Lord Berners was an eccentric novelist, painter, and aesthete, but it is as a composer that he is best remembered. Berners saw the play Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée (better known as the author of the pamphlet that inspired Bizet's Carmen) in 1917 and ‘was at once fascinated by the grace, the spirit and the character of this little work’. Abandoning operatic tradition, this light and transparently orchestrated version of the narrative unfolds concisely and continuously. The amusing tale is one of domestic bickering and a minor miracle brought about by an act of charity, ‘held together in the style of a symphonic poem’.

REVIEW:

Berners’s one-act setting has all his virtues. The music is ever tuneful, with clear, conversational vocal lines. The accompaniment is elaborately scored, but always transparent and lucidly voiced. Think of Walton’s Facade with a coherent story.

The Caprice is cute orchestral whimsy, suave and witty but never trivial. Putting it on the first track was a good idea. Drawn from some of the opera’s better bits, it makes the overture the opera lacks.

Performances of both works are good, with alert conducting and deft orchestral playing. The singers have steady pitch and pleasing tone quality with good enunciation. There’s no libretto, but it’s sung in English.

-- American Record Guide