""Their tangible enthusiasm and affection very much brighten this Spring, and the ensemble’s sections seem to dance under the direction of conductor Eric Jacobsen. These youths are serving music very well.""

by Jeff Kaliss

"...What’s really rather new and worth celebrating on this CD is the fresh force and consistent skill that this group of young musicians brings to material both familiar and unfamiliar, laudable and less so. The Knights’ dynamic range is suggested by the contrasts between the luminescent tranquility of the opening and closing tracks — Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question and the Coda to Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring — and the boisterousness and angularity of some of what comes after and before [...]
The Golijov, on the other hand, is less desperately macho and more structurally impressive than your average tango-based creation, with melodic statements divided handsomely between sections of the strings. The Knights evoke the breathtaking coordination and sustained energy of tango fanatics, and work the “special effects” of glisses and col legno with faultless coordination.
Interpolated between the South American elements is Antonin Dvořák’s setting of his Silent Woods (Klid) for cello and orchestra (created during his American sojourn), whose solo is sensitively and delicately sounded by the German cellist and former Knights collaborator Jan Vogler. The ensemble paints this sylvan study in rich but subtle colors.
Of course, the Copland provides the most obvious opportunity to compare the Knights to other orchestras of advanced institutional and individual vintage. Their tangible enthusiasm and affection very much brighten this Spring, and the ensemble’s sections seem to dance under the direction of conductor Eric Jacobsen. These youths are serving music very well."