Malcolm Arnold: The Dancing Master, Op. 34 / John Andrews, BBC Concert Orchestra
Resonus Classics
CD
$18.99Oct 02, 2020
Originally intended as an opera for television, Malcolm Arnold’s collaboration with film-maker and librettist Joe Mendoza, The Dancing Master, Op. 34, was considered too racy for viewers in the 1950s and subsequently rejected for broadcast and largely forgotten. Conductor John Andrews, with the BBC Concert Orchestra and a stellar cast, breathes new life into this operatic gem, here receiving its first recording. With its cast of larger-than life Restoration caricatures – the trapped heiress, the scheming maid, the over-protective guardian, and the handsome rake – the opera showcases Arnold’s taste for exuberant satire and tender Romanticism in equal measure.
Simon Andrews: And That Moment When the Bird Sings
Navona
CD
$16.99Jun 08, 2018
Simon Andrews has earned a reputation as a creator of eloquent concert music that blends harmonic complexity and lyricism, introversion and broad gestures, and delicate timbres and bold statements. Here, on his recording debut, he offers up 10 compositions, all of which emphasize his proficiency in both vocal and instrumental music. The opening track, Violin Dialogues I and II, presents violin and piano in conversation. The first Dialogue contrasts two sets of ideas, each instrument's individual voice rising and falling until the two come together in a hard-won consensus. If Dialogue I is oppositional, Dialogue II is conversational, it's narrative more about two characters who agree on the destination and differ only on the best way to reach it. The album's title track, borrowed from the poem "Song" by Seamus Heaney is by turns lyrical and passionate, intimate and robust, as the five performers' instruments weave their way through various combinations. The four movements of For the earth is hollow and I have touched the sky, is a musical response to a concert which the composer attended at the American Composers Orchestra of music by Frank Zappa. An even more pop-cultural reference is the composition's title track and fourth movement, which is a musical representation of a quote from an episode of Star Trek, originally "... for the world is hollow and I have touched the sky." The album's first track to feature solo voice is My dove, my covey, an early lyrical poem by W.H. Auden, performed by a trio of oboe, violoncello and piano. In similar fashion, The heart has narrow banks, a beautiful poem written by Emily Dickenson, was chosen by the composer because it allowed him to create a more flexible harmonic language that could express lyrics such as "blue monotony" and "a wall of unattempted gauze" while keeping a consistent musical thread throughout. Inspired by a visit to New Mexico, Abiquiu Trio displays the impact of the desert landscape and the work of Georgia O'Keeffe on Andrews. The language of all three movements is a response to different facets of those two influences. The music of the piece's final movement, begun during a short stay at Christ in the Desert, a living monastery where church services are intoned to Gregorian chants, is a strong reminder that in addition to his more secular work, Andrews is also noted for his compositions of church music.
King Lear has ruled for many years. As age begins to overtake him, he decides to divide his kingdom amongst his children, living out his days without the burden of power. A proud man, he allows vanity to cloud his judgement, believing that he can relinquish the crown, but enjoy the same authority and respect he has always known. Misjudging his children's loyalty he soon finds himself stripped of all the trappings of state, wealth and power he had taken fro granted. Alone in the wilderness he is elft to confront the mistakes of a life that has brought him to this point. Following his performance as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's great 20th century American tragedy Dealth of a Salesman, Antony Sher returns to play King Lear, one of the greatest parts written by Shakespeare.
Shakespeare: King Lear / Royal Shakespeare Company
Opus Arte
DVD
$29.99Apr 28, 2017
King Lear has ruled for many years. As age begins to overtake him, he decides to divide his kingdom amongst his children, living out his days without the burden of power. A proud man, he allows vanity to cloud his judgement, believing that he can relinquish the crown, but enjoy the same authority and respect he has always known. Misjudging his children's loyalty he soon finds himself stripped of all the trappings of state, wealth and power he had taken fro granted. Alone in the wilderness he is left to confront the mistakes of a life that has brought him to this point. Following his performance as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's great 20th century American tragedy Dealth of a Salesman, Antony Sher returns to play King Lear, one of the greatest parts written by Shakespeare.
Hamlet has the world at his feet. Young, wealthy and living a hedonistic life studying abroad. Then word reaches him that his father is dead. Returning home he finds his world is utterly changed, his certainties smashed and his home a foreign land. Struggling to understand his place in a new world order he faces a stark choice. Submit, or rage against the injustice of his new reality. Simon Godwin directs Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet in Shakespeare’s searing tragedy. As relevant today as when it was written, Hamlet confronts each of us with the mirror of our own morality in an imperfect world. “…an utterly engaging performance by Paapa Essiedu.” (The Times) “This is a landmark production; Paapa Essiedu is the first black actor to play Hamlet for the RSC in its 55-year history. He is charismatic, capricious and compelling: an impulsive, arresting presence at the heart of a production that reframes the dilemmas in the play by setting it in an unnamed African state.” (The Financial Times)
Hamlet has the world at his feet. Young, wealthy and living a hedonistic life studying abroad. Then word reaches him that his father is dead. Returning home he finds his world is utterly changed, his certainties smashed and his home a foreign land. Struggling to understand his place in a new world order he faces a stark choice. Submit, or rage against the injustice of his new reality. Simon Godwin directs Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet in Shakespeare's searing tragedy. As relevant today as when it was written, Hamlet confronts each of us with the mirror of our own morality in an imperfect world. "... an utterly engaging performance by Paapa Essiedu." (The Times) "This is a landmark production; Paapa Essiedu is the first black actor to play Hamlet for the RSC in it's 55-year history. He is charismatic, capricious and compelling: an impulsive, arresting presence at the heart of a production that reframes the dilemmas in the play by setting it in an unnamed African state." (The Financial Times)
Track Listing 1. Overture 2. Ladies Who Lunch, The 3. He Tossed a Coin 4. Two by Two 5. I Want to Be Happy 6. Coffee in a Cardboard Cup 7. Lucky to Be Me 8. Send in the Clowns 9. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows 10. Over Here! 11. What I Did For Love 12. Mack the Knife 13. Tomorrow 14. Fifty Per Cent 15. Come Follow the Band 16. Folies Bergere
Principal cast: Maxene Andrews (Pauline DePaul); Patty Andrews (Paulette DePaul); Douglass Watson (Norwin Spokesman); Jim Weston (Make-Out); MacIntyre Dixon (Father); Bette Henritze (Mother); William Griffis (Rankin); Marilu Henner (Donna); Phyllis Sommerville (Wilma); Ann Reinking (Maggie); Janie Sell (Mitzi); John Travolta (Misfit); Treat Williams (Utah); John Mineo (Lucky); William Newman (Sarge); Samuel E. Wright (Sam); April Shawhan (June); John Driver (Bill). The Big Band: Joseph Klein (leader); Ruben Rivera (cello); Carmen Mastren (guitar/banjo); Jimmy Sedlar, Bob Millikan, Jay Brower, Charles Sullivan (trumpets); Harry DiVito, Merv Gold, Jack Gale, Vincent Forchetti, (trombones); Bernie Berger, Harvey Estrin, Michael Schuster, Sol Schlinger (saxophones); Mike Cavin (clarinet); Clay Fullum (piano, accordion); Hal Schaefer (piano); Doc Soloman (bass, Teddy Sommer (drums); Warren Hard (percussion). Recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio, New York, March 31, 1974. All songs composed by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman.
