“An American Menagerie”
LaCourse succeeds brilliantly in bringing out the humor in this movement and those that follow. …Much of the work lies in the upper portion of the viola’s range, and LaCourse plays this lyrical work in the sweetest and most exquisite way imaginable. … This is a splendidly conceived and constructed work, all the more in the hands of these two gifted performers. …The viola playing of Michelle LaCourse is most praiseworthy. She performs with élan and vigor where called for, her phrasing and intonation are spot on, and her tonal production yields a sweet distillation of the inherent deep warmth of her instrument. …given LaCourse’s and Amlin’s stellar performances of this first-rate music, I can do no less than give this CD a very high recommendation.”
–Fanfare
“LaCourse has provided another class act. …Here, the piano’s slow chordal forward movement underpins an achingly lovely viola line; while the magical piano writing that opens the finale is matched by LaCourse’s wonderfully delicate playing. …stunningly realized by LaCourse and Amlin. …The recording is fabulous throughout, as is the playing of both LaCourse and Amlin. A surefire winner.”
–Fanfare
“LaCourse plays with a rich tone. …LaCourse and Amlin play these miniatures with elegance and occasional flashes of passion. … Michelle LaCourse and Martin Amlin are consummate artists and their playing makes this a most desirable disc.”
–Fanfare
“The performances by violist Michelle LaCourse and pianist/composer Martin Amlin are quite fine, always coming across as spirited and totally committed. The sound reproduction is vivid and well balanced. This is certainly a colorful and rather unique CD of contemporary chamber music that should have more than limited appeal.”
–Classical.net
“…very fine playing by Michelle LaCourse. … This entire CD gives LaCourse and Amlin ample chances to display their sensitivity both to musical matters and to animals.”
–Infodad.com
“…a lovely foray into the beauties of the viola… [Michelle LaCourse] garners the riches to be found in all of these works… A gorgeous recital.”
–Audiophile Audition
“Chocolates”
“It certainly sounds like violist Michelle LaCourse and pianist Martin Amlin, both musicians with impeccable academic credentials, are having fun. There’s an easy give and take between them and a nice rhythmic fluidity to the music. In the torch songs and bluesier pieces, LaCourse has an especially relaxed and earthy tone that ideally suits this material. She brings plenty of polish to the more “serious” pieces, but the raw emotion of her playing in the torch song idiom is especially compelling. The sound is clean and open, but at the same time, intimate. For fans of the viola and of jazz, it’s hard to imagine it getting much better than this.”
–All Music Guide
“Written for and dedicated to the violist on this disc, the highly talented Michelle LaCourse, these skillful miniatures receive an astonishingly laid-back, reflective performance here. It is enough to make one reframe one’s image of the viola. … [an] appealing offering. The recording itself is exemplary. The disc is great fun all round.”
-Fanfare
“…LaCourse strikes the right tone throughout, milking the vibrato here, holding back there. Always tasteful and richly satisfying.”
-Strings Magazine
“Michelle LaCourse and Martin Amlin prove terrific performers. LaCourse’s lovely tone quality enhances Grant’s melodies.”
-Turok’s Choice
“Luxuriously performed by violist Michelle LaCourse, and pianist Martin Amlin, each track will, like your favourite chocolates, delight, seduce, and ultimately satisfy. … Who better than Michelle LaCourse to add her own “miraculous blend of intense passion and artistic elegance” to the work?… It is without doubt one of the most seductive collections I have heard in a long time… …the passionate “Waltz For Betz”…its heartfelt beauty produces one of the albums most exquisite moments. Michelle LaCourse’s viola literally caresses this piece which is again beautifully enhanced by Mr. Amlin’s piano… … as you reach for the last remaining favourite in the now depleted box you are sure to press replay and relive this superb piece of indulgence once again. An exquisite work.”
-Blogcritics.org
“These pieces are designed to work as starters or sweets, and I can imagine viola players gobbling them up, as they offer ample opportunity to dig into a deep dish of melodic plenty. Michelle LaCourse has a lovely, leathery tone.”
-Gramophone
“…The deep, woody tone of the instrument sings beautifully in these pieces… …chamber music in the purest sense… And I think that is what makes this release so effective – throughout all the pieces, the listener is always aware that LaCourse and Amlin are enjoying making music together. Grant has provided them with great music to make, and they rise to the occasion…”
-Classical Voice of New England
“The dark, velvety voice of the viola is perfect for these songs. No violin, no cello, no clarinet could do it so well. The artistry of Michelle LaCourse is the key here: James Grant is really lucky to have such a sensitive and devoted presenter for his compositions. Honestly, I did not imagine that a viola could be so rich, stylish and versatile… …I wonder why viola didn’t become one of the important jazz instruments, like clarinet or guitar? Maybe it’s because not many violists can swing it like Michelle LaCourse? …This could be a great present. Even for yourself. Chocolate is the molecule of happiness, you know…
-Music Web International
Live Performances
“Johannes Brahms’ G Major string sextet is usually framed as a commemoration of his obsessive love for two women, Clara Schumann and Agathe von Siebold; its four extensive movements do indeed tell a sort of epic love story. In any case, the experience for the listener is one of a long journey into the heart of the romantic soul, and any performance of the work requires an utmost authenticity of expression to succeed. Happily, Monday’s performance was definitely one such as this, with uniformly fine work from the quartet, violist Michelle LaCourse and cellist Keiko Ying.”
-Con Spirito
“Right from the first measures of the Sonata Opus 25 of Hindemith, a virile and enchanting sound took you and cast a spell on you. As well as a beautiful technique, Michelle LaCourse has a mastery of the instrument like a sixth sense, and with it reveals to us the most profound secrets. …[Brahms] The work was delivered with total sensitivity by the two artists, tastefully interpreting the moments of intimate secrets and of capricious outbursts. …[Milhaud] the performers delivered a seductive interpretation…”
-La Dauphiné Libéré
“…an audience held breathless by the performance given to Dmitri Shostakovich’s Sonata for Viola and Piano Op. 47. …a superb reading of the composer’s final work… a miraculous blend of intense passion and artistic elegance.”
-Muncie Star
“Hindemith was a well-known violist, a long-time member of one of Europe’s finest string quartets, and a viola soloist in many of his works written for the instrument. It is therefore not surprising that the viola plays an important role in the “Trio. [No. 2] In the capable hands of Michelle LaCourse, it was ever evident. One could not have asked for a more perfect interpretation, finer ensemble or subtler nuance.”
-Durham Herald-Sun
“Along the way LaCourse had a chance to show off her particularly attractive tone, which is lacking in some of the gruffness violists often convey.”
-Schenectady Gazette
… impeccable intontion [sic] and intimately minute details provided to dynamics expressed in the muted Pastorale and Interlude movements by LaCourse.”
-Muncie Star
“Violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn with violist Michelle LaCourse played the piece [Mozart Concertante] with just the proper mix of seriousness and elan. …two immaculate performers brought that solace to its Vineland and Pomona audiences this weekend….[Grant Viola Concerto] a premiere, a reminder that creativity still lives. … This is a battle in which the soloist’s weapon, if you will, was her considerable technique and a large-sounding instrument to project and carry the virtuoso writing.”
-Somers Review
“Between these two slices of Mozart lay a tasty but nutrition-free filling whipped up by contemporary Friedrich Wilhelm Rust in his “Sonata Per La Viola Dolce,” minimally accompanied by two horns and cello. …To violist Michelle LaCourse fell the task of negotiating F.W. Rust’s sonata. … more a concerto for the viola, with a sort of Baroque continuo provided by cellist Boris Kogan, and occasional harmonic support from hornists Smith and Margot Rowland. As LaCourse’s recordings and performances indicate, she is indeed a highly skilled and musical player, and she bested the piece handily, wading through swamps of double and triple stops and tossing off scales as though her bow was a magic sword created for slaying technical dragons.”
-Union News
…some of the finest playing and contrast came in the andante, where one one [sic: was] drawn to LaCourse’s playing in some of the canon sections. Especially notable was the luscious quality of her tone in some of those upper register passages, which had strikingly delightful grace. “
-Muncie Star
