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Brian: The Cenci / Kelleher, Millennium Sinfonia
Toccata

Brian: The Cenci / Kelleher, Millennium Sinfonia

Romantic Dramatic Dark Spiritual
$26.99

Details

Composer
Havergal Brian, Percy Bysshe Shelley
Artist
Helen Field, David Wilson-Johnson, Ingveldur Yr Jonsdottir, Stuart Kale, Justin Lavender, Jeffrey Ca
Format
CD
Label
Toccata
Released
May 17, 2024
Catalog #
TOCC0094
UPC
5060113440945

About

The Cenci (1951–52) is Havergal Brian’s operatic realisation of Shelley’s gruesome tale of incest and parricide in Renaissance Italy. The score calls it simply an ‘Opera in Eight Scenes’, but it rarely goes in for grand tunes; instead, its dark colours reflect Shelley’s fascination with the struggle between good and evil. Stylistically, it is an unusual but highly effective hybrid: a music-drama focused on the intense delivery of Shelley’s text, with the declamatory style of the vocal lines echoing such recent oratorios as Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher, and the freewheeling orchestral writing producing something of a vocal symphony.

Tracklist 9 tracks

  1. Disc 1
  2. 1 Overture (Preludio tragico) 13:57
    Track
    1
    Title
    Overture (Preludio tragico)
    Duration
    13:57
    Composer
    Havergal Brian
    Ensemble
    Millenium Sinfonia
    Conductor
    James Kelleher
  3. 2 Scene 1: An Apartment in the Cenci Palace, Rome (Camillo, Count Cenci) 08:48
    Track
    2
    Title
    Scene 1: An Apartment in the Cenci Palace, Rome (Camillo, Count Cenci)
    Duration
    08:48
    Composer
    Havergal Brian
    Performer
    Stuart Kale, David Wilson-Johnson
    Ensemble
    Millenium Sinfonia
    Conductor
    James Kelleher
  4. 3 Scene 2: A Garden of the Cenci Palace, Rome (Beatrice, Orsino) 07:45
    Track
    3
    Title
    Scene 2: A Garden of the Cenci Palace, Rome (Beatrice, Orsino)
    Duration
    07:45
    Composer
    Havergal Brian
    Performer
    Helen Field, Justin Lavender
    Ensemble
    Millenium Sinfonia
    Conductor
    James Kelleher
  5. 4 Scene 3: A Magnificent Hall in the Cenci Palace, Rome: A Banquet (Count Cenci, Beatrice, First Guest, Second Guest, Third Guest, Camillo, A Guest, Colonna, A Cardinal) 10:26
    Track
    4
    Title
    Scene 3: A Magnificent Hall in the Cenci Palace, Rome: A Banquet (Count Cenci, Beatrice, First Guest, Second Guest, Third Guest, Camillo, A Guest, Colonna, A Cardinal)
    Duration
    10:26
    Composer
    Havergal Brian
    Performer
    David Wilson-Johnson, Helen Field, Serena Kay, Nicholas Buxton, Stuart Kale, Devon Harrison
    Ensemble
    Millenium Sinfonia
    Conductor
    James Kelleher
  6. 5 Scene 4: An Apartment in the Castle of Petrella (Among the Apulian Appenines) (Count Cenci, Lucretia) 13:17
    Track
    5
    Title
    Scene 4: An Apartment in the Castle of Petrella (Among the Apulian Appenines) (Count Cenci, Lucretia)
    Duration
    13:17
    Composer
    Havergal Brian
    Performer
    David Wilson-Johnson, Ingveldur Ýr Jónsdóttir
    Ensemble
    Millenium Sinfonia
    Conductor
    James Kelleher
  7. Disc 2
  8. 1 Scene 5: Before the Castle of Petrella (Beatrice, Lucretia, Olimpio, Marzio, Savella, Bernardo, An Officer) 15:59
    Track
    1
    Title
    Scene 5: Before the Castle of Petrella (Beatrice, Lucretia, Olimpio, Marzio, Savella, Bernardo, An Officer)
    Duration
    15:59
    Composer
    Havergal Brian
    Performer
    Helen Field, Ingveldur Ýr Jónsdóttir, Devon Harrison, Nicholas Buxton, Jeffrey Carl, Justin Lavender, Stuart Kale
    Ensemble
    Millenium Sinfonia
    Conductor
    James Kelleher
  9. 2 Scene 6: An Apartment in Orsino's Palace, Rome (Orsino, Giacomo) 06:16
    Track
    2
    Title
    Scene 6: An Apartment in Orsino's Palace, Rome (Orsino, Giacomo)
    Duration
    06:16
    Composer
    Havergal Brian
    Performer
    Justin Lavender, Jeffrey Carl
    Ensemble
    Millenium Sinfonia
    Conductor
    James Kelleher
  10. 3 Scene 7: The Hall of Justice, Rome (First Judge, Marzio, Second Judge, Beatrice, Camillo, An Officer) 09:55
    Track
    3
    Title
    Scene 7: The Hall of Justice, Rome (First Judge, Marzio, Second Judge, Beatrice, Camillo, An Officer)
    Duration
    09:55
    Composer
    Havergal Brian
    Performer
    Jeffrey Carl, Nicholas Buxton, Helen Field, Stuart Kale
    Ensemble
    Millenium Sinfonia
    Conductor
    James Kelleher
  11. 4 Scene 8: A Hall of the Prison (Camillo, Bernardo, Beatrice, Lucretia, Giacomo) 15:05
    Track
    4
    Title
    Scene 8: A Hall of the Prison (Camillo, Bernardo, Beatrice, Lucretia, Giacomo)
    Duration
    15:05
    Composer
    Havergal Brian
    Performer
    Stuart Kale, Justin Lavender, Helen Field, Ingveldur Ýr Jónsdóttir, Jeffrey Carl
    Ensemble
    Millenium Sinfonia
    Conductor
    James Kelleher