrument were part of a human drama. In much of the concerto it plays a game of cat and mouse with the orchestra. But notably in the central section, the oboe’s lyrical properties are extensively exploited, with Daniel here demonstrating his seamless line and the ample range of colour that he has at his disposal.
Daily Telegraph, Geoffrey Norris

Joined by Nicholas Daniel, Robertson and a slimmed down BBC SO went on to give the most precise and characterful account of Elliott Carter’s Oboe Concerto (1986-7) this pair of ears has yet heard.
The Independent

a virtuoso performance
The Guardian