Works: Symphony No. 1, Op. 42 / Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 57 Concerto estivo
Artists: Howard Shelley (piano)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins
This is the third volume in Chandos’ latest championing of the music of Kenneth Leighton, presenting two further premiere recordings. The previous volume, including Symphony No. 2 (Sinfonia mistica), received tremendous critical acclaim, earning a Rosette in the latest Penguin Guide to Recorded Music. It was a Critic’s Choice in the December 2009 issue of Gramophone.
This latest volume includes the very successful First Symphony, completed in 1964, which won first prize in the 1965 City of Trieste international competition for a new symphonic work. In three movements, it is the only Leighton symphony to employ purely orchestral forces. The composer says that the opening movement ‘sets a mood of elegiac lyricism, and eventually becomes a strong, even desperate protest’, while the second movement, a vibrant scherzo, ‘loosens the reins, and on a spirit of rebellion seeks to arrive at an affirmative answer by sheer force of will’. He describes the final movement as the ‘expressive essence of the symphony… a movement of great beauty’.
Leighton wrote of the Third Piano Concerto: ‘On the whole the music is more relaxed, more lyrical, and certainly more tonal than that of the previous two piano concertos. And there is also much less emphasis on counterpoint and more on vertical sonorities. Its three movements follow the traditional fast – slow – fast form.’ The central Pastoral evokes ‘the warmth and stillness of a long hot summer afternoon… with a more agitated and dance like central section’. The final movement comprises a set of variations, based on the main theme of the work.
One of the most famous and recorded of pianists in the world today, Howard Shelley receives unanimous critical acclaim for his many recordings, whether on Chandos or other labels. Like the conductor, Martyn Brabbins, he has championed much rarely performed repertoire, this disc being only his his latest example.
‘Chandos’ most valuable exploration of Kenneth Leighton’s large-scale output continues with this exhilarating coupling… Miss at your peril.’ (Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone on previous volume)
Artists: Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano) / Robert Ferguson (tenor) / Anne Collins (mezzo-soprano) / Katherine Pring (mezzo-soprano) / Clifford Grant (bass) / John Brecknock (tenor)
Sadler’s Wells Chorus
Sadler’s Wells Orchestra, Raymond Leppard
In November 1971, Dame Janet Baker – a great champion of opera sung in English – performed the title role in Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea with Sadler’s Wells Opera at the London Coliseum, conducted by the baroque and classical specialist Raymond Leppard. This was the first time the company had produced the work and, happily, a performance was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
This release of that broadcast has been remastered. Inevitably, the sound quality reflects the fact that it is a 1971 ‘live’ recording, and some deterioration is evident, although this does not detract from the incomparable performance value.
Chandos Opera in English is delighted to be able to allow listeners to experience the artistry of Dame Janet, at the height of her career, on this latest Archive Edition.
Susan Gritton Sings Britten, Finzi, Delius
CHAN10590 CD
Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950) Complete Solo Songs
Works: Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Quatre Chansons françaises / Les Illuminations, Op. 18
Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)
Dies Natalis, Op. 8
Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
A Late Lark
Artists: Susan Gritton (soprano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner
One of Britain’s leading lyric sopranos, Susan Gritton here performs a unique programme of works by three English composers, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Edward Gardner, ENO’s Musical Director.
The quintessence of Finzi, Dies natalis sets texts by the seventeenth-century poet Thomas Traherne, which reflect the joy and wonder of a newborn child’s innocent perspective on the world. The richly textured, resourceful string writing and the long melodic lines are hallmarks of Finzi’s style. The subtle inflections of the word-setting and lyricism have attracted many leading vocalists both in concert and on disc. Although particularly associated with the tenor voice, Dies natalis was premiered, and is increasingly performed by, sopranos.
This premiere recording of the version of Delius’s A Late Lark for soprano voice is currently the only available recording of the work. A setting of W.E. Henley’s poem ‘I.M. Margaritæ Sorori’, it offers a lovely lyrical reflection of the serene acceptance of death and is especially poignant as it was one of Delius’s last works. Eric Fenby, Delius’s friend and amanuensis, recalls that one day after he had read the poem through to Delius, ‘and had finished playing his setting, [Delius] said, “Yes, that is how I want to go.”’
Artists: Geraldine McGreevy (soprano) / Adrian Thompson (tenor) / Roderick Williams (baritone) / John Talbot (piano)
Ernest John Moeran was the last major representative of the group of English composers who, in the first two decades of the twentieth century, sought musical inspiration in the melodic beauty of traditional folksong. The emotional and spiritual legacy of his dual Anglo-Irish nationality is in tangible evidence throughout his life and music. A pupil of John Ireland and friend of Peter Warlock, he composed music which displays the influences of Delius, Vaughan Williams, and of course his love of landscape.
Chandos here presents a unique album of his attractive complete solo song catalogue, many of which are premiere recordings. The release commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of his death.
Moeran wrote sixty original songs for solo voice and piano, including the settings of texts by James Joyce, Robert Bridges, Shakespeare and W.B. Yeats. His most famous songs are his settings of the works of A.E. Housman, with texts from Ludlow Town and A Shropshire Lad.
Baritone Roderick Williams, Soprano Geraldine McGreevy and Tenor Adrian Thompson are accompanied by John Talbot. This album is priced at 2-4-1.
And for those of you who are wondering – E.J Moeran is on the right of the motley group of revellers!
'Geraldine McGreevy has one of the most lovely soprano voices of our younger generation, and in songs such as Silver, In the Highlands, Neglected moon!, The Rejected Lover, and Arrogant Poppies, she is ideal.' John Steane, Gramophone(Armstrong Gibbs Songs)
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