Tag Archives: cd

Interesting arrangements of Dowland And Purcell

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Songs of Passion is a new recording from mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre with the Jupiter Vocal and Instrumental Ensemble and their director and lutenist Thomas Dunford.  It’s ninety minutes of music by John Dowland and Henry Purcell arranged for various combinations of voices plus the instruments; violins, viola, double bass, viola da gamba, recorders, lute, harpsichord and organ.  They are interesting and varied arrangements and suit the range of emotions of the music well. Continue reading →

Utopia, Limited

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I was curious about Scottish Opera’s new recording of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Utopia, Limited because it’s a G&S I’ve not heard before.  It’s a late work and was less successful than its better known predecessors.  The plot concerns an island in the “South Seas” where the king is so taken with all things English that he sends his daughter to Cambridge and has her return with a bevy of English worthies including Captain Joseph Corcoran KCB.  Eventually the king enacts all kinds of reforms including turning the entire population into limited liability companies.  They revolt but the day is saved by Princess Zara pointing out that with party government all the reforms will inevitably be repealed after the next election. Continue reading →

Varied recital disk from Connolly and Middleton

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Dame Sarah Connolly and Joseph Middleton have teamed up for another interesting recital album.  It’s quite varied.  It starts with Chausson’s La Poème de l’amour et de la mer which is actually two songs with a piano interlude.  It’s very fin de siècle chanson with the piano line rather more interesting than the vocal line but pretty decent stuff, if a bit emotionally overwrought.

Barber’s Three Songs Op.10 are quite well known, especially the last; “I hear an army”.  They are dark and dramatic and suit Connolly’s voice very well.  Next is the often heard Debussy piece Trois Chansons de Bilitis which purports to be settings of translations of actual Sapphic texts but which sound exactly like a 19th century Frenchman would imagine a Sapphic text to be;  i.e languorous.  Nicely done though.  Next we come to a pair of declamatory songs by Copland; “The world feels dusty” and “I’ve heard an organ talk sometimes”.  Definitely a welcome change of pace. Continue reading →

Kafka Fragments

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Gyorgy Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments of 1986 is a pretty weird piece.  It sets forty short fragments (anything from less than a minute to maybe six and a half) from Kafka’s diaries and journals for soprano and violin, which is unusual enough.  But it’s the range of techniques involved for both musicians which i think contributes to why people want to perform them and some people at least to listen to them.

Just about every technique fior violin, short of smashing it, is called for; very rapid staccato phrases, pizzicato, percussive effects of various kinds etc.  The vocal part is perhaps even more varied; singing (but with crazy intervals and very high notes), Sprechstimme, speaking, whispering, chattering, screaming ad more.  Each fragment basically deals with an emotion (mostly negative!) and is set accordingly so the emotional range is pretty much as wide as the range of techniques. Continue reading →