Sir Arthur Sullivan: songs

[guest822]

Now available, the second 2-CD collection of songs from Chandos.



When I first encountered (and fell hopelessly in love with) the music of Arthur Sullivan the best part of 60 years ago, it would have been inconceivable that any group of singers or any record company would issue an album of his songs. If you were lucky, you might find The Lost Chord or, at a push, Orpheus with his Lute. Now, we have 4-CD's worth in excellent performances from fine artists, and with the best sonics. Some fashions do change for the better, it seems! David Owen Norris deserves undying gratitude, not only for being the driving force behind this project but also for the sensitivity and skill of his accompanying: as an example. listen to the introduction to The Lost Chord in which the voice-leading in the imitative texture is brought out exquisitely. It takes a real artist to do that.

I could go on (for hours)...

 :)

[Albion]

A great release! It's priced as a single CD (£13.48 on Amazon) due to the short playing times of the two discs together (93 minutes):



 :)

[Albion]

A very favourable review from David Mellor in that (ahem!) august publication The Daily Mail...

Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert’s comic operas have given Sullivan’s brilliant tunes immortality, but at a price; the near total neglect of the rest of his output, much of which he valued more highly. This splendid double album of Sullivan’s songs, mainly composed pre-Gilbert, are a satisfying listen. They are well sung by a fine British quartet, including the mezzo Kitty Whately, daughter of Kevin of Inspector Morse and Lewis fame, to whom is entrusted the only well-known (or once it was) piece, the mawkish but memorable The Lost Chord. The whole thing is brilliantly ringmastered by the pianist David Owen Norris, whose lively playing is a constant joy, and who also contributes some erudite notes. As a teenager Sullivan went to Leipzig on the first Mendelssohn Scholarship, sponsored by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Some of his teachers there had also taught Brahms, and deemed Sullivan the more talented. Sadly, nothing here really stands that up, but this is a thoroughly entertaining album. Congratulations to the always innovative Chandos team for issuing it.

 ;)

[Albion]

Now, we have 4-CD's worth in excellent performances from fine artists, and with the best sonics. Some fashions do change for the better, it seems!

Yes, in total 69 of Sullivan's finest songs at last in performances which don't ham-it-up of try to make excuses for them but simply play and sing them for what they truly are - some of the greatest examples of this demanding genre written by a British composer during the nineteenth century, not excepting Parry's English Lyrics.

Sullivan's eclectic idiom lent itself to direct (and often intense) emotion to a higher degree than his native contemporaries: the sheer variety of the musical settings is simply staggering and they show his invention at it's most minutely-crafted and melodious best.

 :)

[guest822]

...the sheer variety of the musical settings is simply staggering and they show his invention at it's most minutely-crafted and melodious best.

 :)

Quite so! :)

[Albion]

On the Chandos site: https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2020239

£19.98 for a faceless digital download, £10.50 (plus £1.35 UK postage) for a lovely CD which you will treasure (and will impress your friends with your impeccable musical taste)...



 ::)

[guest822]

On the Chandos site: https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2020239

£19.98 for a faceless digital download, £10.50 (plus £1.35 UK postage) for a lovely CD which you will treasure (and will impress your friends with your impeccable musical taste)...



 ::)

That it has (and it's getting madder by the day).

[Grandenorm]

Do you think someone has got the prices muddled up? If so, take advantage of the error now. This is a delicious bargain.

[Albion]

Do you think someone has got the prices muddled up? If so, take advantage of the error now. This is a delicious bargain.

It's because of the individual pricing for each download track, which is based on length and is a set amount (£0.90 for under five minutes, £1.80 for five minutes or over). The accumulated total is what it is, regardless of the price of the physical CD...

 ::)

[Albion]

It's because of the individual pricing for each download track, which is based on length and is a set amount (£0.90 for under five minutes, £1.80 for five minutes or over). The accumulated total is what it is, regardless of the price of the physical CD...

 ::)

Sorry to self-quote, but this needs to be more widely appreciated: downloading is not always the most economical option.



 :o

[Albion]

This fantastic new 2-CD set has duly made its way to Nottingham direct from Chandos. It looks splendid and I can't wait to have a listen!

Not forgetting the four invaluable Marco Polo discs of ballet and incidental music, it cannot be emphasised enough just how hard three enterprising recording companies and the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society have worked to bring so much of his wonderful music back to life:

Chandos: Suite from The Tempest (1861-62); Overture In Memoriam (1866); Irish Symphony (1863-64); Ivanhoe (1890-91); The Beauty Stone (1897-98); Songs [volume 1]; The Harmonious Echo [songs, volume 2]

Hyperion: The Contrabandista (1867); The Prodigal Son (1869); The Golden Legend (1886); The Foresters (1892); Boer War Te Deum (1900)

Dutton: The Tempest (1861-62); Kenilworth (1864); On Shore and Sea (1871); The Light of the World (1873); Macbeth (1888); Haddon Hall (1892)

May it continue! Priorities for the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society are the sacred musical drama The Martyr of Antioch (1880) and the operas The Chieftain (1894) and The Emerald Isle (1900, completed by Edward German 1901). Please join the society and help with the ongoing revival -

https://sullivansociety.org.uk/?v=79cba1185463

 ;D

[guest822]

This fantastic new 2-CD set has duly made its way to Nottingham direct from Chandos. It looks splendid and I can't wait to have a listen!

Not forgetting the four invaluable Marco Polo discs of ballet and incidental music, it cannot be emphasised enough just how hard three enterprising recording companies and the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society have worked to bring so much of his wonderful music back to life:

Chandos: Suite from The Tempest (1861-62); Overture In Memoriam (1866); Irish Symphony (1863-64); Ivanhoe (1890-91); The Beauty Stone (1897-98); Songs [volume 1]; The Harmonious Echo [songs, volume 2]

Hyperion: The Contrabandista (1867); The Prodigal Son (1869); The Golden Legend (1886); The Foresters (1892); Boer War Te Deum (1900)

Dutton: The Tempest (1861-62); Kenilworth (1864); On Shore and Sea (1871); The Light of the World (1873); Macbeth (1888); Haddon Hall (1892)

May it continue! Priorities for the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society are the sacred musical drama The Martyr of Antioch (1880) and the operas The Chieftain (1894) and The Emerald Isle (1900, completed by Edward German 1901). Please join the society and help with the ongoing revival -

https://sullivansociety.org.uk/?v=79cba1185463

 ;D

Needless to say, I have all those recordings! It's a shame that the sessions for the recording of The Martyr of Antioch were hornswoggled by the pandemic, but I understand they are stiill due to go ahead when circumstances (and artists' diaries, I guess) permit.

(Note to self: must join the Sullivan Society one of these days...)

[Albion]

Note to self: must join the Sullivan Society one of these days...

One of these days is, oddly enough, today!

 :D

You get lovely magazines too - filled with interesting articles...

 ;)

...and pictures and squiggles and dots.

 ;D

[guest822]

Note to self: must join the Sullivan Society one of these days...

One of these days is, oddly enough, today!

 :D

You get lovely magazines too - filled with interesting articles...

 ;)

...and pictures and squiggles and dots.

 ;D

Your silver tongue has worked its magic again. I just filled in the form on line; and I am pleased to see that, as an OAP, I get cheap membership.  ;D

[Albion]

Your silver tongue has worked its magic again. I just filled in the form on line; and I am pleased to see that, as an OAP, I get cheap membership.  ;D

You won't regret it, it really is a great society to be a part of!

 ;D

There's a substantial article coming out in Magazine 106 (June) which may be of interest, perhaps...

 ;)