Lenehan…whips up quite a gale in [the “meaty” Piano Sonata’s] first movement’s development. …Lenehan effortlessly maintains the favourable impression left by the first two instalments in this series [Vol 1  8.553700, Vol 2 8.553889]. With his pellucid, exquisitely variegated tonal palette, he makes a gorgeous thing of The Almond Trees, plumbs real depths in Spring will not wait and the central “Cypress” from Green Ways, and masterminds superbly involving accounts of the gale-tossed Equinox and mercurial Ballade of London Nights. What’s more, he has been accorded crystal-clear yet nicely atmospheric engineering.

2008 brings us the long-anticipated sequel to 1999's second volume in Naxos' John Ireland piano music cycle. Read full review at ClassicsToday

…this CD is an excellent addition to the growing conspectus of John Ireland’s Piano Music. …The most important composition on this CD is the Piano Sonata. This demanding work was written between 1918 and 1920 and is one of the great Sonatas in the 20th century piano repertoire. Ireland is reported to have said that the first movement was about “Life” the second was “more ecstatic” and the last was “inspired by a rough autumnal day on Chanctonbury Ring & [the] old British Encampment”.  Ireland’s music has certainly been influenced by the Sussex Downs…I enjoyed Lenehan’s playing of this complex work. He manages to explore and even perhaps get behind some of the deepest mysteries in this work. The light and shade in this Sonata is well defined by the pianist and the interest never flags for a moment. I think the CD is worth purchasing for this performance alone.

Lenehan provides a convincing recital of most of the other pieces on this CD. In particular I was impressed by his performance of the Preludes—finding that he brought some new insights to Fire of Spring in particular.  Greenways are approached with feeling and understanding—especially Ireland’s reflection on the Cherry Tree—which must forever suggest Housman’s depressing lines about the transience of life. I feel that On a Birthday Morning lacks a little of the Grainger ‘clattering’ dynamic.  The piece was composed for erstwhile choirboy Arthur George Miller’s birthday and is signed to be played ‘gaily’ and proceeding ‘fresh and joyous.’ It just seems to me to lack a little vitality.

And lastly one of the minor pleasures of this disc is the relatively unknown The Almond Trees. This miniature, which makes use of the pentatonic scale, is quite unusual in Ireland’s works. It is both impressionistic and bewitching.

For Remembrance from Two Pieces (1921) is well played (look out for a prophecy of ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square’!). One of my Ireland ‘touchstone’ pieces is Amberley Wild Brooks. As a place it holds a special magic for me and as music it is a fine ‘evocation of the beauty of the Sussex countryside’. Lenehan presents this piece as an urbane composition. It is certainly a town person and not a rustic looking at the landscape. There are no cows here. However, the water motif is never far away from this enchanting work.

And finally, Equinox is a difficult piece to bring off. The metrical imbalance of the work must always have a tendency to lead to errors of judgment in any interpretation. Yet Lenehan presents this involved evocation of the Sussex countryside with considerable accomplishment.

I can certainly recommend this CD.

The most important composition on this CD is the Piano Sonata. . .I enjoyed Lenehan’s playing of this complex work. He manages to explore and even perhaps get behind some of the deepest mysteries in this work. The light and shade in this Sonata is well defined by the pianist and the interest never flags for a moment. I think the CD is worth purchasing for this performance alone.