Jennifer Vyvyan; Elsie Morrison; Boyd Neel Orchestra
Release Date: 06 October 2017
Label: Australian Eloquence
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 0028948253876
Description
A pair of L’Oiseau-Lyre albums reissued together, including several items making their first appearance on Decca CD.
‘These duets are not only lovely songs, but they are most beautifully sung by Jennifer Vyvyan and Elsie Morison. The Vauxhall songs are also lovely and also well sung … This is indeed a record of outstanding quality in every way, and I strongly recommend it.’ Gramophone, November 1956 (J.C. Bach)
The soprano Jennifer Vyvyan was taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London by Roy Henderson, coach of Kathleen Ferrier. With Henderson’s help she formed a secure technique, and quickly won acclaim for both operatic and oratorio roles in a wide variety of repertoire. Best known now as a singer favoured by Benjamin Britten, Vyvyan was also a leading figure in the revival of Baroque repertory: a celebrated interpreter of Purcell, Rameau, Bach and Handel who starred in landmark 1950s/60s reappraisals of the Handel operas at Sadlers Wells, Covent Garden and elsewhere.
Both the fluency and the brilliance of her voice are on display in songs by Johann Christian Bach and cantatas by Alessandro Scarlatti. J.C. Bach was writing for the open-air concerts at Vauxhall Gardens in London from which the original album and this reissue take their title. The Vauxhall songs are mellifluous, imbued with easy charm and written for accompaniment on keyboard: a part taken on this 1956 album by Thurston Dart, who as a scholar, conductor and virtuosic instrumentalist played a still more significant role in the early music revival in postwar Britain.
Dart is the soloist in J.C. Bach’s F major keyboard concerto Op. 7 No. 2. The Italianate allure of the concerto is shared by six canzonettas in which he accompanies Vyvyan and Elsie Morison and this CD is one of five recordings released by Eloquence in September 2017 celebrating the art of Jennifer Vyvyan. All are Decca recordings from the 1950s.
*FIRST INTERNATIONAL RELEASE ON DECCA CD
Tracklisting
Joshua Bell
Irmgard Seefried
Concertgebouworkest / Colin Davis
Michael Tilson Thomas
Bayerischer Staatsopernchor & Orch, Keilberth
Andor Foldes; Ferdinand Leitner
Andor Foldes
Various artists
Polina Pastirchak, Anke Vondung, Sungmin Song, Milan Siljanov, Chorwerk Ruhr, Bochumer Symphoniker,
Kammerchor Stuttgart; Barockorchester Stuttgart; Frieder Bernius; Hannah Morrison; Franziska Bobe;
Choralchor der St. Johannis-Kantorei Rostock
Capella Daleminzia, Capella Vocale Waldheim, Rene Michael Roder
Gewandhaus Children's Choir, Frank-Steffen Elster, Gewandhaus Youth Choir, Gewandhaus Choir, Gregor
Aukso - Chamber Orchestra Of The City Of Tychy, Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers' Ensemble, Marek Mos
Herbert von Karajan; The Philharmonia Orchestra; Berliner Philharmoniker
Soloists, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Bruggen
