Graham Lea-CoX
Artistic Director
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Reviews
Classic CD Magazine (UK)
Pindar's Ode - William Boyce
” …. This is a superb CD of infectious music magnificently performed. The New College Choir is on cracking form, as is the Hanover Band. Graham Lea-Cox directs with fire and precision … Marvel or have a prejudice transplant.” Roderick Swanston
BBC Music Magazine (UK)
Ode for St. Cecilia's Day - William Boyce
“I found Lea-Cox’s spirited direction a constant pleasure; he has an effective understanding of style and chooses his tempi discerningly. Following an auspicious start, Boyce introduces us to one delight after another. I was enchanted throughout.” Nicholas Anderson
H-Fi News (UK)
Secular Masque - William Boyce
“… Graham Lea-Cox, who is responsible for the editions used, directs the performances with great skill and discernment; he is equally successful with the wistful and the vigorous numbers, bringing an almost theatrical flair to the argument of the Masque, pomp to the ceremonial music and grace to the dance numbers.” Peter Branscombe
HALL OF FAME - Fanfare Magazine (USA)
Graham Lea-Cox with the Hanover Band on ASV
“… Graham Lea-Cox has done an amazing job here. The Hanover Band is alert and spirited, their period strings sing with a nice, silvery tone and the old oboes add their pungent sound to the mix, all in an effort to capture the ethos of Boyce’s scores. The knowledgeable soloists perform in an outstanding manner as well, with appropriate and never over-the-top ornamentation. The boy trebles are quite impressive and basses David Thomas and Michael George have never sounded better! All in all, Graham Lea-Cox has given us a perfect wedding of incredible ease and abounding beauty.
These recordings have been out of circulation for a while, but their recent re-emergence and unerring leadership has garnered these four CDs a spot in Fanfare’ s Classical Hall of Fame.” Michael Carter
Graham Lea-Cox
ABOUT
Graham Lea-Cox has had a broad and eclectic international career as Orchestral Conductor, Artistic Director and as an academic.
Based in Europe, he has a special interest in the orchestral repertoires of the 18th to 20th centuries and in contemporary global repertoires. With a strong connection to Africa and Latin America, in particular South Africa and Mexico, his interest in global cultures and personal international initiatives have developed from a profound belief in the power of music to promote peace and build bridges between nations and peoples.
Early in his career Graham Lea-Cox gained wide experience on stage and in performance, on tour and in concert throughout the USA (Columbia Artists, New York), China and Japan. Completing his formal studies at the Royal College of Music (London) and at Oxford University (UK), he later studied with legendary conductors Norman Del Mar (London) and Herbert Blomstedt (Los Angeles) and trained as a repetiteur at the English National Opera. Early professional experience as an assistant to several leading international conductors followed, including Arnold Őstman, Harmut Haenchen, Sir Charles Mackerras and Mexican conductor, Eduardo Mata.
He has since conducted such ensembles as the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra (WDRSO Köln), leading UK period instrument orchestra the Hanover Band, the Goteborg Opera (Sweden) and the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra (South Africa). His landmark recordings on ASV/Universal with the Hanover Band have received outstanding international acclaim and a nomination for a Classical Grammy Award in the USA. He is also active as a conductor in theatre and film and is Music Director for Insomnia Studios in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Over many years Graham has been a Visiting Lecturer at Universities and Music Conservatoires in South Africa and Mexico. He has been a British Council Artist to Sweden, the Czech Republic and Zimbabwe.
Full Profiles:
Mozart: ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’
Göteborgsoperan, Teater-och Operahögskolan, Tjoloholm Slott, Sweden.
Knut Sommer, Regiseur, Deutschen Oper Berlin
…. “(a) glorious first night… the singers had the extraordinarily fine support of conductor Graham Lea-Cox, who coaxed the musicians into finding the essence of every note.”
” I do not think I have ever experienced a more detailed and thoroughly worked performance of Figaro – every gesture, every expression, every look…such virtuoso acting and ensemble is unthinkable on a larger institutional stage, whether in Vienna, Munich, Glyndebourne or Drottningholm. ..not for a bar was the brilliance and beauty of the voices lacking, sung with unfailing musicality… …Three and a half hours of opera without one weak moment is nothing less than a triumph! ” P.G. Berefors
Göteborgs-Posten, Sweden
” A miracle – a triumph! A phenomenal production! “
Svenska Dagbladet, Stockholm
[Translated from the Swedish]
Fanfare Magazine (USA)
18th Century British Symphonies
Graham Lea-Cox and the Hanover Band
“.. The Hanover Band is one of the oldest period-instrument ensembles around and, with a number of winning releases under its belt, comes to this repertoire with little, if any, trepidation and a generous helping of enthusiasm…the horns burst forth from the orchestral texture in a way I haven’t heard in many a recording. The pungency of the oboes, the softness of the flutes and the reedy quality of the clarinets all add their unique colors to the shimmering and silvery quality of Graham Lea-Cox’s impeccable string section. … With all this in its favor, this is sure to be another star in ASV’s already laden crown.” Robert Emmett
BBC Music Magazine (UK)
David's Lamentation over Saul and Jonathan - WILLIAM BOYCE
“….. Following his widely acclaimed recent recording of Boyce’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day (ASV/UNIVERSAL CD GAU 200), Graham Lea-Cox has come up with another rarity by the composer … In short, this is a world premiere recording most urgently to be acquired. The overture alone should be enough to tempt readers but, if not, the poignant chorus ‘For Saul, for Jonathan, they fast, they weep’ should do the trick.” Nicholas Anderson
AN AMAZON CUSTOMER
18th Century British Symphonies
Graham Lea-Cox and the Hanover Band
“.. I agree with the previous reviewer — this disc is a total knockout, and should be compulsory listening to anyone interested in British music, and especially in the music of the much-neglected mid-eighteenth century. These are all splendid works – I also am enjoying the John Marsh double symphony the most, but the others are tremendously exciting pieces too. They share the vigour and rhythmic energy of the typical British music of the period, written by composers used to producing material for the rowdy theatres and the even rowdier pleasure gardens: ear-catching, toe-tapping, and not at all precious, a particularly English combination of late Baroque forms dressed with country dance and folksong elements, all mixed with the graceful melodies we associate with the galant style, evidenced in some beautiful slow movements. The music of Sullivan is not far away from some of them (and I mean that as a real recommendation – another seriously underrated composer!)
