5 * review from the Scotsman

Following his performances the Sound Festival 2020, Ben received a 5* review from David Kettle at the Scotsman. Read the full review here: https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/sound-festival-reviews-grey-area-le-sirenuse-covid-19-sound-map-exaudi-ben-goldscheider-3015018

“The festival has been celebrating ‘endangered’ instruments for a few years now, and while there might not be too much danger of the horn being overlooked or forgotten, exceptional young performer Ben Goldscheider placed it firmly centre stage in two recitals. An evening concert with pianist Huw Watkins (****) made a strong case for the horn as a jazz instrument, but Goldscheider’s earlier lunchtime concert (*****) pitted his remarkably focused, lyrical playing against live electronics from Stollery to magical effect. (It was all the more magical, in fact, because of its long-distance collaboration: Goldscheider had recorded his part alone in London, then emailed it to Stollery, who added the electronics separately.) The standout work among a concert of surprises was the 1978 Fantasie for horns II by Canadian Hildegard Westerkamp, which contrasted a live Goldscheider on orchestral horn against more prosaic signal horns recorded across the world – train horns, foghorns, factory horns, boat horns, even alphorns. It was a beautiful, deeply melancholy piece, brought wonderfully alive in Goldscheider’s supple, subtle performance, as though a refined concert instrument were calling for connection with its more functional siblings. In that and Exaudi’s extraordinary recital, the sound festival provided exactly the music you didn’t know you needed in our challenging current times, but which you really did.”