Carl Vine’s Child’s Play, an album of his chamber music released on Hyperion, has been a hit with critics. The album celebrates Vine’s longstanding relationship with the Goldner String Quartet, who present Vine’s 2017 String Quartet No.6 (from which its title is drawn) and are joined by cellist Umberto Clerici for his String Quintet (2009) and pianist Piers Lane for the Piano Quintet “Fantasia" (2013). Lane joins the Goldner’s cellist Julian Smiles for the Strutt Sonata (2017), and violinist Dimity Hall joins the pair for Piano Trio “The Village”. The disc concludes with Harbour Reverie (2014) for string quartet. Listen here.
…In the Piano Quintet, an atmosphere of mystery is established straight away through soft but ominous piano chords, with the strings exploring elaborate themes…The procedure is one of organic growth, as textures change and motifs mutate throughout…there is a deep vein of lyricism constantly breaking through. The inwardness of the lovely slow movement quickly moves into energetic activity in the finale….The fuller texture of the String Quintet (with its two cellos) never cloys, as it easily can in this genre, thanks to Vine’s sophisticated ear for clarity…The Piano Trio [is] full of dazzling light in its outer movements, and gently nocturnal in the central movement…uniquely characterful, and as strong a collection of chamber works as you will find… This set is mandatory for lovers of well written, beautifully performed chamber music.
Limelight (Phillip Scott) 30 April 2026 ***** Editor’s Choice
Like much of Vine’s music, [Fantasia] steals into one’s consciousness with little preamble, holding one’s attention firmly (the finale in particular is quite fun). The same is true for the more excitable String Quintet…a fascinating portrait of a composer who produces music of undoubted appeal and expressive focus. Well worth investigating.
Gramophone (Guy Rickards) June 2026
…a brilliant introduction to his chamber music…This double album shows just what a fine composer for the medium Vine is. His writing is idiomatically brilliant for each instrument…I doubt that the composer could hope for better performances.
MusicWeb International (Paul RW Jackson) 19 April 2026
The album underlines the Goldners’ longstanding relationship with Carl Vine, featuring works that they have performed or premiered in recent years. Indeed, Harbour Reverie featured in their 2024 valedictory tour. The 4-minute work represents the bond between composer and ensemble established through their mutual involvement with Musica Viva Australia, where Vine was Artistic Director for twenty years and with the quartet as one of its flagship ensembles. Written to honour former Musica Viva Australia CEO Mary Jo Capps, the piece imagines the sights and sounds of a morning commute across the Sydney Harbour, taking the harbour ferry into the city.
In 2012 the Goldners recorded his string quartets for ABC Classics. They also gave the Australian premiere of the piano quintet Fantasia at the Huntington Festival in 2014 with Bernadette Harvey, and, at the same Festival, premiered a new version of his String Quintet (2010) with Florian Eggner in 2015.