John Andrews, Roderick Williams, Rupert Marshall-Luck, BBC Concert Orchestra
Release Date: 19 April 2024
Label: Em Records
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 5060263500797
Genres: Classical
Description
EM Records is delighted to announce the release of "La Belle Dame", World Premiere recordings of turn-of-the-century English Romanticism.
In the decades either side of the death of Queen Victoria, British composers were delighting their audiences whilst also searching for their voices in a world where Romanticism was opening out into the ever-greater harmonic and dramatic possibilities that the twentieth century would bring. This disc brings together some of the most vibrant works of those decades, incredibly all in World Premiere recordings, with Roderick Williams giving voice to a tradition of large-scale vocal scenes with orchestra that has, sadly, all but disappeared.
"[La Belle Dame sans Merci ] has evidence of [Norman] O'Neill's contemporary success as a theatre composer, and Williams imbues it with drama and Edwardian elegance." – The Arts Desk
"a resounding three cheers for the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor John Andrews for exploring the hinterland of British music as the 19th century slid into the 20th." – BBC Music Magazine, 4 STARS
Roderick Williams is in fine voice as the stern-toned soloist in Holst's Ornulf's Drapa, a granite-like monologue hewn from one on Ibsen's early poetic dramas that is suffused with Wagnerian echoes." – BBC Music Magazine, 4 STARS
"Summing up, any inquisitive soul who enjoys wandering off the beaten track needn't hesitate. Truthful sound and copiously detailed presentation, too. A job well done!" – Gramophone
Tracklisting
Paul Guinery
Paul Guinery
BBC Concert Orchestra, David Hill, BBC Singers, Nadine Benjamin, Ben McAteer
Godwine Choir, Alex Davan Wetton, Edward Hughes & John Wright
Paul Guinery
Grant Doyle, John Kember, Brian Sibley
Jeremy Huw Williams, Timothy Kantor, Paula Fan
English Arts Chorale, English Arts Orchestra, Leslie Olive
Karolos
Daniel Di Prinzio, Ihor Kordiuk
Nora von Marschall
Isabel Schicketanz
The Counterpoints
Narratio Quartet
Danbi Um; Juho Pohjonen
Lea Suter
