Richard Standen & Frederick Stone
Release Date: 23 June 2023
Label: Albion Records
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 5060158190553
Description
This pioneering 1954 Westminster LP recital by Richard Standen (bass-baritone), accompanied by Frederick Stone (piano), has been remastered for Albion Records by Ronald Grames in excellent sound and issued on ALBCD055.
This was the first recording of the (then) entire Songs of Travel and includes premiere recordings of five of the songs. We now know the full cycle of nine songs, but only eight of them were published in the composer's lifetime. The ninth song was not found until after the composer's death, some four years after this recording was made. Standen's performance of Songs of Travel was highly regarded by Vaughan Williams.
Richard Standen lived from 1912 to 1987. He appeared on many recital and concert broadcasts on the BBC and soloed in the Bach passions under Vaughan Williams's baton. He was a popular soloist in choral festivals throughout Great Britain and the European continent during 25 years of active performing, as well as a popular song recitalist. For 20 years he was a well-regarded professor of voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, beginning in 1963.
Frederick Stone is only known today as Kathleen Ferrier's accompanist on a frequently reissued recital disc, but he had a remarkable 30-year career as a staff accompanist for the BBC and appeared in hundreds of broadcasts with many of the great and near-great performers of his time. This release pays homage to an artist who, sadly now almost forgotten, should be much better known.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"as a fine example of recital singing during the 1950's this is impressive and insightful. Allied to the excellence of the audio restoration and the attractiveness of Albion's presentation this makes for a wholly enjoyable hour's music-making regardless of age." – MusicWeb International
"The accompanying booklet gives the words of the songs, but with Standen, they are never needed. […] Standen delivers the melancholy spirit of Whither Must I Wander so movingly. The other Vaughan Williams songs include a delicious performance of Silent Noon, the splendidly graphic narrative of The Water Mill and of course Linden Lea." – British Music Society
Tracklisting
Tredegar Town Band, Ross Knight, Ian Porthouse, Martyn Brabbins
Alessandro Fisher, William Vann, The Navarra Quartet
Adrian Sims & Alan Rowlands
David Briggs
Chapel Choir Of The Royal Hospital, Joshua Ryan & William Vann
Timothy West, Samuel West, Mary Bevan, Sophie Bevan, Choir Of Clare College, Cambridge, Britten Sin
Various
David Welton & Iain Burnside
