Martyn Brabbins, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers
Release Date: 14 March 2025
Label: NMC Recordings
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 5023363029124
Composer/Series: Michael Tippett
Description
This is the first commercial recording of Michael Tippett's opera New Year, featuring a stellar cast, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins.
This major 2-disc release was recorded in Glasgow in April 2024 ahead of the live performance given with stage director Victoria Newlyn.Described by Tippett's acclaimed biographer, Oliver Soden, as the recording that fills a gaping hole in the history of British opera, providing the missing link between Benjamin Britten and Mark-Anthony Turnage, New Year is a space-aged fairytale opera that moves between two worlds of 'Somewhere and Today' and 'Nowhere and Tomorrow'.
Two worlds collide in Tippett's New Year as a visitor from the future ('Nowhere Tomorrow') helps the central reclusive character escape from their personal fears and fantasies and embrace the frightening urban realities of 'Somewhere Today'. The cast features: soprano Rhian Lois as Jo Ann, a trainee children's doctor, baritone Ross Ramgobin as Donny, her young brother; mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley as Nan, their foster mother; baritone Roland Wood as Merlin, the computer wizard; tenor Robert Murray as Pelegrin, the space pilot; soprano Rachel Nicholls as Regan, their boss; and tenor Alan Oke as the Presenter.
'Martyn Brabbins' Hyperion series of Tippett symphonies was stunning and a worthy successor to the Hickox records. Here in this first recording of New Year, he has delivered another document to enhance the legacy of the great man. The notes in this issue contain one of the best essays of its type I have ever read.' – Music Web International
'Tippett biographer Oliver Soden describes New Year as an important link in the British operatic chain that connects Britten and Mark-Anthony Turnage. In this first commercial recording of the 1989 work, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins and a slew of star vocalists provide significant evidence to support Soden's observation.' – BBC Music Magazine (4 stars)
Tracklisting
Philip Mead, Simon Emmerson, Zubin Kanga, Heather Roche, Carla Rees
Martin Iddon, Quiet Music Ensemble, Jack Adler-McKean
Clare O'Connell
Martyn Brabbins, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers
Martyn Brabbins, Daniel Pioro, Anna Dennis, Andrew Gourlay, Elena Schwarz
Freya Waley-Cohen, Manchester Collective, Heloise Werner, Katie Bray, Fleur Barron, Tamsin Waley-Co
Slide Action
Siwan Rhys
Florent Baffi; Le Balcon; Rene Ramos Premier; Sean Clayton; Adele Carlier; Juliette Allen; Helene F
Welsh National Opera Company; Welsh National Opera Chorus; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; B
Raffaella Milanesi; Giacomo Nanni; Shaked Bar; Francesca Ascioti; Silvia Frigato; Furio Zanasi; Rob
Nahuel Di Pierro; Enea Scala; Giuliana Gianfaldoni; Maria Elena Pepi; Coro dell'Accademia Teatro al
Konu Kim; Zuzana Markova; Cecilia Molinari; Tuty Hernandez; Lilla Takacs; Valerio Morelli; Orchestr
Danielle Reutter-Harrah; Teresa Wakim; Mireille Lebel; James Reese; Jason McStoots; Aaron Sheehan;
Anna Netrebko; Yusif Eyvazov; Carlo Bosi; Maria Teresa Leva; Ferruccio Furlanetto; Chorus of the Ar
Anna Goryachova; Melissa Petit; Antonino Siragusa; Andreas Wolf; Prague Philharmonic Choir; Wiener
