Sony Masterworks
Strauss: Enoch Arden / Emanuel Ax, Patrick Stewart
$11.98
Only 3 left
Details
- Composer
- STRAUSS, RICHARD
- Artist
- Emanuel, Patrick, Ax, Stewart
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Sony Masterworks
- Released
- Aug 28, 2007
- Catalog #
- 88697090562
- UPC
- 886970905626
About
The melodrama, a genre in which a spoken text is declaimed over a musical accompaniment, was a popular form in the nineteenth century, but it failed to thrive in the twentieth. While performances of Strauss' 1897 setting of Tennyson's narrative poem "Enoch Arden" remain rare, it has aged well, and performances as fine as this are a testimony to its viability and its continuing ability to move the listener. Tennyson tells an achingly poignant story of three children, the two boys both growing to adulthood in love with the young woman, with delicacy and restraint. Strauss matches the story with a reserved but expressive piano accompaniment that supports and never overwhelms the narrative. Emanuel Ax plays with grace and deep feeling, but the focus falls on Patrick Stewart's brilliant and powerful performance. His subtle and nuanced telling is far more effective than an overtly impassioned one would have been, and the naturalness of his reading is hugely compelling and moving. Ax closes the album with two short piano pieces that Strauss wrote when he was still in his teens; they serve as a moving and cathartic epilogue to the melodrama. This extraordinary performance of Enoch Arden should be of strong interest to anyone intrigued by the mystery of the relationship between music and poetry.
-- Stephen Eddins, AllMusic.com
-- Stephen Eddins, AllMusic.com
Tracklist 11 tracks
-
1 Part I: Prelude 07:15
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Part I: Prelude
- Duration
- 07:15
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Patrick Stewart, Emanuel Ax
-
2 Part I: So these were wed 05:01
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Part I: So these were wed
- Duration
- 05:01
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Patrick Stewart, Emanuel Ax
-
3 Part I: Allegro appasionato 05:40
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Part I: Allegro appasionato
- Duration
- 05:40
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Patrick Stewart, Emanuel Ax
-
4 Part I: Tranquillo 07:35
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Part I: Tranquillo
- Duration
- 07:35
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Patrick Stewart, Emanuel Ax
-
5 Part I: Annie's dream: Langsam 03:57
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Part I: Annie's dream: Langsam
- Duration
- 03:57
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Patrick Stewart, Emanuel Ax
-
6 Part II: Prelude: Allegro moderato 06:22
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Part II: Prelude: Allegro moderato
- Duration
- 06:22
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Patrick Stewart, Emanuel Ax
-
7 Part II: Thus over Enoch's early-silvering head 06:14
- Track
- 7
- Title
- Part II: Thus over Enoch's early-silvering head
- Duration
- 06:14
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Patrick Stewart, Emanuel Ax
-
8 Part II: Allegro agitato 07:19
- Track
- 8
- Title
- Part II: Allegro agitato
- Duration
- 07:19
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Patrick Stewart, Emanuel Ax
-
9 Part II: Langsam 03:41
- Track
- 9
- Title
- Part II: Langsam
- Duration
- 03:41
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Patrick Stewart, Emanuel Ax
-
10 No. 1 in B Major: Andante 04:17
- Track
- 10
- Title
- No. 1 in B Major: Andante
- Duration
- 04:17
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Emanuel Ax
-
11 No. 4 in A-Flat Major: Allegro molto 04:24
- Track
- 11
- Title
- No. 4 in A-Flat Major: Allegro molto
- Duration
- 04:24
- Composer
- Richard Strauss
- Performer
- Emanuel Ax