the divine art

ANOTHER LONG SCROLLING CATALOGUE (MANY REVIEWS INCLUDED)

You can now order over a secure link on a pop-up order form
Make a note of the catalogue numbers & go to order info page

2-1200 SERIES ARE 2 CD SETS AT £15 + postage and packing

2-5000 SERIES ARE FULL PRICE  £11.50 + postage and packing

2-4000 SERIES ARE MID-PRICE   £7.50 + postage and packing

  Main Site Menu     |    Back to Labels Menu     |    Order Information Page

HADDON HALL

The neglected masterpiece of comic opera by SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN

Libretto by SYDNEY GRUNDY

Performed by The Prince Consort, Edinburgh

2CD set no. 21201 (midprice)

Sir Arthur Sullivan wrote his light opera Haddon Hall when he was at the height of his considerable creative powers.  Despite his intention to turn away from writing "lighter" works so that he could concentrate on more serious fare, Sullivan's love of the good-life forced his return to the rather more lucrative stage of the Savoy Theatre, and the world of comic opera.

Unfortunately, because of an acrimonious court case, Sullivan and Gilbert were barely on speaking terms in 1892, and Sullivan had to collaborate with a different librettist, namely Sydney Grundy .

Having spent years trying to persuade Gilbert to write works with real human interest, Sullivan was now in a position to demand exactly what he wanted from Grundy. As a result Grundy presented him with a libretto based on an actual historical incident, namely the elopement of Dorothy Vernon, with her lover John Manners, from Haddon Hall, her ancestral home. True, Grundy changed the period of the action by a century so that he could involve a chorus of Puritans, but the whole piece had exactly the human interest that Sullivan craved. The opera was completed and presented at the Savoy Theatre on 24th September 1892.

The reception to Sullivan's music (though not the libretto!) was ecstatic. Bernard Shaw thought Haddon Hall to be the very best of the Savoy Operas, and for a while the piece beat even The Mikado in box office receipts.

The music of Haddon Hall, in common with Sullivan's other Savoy operas, became very popular and was played by brass bands and arranged for dance halls. The opera quickly entered the repertoire of amateur companies all around the country, but later fell out of popularity perhaps because of its challenging score and technical requirements.   We hope that, after hearing this new recording, you will agree that Haddon Hall is an unjustly neglected work of great charm, fully worthy of Britain's most famous composer of the 19th century, Sir Arthur Sullivan.

Anthony Goldstone

Franz Schubert - The Piano Masterworks Vol. 1

Allegretto D 915; Impromptus D 935; Sonatas D 960, D664, D894

Wanderer Fantasie D 760.

Catalogue Number: 2-1202

*************************************

THE SECOND 2CD VOLUME OF ANTHONY GOLDSTONE’S

SCHUBERT PIANO MASTERWORKS

Two Scherzi D 593 Drei Klavierstuck D 946

Sonata in A Major D 959 Twelve Valses Nobles D 969

Adagio in E Major D 612 Six Moments Musicaux D 780

Sonata in C minor D 958

Catalogue Number: 2-1203

CANTATAS FROM THE GEORGIAN DRAWING ROOM

CD 2-5001

CONCERT ROYAL with MARGARETTE ASHTON (soprano)

Rediscovered gems from the 18th Century

Arne: Cymon & Iphigenia
Carey: Belinda & Eurillo
Eccles: Love Kindl'd in a breast too young
Albinoni: Under ye gloomy Shade
Pepusch: The Island of Beauty; Alexis
Burgess: Caelia
Pasquali: Pastora
Includes seven world premiere recordings

"refreshingly unfamiliar and..pleasant listening" - BBC Music Magazine

"stylish and appealing performances" - British Music Society Newsletter

"excellently performed..first class recording..Margarette Ashton's voice is captivating. I recommend it without reservation" - Federation of Recorded Music Societies.

CELLO SPICE CD 2-5002

Cervetto: Cello Trio no.2 in B flat;
Mainardi: Notturno;
Aeschbacher: Suite for 4 cellos, op.44;
Norris: Rumba;
Dare: Elegie; Five pieces for cello ensemble;
Don: Quartet for cellos, op.7;
Rodrigo: Dos piezas caballerescas;
Anita Hewitt-Jones: Serenade (Spanish Dance)

8 world premieres

This is probably the only CD anywhere totally devoted to original works for three or four cellos, music which has been shamefully neglected. Cello Spice is a group of Scotland's finest cellists, namely Alison Lawrance, Gillian Copp, John Davidson and Mark Bailey.

"A wonderful disc" - BBC Radio North Network

"If you like cellos, Cello Spice is for you...... Buy it!" - Musical Opinion

"I fell on..(this disc)...with glee...I played A Celebration of cellos over and over and over" - Andre Jute Classical Jukebox

"A disc of unknown music for three and (mostly) four cellos may not seem among the most obvious proposals for inclusion on your must-buy list of CDs, but this one simply demands to be heard and enjoyed, in the same deep glow of warm contentment as comes from a glass of Laphroaig taken in a leather chair in front of a roaring log fire on a winter evening. One might imagine that the sound of cello ensemble might pall when extended over an hour, but not a bit of it; the repertoire has been skilfully chosen to show off the sheer richness of the sound of a cello quartet, and this listener has played the disc again and again with enchantment growing apace on each occasion.

That repertoire will require some explanation; Enrico Mainardi and Joaquin Rodrigo are the only names here you are likely to recognise, though I have to admit that this gentle, achingly lovely Notturno is the first piece of Mainardi's I recall hearing, and Rodrigo's Dos Piezas is hardly the best explored corner of his catalog……Marie Dare was..plainly capable of a delicate melodic line and some beautiful harmonies - the Elegie, for example, is a moving exercise in emotional restraint. The Quartet for Cellos by Nigel Don is similarly discreet, though with a hint of warm humor. And the Serenade by Anita Hewitt-Jones and the three-cello Rumba of Michael Norris are easygoing miniatures of little weight but considerable charm. All in all, a most endearing disc". - Martin Anderson - Fanfare (USA) - January 2000

THE SCOTTISH ROMANTICS CD 2-5003

MURRAY McLACHLAN (piano)

Most of the piano works of McCunn (whose operas are being rediscovered), McEwen, and Mackenzie, who is acknowledged to be one of Elgar's main influences, are on this disc, all for the first time. Pieces ranging in mood from Chopin to Debussy via Liszt, and all with an unmistakeable Scottish lilt.

MacCunn: Six Scotch Dances; Valse;
McEwen: Four Sketches; Three Keats Preludes; Sonatina; On Southern Hills; Five Vignettes from La Côte d'Argent;
Mackenzie: Three pieces from opus 13; Chasse aux Papillons; Harvest Home; Odds & Ends Book One

"this delightful disc......(is) thoroughly rewarding" - Yorkshire Post

"Murray McLachlan has a sure touch..... what intriguing music!" - BBC Music Magazine

"Murray McLachlan..is superb.....a disc to be highly recommended" - British Music Society Newsletter

"The Scottish Romantics" was voted one of the four musical highlights of 1996 by John Purser in The Scotsman, who called this music "exquisite"

"The short-lived Hamish McCunn offers perhaps the sweetest music here; ........The music of Sir Alexander Mackenzie is indebted to some fairly obvious Romantic models, as McLachlan's well-informed notes point out, ........it's beautifully made for the instrument and effortlessly melodic - in a word, it's lovely. ..........an imaginative and intriguing CD. There's nothing here to shake the soul, maybe, but plenty to divert the ear. Recommended." - Martin Anderson - Fanfare (USA) - January 2000

MY SONG IS LOVE CD 2-5004

ABERDEEN YOUTH CHOIR, DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER BELL

Performances which are both polished and committed, from this amazing choir, including a few well -known sacred pieces by Durufle, Stainer, Stanford; new works by brilliant Scots composer Martin Dalby, a gem from John Tavener, and a selection of traditional Scottish songs in super new arrangements by Ken Johnson.

Ireland: Greater Love hath no Man; My Song is Love Unknown
Stanford: O for a closer Walk with God; Tomkins: When David Heard
Dalby: Mater Salutaris; My Heart Aflame; Wesley: Love one Another
Bairstow: I sat Down under his Shadow; Tavener: Love bade me Welcome
Durufle: Ubi Caritas et Amor (4 Motets, op.10, no1) Stainer: God so Loved the World (The Crucifixion)
Anon (16th c.): Descendi in Hortuum Meum
Traditional Scottish Songs: Fa La La Lo; Westering Home; O Gin I were where Gadie rins (all arr. Ken Johnston); Skye Boat Song; Scots Wha Hae; Ca' the Yowes
Sponsored by Total Oil

"Many of the tracks are quite stunning...the choir is splendidly directed... their achievements are remarkable...when they let their hair down they are surely without parallel" - from "Sounds Alive" (a Scottish music magazine).

"To hear young musicians sing about love is nothing too very remarkable, but to hear such an accomplished young choir as this take on such a ranging wealth of music demands extraordinary attention. The Aberdeen Youth Choir (in partnership with a commercial sponsor) has provided youth aged 16 to 25 throughout Scotland the opportunity to sing in what amounts to a professional choir. Conductor Bell, who holds respectable credentials.. has fashioned a precise, tight, highly musical and flexible ensemble from these 36 young singers. The sopranos in particular prove supple, transparent in tone and dead in tune. The lower voices, as typical of high-school-aged singers, sometimes lack depth in production, a quality obvious in their reaching for higher pitches. But this is a minor observation in what is otherwise inspiring to hear and demanding of great respect and enthusiasm.

Spirituality and sensuality are but two sides of the same, and that realization drives this wonderful choice of repertoire. The works are less sentimental than longing in nature, perhaps for the comforts of salvation or the wonder of adoration, or the very real red-blooded attraction of one human being for another. So it is that Stanford and Ireland so easily coexist with Tomkins, Tavener, or a host of traditional Scottish love songs. Some sources are obvious, such as Edward Bairstow's sumptuous and brief setting from the Song of Solomon. Others are further afield, like the Tomkins staple When David Heard. Indeed, by Bell's own admission, he has grouped the repertoire by associations with particular aspects of love: friendship, affection, eroticism or charity. As a coincidence, except for the Duruflé potboiler, all the works come from the British Isles. No juxtaposition of style or time jars the hearer, just as no musical demand outweighs the abilities and sensitivities of these singers.

Those of us in the choral business have, more than once, wondered aloud where the next generation of talent might be hiding…This powerfully accomplished, if sometimes flawed, disc serves to remind us of the abilities of young musicians and the truly gratifying results readily at hand for those who make the effort. Sponsor, choir, conductor and label alike deserve great thanks and credit."

Haig Mardirossian "Fanfare" (USA)

"The singing is young in fervour but mature in musicianship. The dynamic control is especially impressive".

**** (four stars awarded). "Choir & Organ"(UK) July/August 2000

BACH TRANSCRIPTIONS AND MODERN AUSTRALIAN WORKS

CD 2-5005

TREVOR BARNARD (piano)

The first recording for some twenty years by a performer whose pioneering version of the Bliss piano concerto for EMI in the 1960's drew undiluted praise. Trevor plays the great Bach/Busoni transcriptions, Myra Hess' version of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and (for the first time on CD) works by Australian composers Margaret Sutherland Felix Werder and Nigel Butterley.

Bach (arr. Busoni): Chaconne from Partita no. 2, BWV 1004; Prelude & Fugue in D, BWV 532; Bach (arr Hess): Chorale Prelude "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring" Sutherland: Chorale Preludes "Herzliebster Jesu" and "Jesu, meine Freude"; First Suite (1937); Second Suite (1937); Werder: Three Pieces after Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience";

Butterley: Comment on a Popular Song

"Eloquent and finely-sculpted advocacy" - Gramophone

"Sound technique…affecting interpretations…excellently engineered" - Musical Opinion

"Barnard is grand . I think magisterial is the right word. If he was always this good one must ask why the hell he spent his life teaching." - Andre Jute Classical Jukebox (Ireland)

"I like the performance [of Comment]" - Nigel Butterley

"Trevor Barnard needs no prompting to realise my ideas" - Felix Werder

"This is a fascinating addition to any CD collection and is a fine example of virtuosity and musical sensitivity combined" - Dolmetch Foundation Bulletin

"Bach Transcriptions and Modern Australian Piano Music may not be the kind of title to bring in the curious outsider - it sounds rather like something for the specialist - but you'll find this disc repays investigation. Trevor Barnard, British-born, briefly US-resident, and Australian-based since 1972, dispatches his Bach transcriptions with aplomb, but the real interest will be in the Australian composers he brings to the surface. A worthwhile release."

Martin Anderson - Fanfare (January 2000)

BALDASSARE GALUPPI - THE COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS, vol.1 CD 2-5006

PETER SEIVEWRIGHT

In the first of a series of 10 CD's containing Galuppi's 90 sonatas, we present eight of these masterpieces. All music lovers should sample these seminal works, which made Galuppi one of the greatest composers of his day; all the more strange that he should have fallen into such obscurity.

Sonata in A minor; Sonata in C minor; Sonata in B flat major;
Sonata in C minor; Sonata in A major; Sonata in G minor; Sonata in E major; Sonata in F major

Peter Seivewright is spending much of this year on a research mission to Venice and other European cities, retrieving the unpublished manuscript scores and preparing performing editions. One of the great revelations brought about by this work is that Galuppi, far from being a straighforward baroque composer writing for the traditional keyboard instruments (harpsichord and clavichord), which have been employed in all previous recordings, actually waited until the piano had been developed before creating most of his phenomenal output. Many of the original manuscripts are titled "Sonata for Pianoforte", and much of the writing, making substantial use of the sustain pedal, simply do not work on the earlier instruments.

"This is a fascinating disc and the beginning of a very important project ....Highly recommended"

Performances ****..Recording **** Classical Music on the Web

"A revelatory disc…Galuppi’s invention is rich and fresh, and Seivewright plays these wonderful pieces with a sense of delight in discovery. Highly recommended."

Performance ***** Recording ***** Robert Cockroft, Yorkshire Pos

"Warmly recommended" Martin Anderson, Fanfare (USA) February 2000

CD 2-5007

BALDASSARE GALUPPI - THE COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS  VOL 2
PETER SEIVEWRIGHT

In the second  of a series of 10 CD's containing Galuppi's 90
sonatas, we present a further nine of these masterpieces. All
music lovers should sample these seminal works, which
made Galuppi one of the greatest composers of his day;
all the more strange that he should have fallen into such
obscurity.

Sonata in C major;  Sonata in G major; Sonata in F major;  Sonata in C minor;
Sonata in F major; Sonata in D minor; Sonata in D major; Sonata in B flat major;
Sonata in A major.

Peter Seivewright has spent a good deal of time on a research mission to Venice and other European cities, retrieving the unpublished manuscript scores and preparing performing editions.  One of the great revelations brought about by this work is that Galuppi, far from being a straightforward baroque composer writing for the traditional keyboard instruments (harpsichord and clavichord), which have been employed in all previous recordings, actually waited until the piano had been developed before creating most of his phenomenal output.     Many of the original manuscripts are titled "Sonata for Pianoforte", and much of the writing, making substantial use of the sustain pedal, simply do not work on the earlier instruments.

ELEGY - 20th CENTURY BRITISH GUITAR MUSIC CD2-5008

JONATHAN RICHARDS

Two of the finest modern works for guitar - John Tavener’s “Chant” and Alan Rawsthorne’s “Elegy” which, with Terence Croucher’s piece of the same name gives the title to this collection - appear with music from several of Britain’s most accomplished composers for the instrument. Jonathan’s fourth recording, and his first for Divine Art, presents works with which he has a special affinity and demonstrates why these compositions deserve a wider audience. This recording has been kindly supported by the Rawsthorne Trust.

Programme:

J. Richards: Five Mini-Preludes; Two Interludes*; Primitive Rites*; Two Nocturnes;
C. Tommis: Prelude no. 5 - Mel Wefus*;
J. R. Williamson: Three Mosaics (nos. 1,3,5)* ;
G. Biberian: Two Haiku (nos. 1 and 6)**;
T. Harrison: Nova Antiqua* ; The Face that launched a thousand ships*;
J. Tavener: Chant;
T. Croucher: Six Preludes* ; The Little Boat*; Elegy;
A. Rawsthorne: Elegy.

*only available recording (in the UK) **only available recording on CD

"A really impressive performance for rhythmic precision and dynamics...The two "Elegies" and "Mel Wefus" are unforgettable" - Just Classical Guitar (Italy)

"A fine guitar collection...a recording that catches every tonal nuance of the instrument...on all counts, content, recording and performance, this CD is highly recommended" - British Music Society

"The pieces by Tavener and Rawsthorne demand our attention. Richards performs [Elegy] with remarkable concentration" - **** - BBC Music Magazine

"Terence Croucher’s Elegy is particularly fine… I derived most pleasure from John Tavener’s hypnotic Chant and Alan Rawsthorne’s meaty Elegy of 1971. Highly accomplished performances, one and all" - Gramophone

"All the composers on this compilation ably uphold the English plucked-string tradition…….Richards' contribution is in the form of a clutch of lovingly crafted musical miniatures, harmonically satisfying distillates that take one deeply into the fundamental elements of music. I found the third of Richards' Mini-Preludes particularly satisfying in its Duartian subtlety. These are tiny aphoristic pieces that make Villa-Lobos' guitar preludes seem like extended essays. Listening to them, I am reminded of Gorky's characterisation of the early works of Chekhov each as a Lilliputian bottle holding a quite special, private and precious scent. If Gorky were Mahler, he might have continued the rest of his statement thus: "Next to [Richards'] music, mine sounds as if it were written with a log rather than a pen". The same can be said for Terence Croucher's Six Preludes, the longest of which clocks in at 57 seconds. Gilbert Biberian's two contributions are, as their titles imply, patently haiku-inspired and harmonically delicious. The only extended pieces on this compilation are John Tavener's 11-minute Chant, Alan Rawsthorne's 9-minute Elegy and Terence Croucher's 6-minute piece by the same title. Each demonstrates Jonathan Richards's ability to sustain a long line far beyond what should be its breaking point. Jonathan Richards and friends are, by the evidence presented, beguiling composers. Richards's technical ability is faultless and always squarely at the service of the music at hand. This all adds up to a quite special 65 minutes that are at once an eloquent homage to the guitar and that transcend considerations of time, place and genre." William Zagorsky (Fanfare January 2000)

THE ISLES OF GREECE CD 2-5010

A song cycle by DONALD SWANN including The Casos Sonnets orchestrated by John Jansson

Soloists: Lucinda Broadbridge (sop), Juliet Alderdice (mezzo), Jeffrey Cresswell (tenor); The Bloomfield Quartet, and Orchestra conducted by John Jansson

As a composer Donald Swann was more prolific, more varied, than might be imagined from those who only know him as half of the Flanders and Swann comedy duo. Fascinated by the Greek islands and particularly Casos, on which he found both peace and disquiet, he used Greek folksong and popular melodies as the basis for these joyful yet thoughtful songs

BONUS: The Casos Sonnets, which form a separate subset, were never performed in Donald's lifetime. We are very fortunate to have secured a tape of these pieces,made by Donald for his own use on his beloved Bluthner piano at his Battersea home, and this CD includes this rare and valuable recording.

"Donald Swann was on this evidence clearly a most accomplished and sensitive composer...the singers seem excellent throughout and there is nothing of the suffocating operatic ambience...it was an inspired decision to include Swann's home-spun tape recording which is never less than poetic...this is a very fine disc and well worth seeking out" - Rob Barnett (British Music Society)

CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE's RECORD OF THE MONTH (Modern Music Category) March 2000

orchestra cond John Janssons

CD2-5011 F. BUSONI - 24 Preludes, op. 37
A. BLISS - Piano Sonata

TREVOR BARNARD

This CD fulfils a long held ambition of Trevor Barnard who, following his pioneering recording of the Bliss Concerto in 1962, vowed someday to complete the double by recording the superb Sonata. Coupled with the amazing Preludes, these works deserve to be much better known. In early 2000 we will be re-issuing that 1962 recording which Trevor made with the Philharmonia under Sir Malcolm Sargent. Look out for it on midprice CD2-4106!!

"An outstanding CD...exceptionally vivid accounts of highly contrasted, yet equally forward-looking works"
Denby Richards - Musical Opinion

"Unusual and welcome disc.. Barnard has an evident enthusiasm for both works...playing is full-bodied with generous pedal, a weighty tone and fine ability to control atmosphere and emotional temperatures"

Recording *** Performance ****

Jessica Duchen - BBC Music Magazine

The sympathetically elegant Trevor Barnard's your man…… this is indispensable, and you are best advised to pick it up sooner… Sound is transparently immediate. FANFARE (USA) - July 2000

"Collectors will recall the magnificent disc the Australian pianist, Trevor Barnard, made some years ago of the Bliss Piano Concerto (shortly to be reissued). Here he gives a striking account of the Piano Sonata, the capricious nature of the score captured with playing of mercurial agility. The remainder of this generously filled disc contains a brilliant reading of Busoni's 24 Preludes, Barnard's crisp articulation bringing an admirable clarity to the most complex passages"

Recording **** Performance ****    David Denton - Yorkshire Post

"CELESTIAL HARMONIES" - MUSIC FOR PIANO
BY CHARLES CAMILLERI CD2-5012

MURRAY McLACHLAN

McLachlan is one of the established Camilleri specialists; performer and composer worked together on this CD of music (first recordings in each case) some of which was especially written for this disc. Camilleri's music is very special - atmospheric, mystical but also full of life and vigour.

Works include:

Paganiana (for 4 hands) - with Kathryn Page
Cosmologies
Astralis
Chemins
Noospheres
Celestial Harmonies

"Listening to Celestial Harmonies, I have experienced quite a new dimension. I felt I was taken up by a whirlwind, higher and higher; an extraordinary and exciting sensation....it is totally breathtaking" - G. de la Fuente, The Maltese Times

"Like Messiaen, the Maltese composer Charles Camilleri rarely shirks the big issues. One set of pieces on this new release is named Cosmologies, another is Celestial Harmonies. Individiual titles include Constellations, Colours of Time and Cosmic Dance. Touches of Turangalila in the exploration of time and space? Indeed, except that the impulse behind these works is the folk music of Malta.

The result is often very beautiful; refined in line and texture, haunting yet spare and superbly captured by this Manchester pianist" - Robert Cockroft, Yorkshire Post

"The CD opens with a take on Paganini's 24th Caprice in a quirky, high-energy rendition for piano four-hands. The individuality and allure of Camilleri's brief set of variations serve as an accessible introduction to the unique music on the balance of the disc". - Fanfare(USA)

***NEW***
CD 2-5014 BRAHMS: CLARINET SONATAS, op. 120 nos 1 & 2
HINDEMITH: CLARINET SONATA (1939)

Colin Bradbury (clarinet);   Bernard Roberts (piano).

Bradbury and Roberts are two of the most respected British instrumentalists of today. They renew their working relationship, following previous collaborations, in this very fine performance of three great German works.

Recorded at St. George's, Brandon Hill (prior to the controversial recent alterations!) This is inspired programme planning. The emotional world of the Hindemith is not a million miles away from that of the Brahms, but its spiky harmonic vocabulary remains far enough away to carry sufficient contrast to the Romantic weight of the two heftier Sonatas.

The Brahms Sonatas take up the lion's share of this offering, and Bradbury and Roberts are more than equal to their demands. Any doubts harboured after the F minor's first movement (great on detail but in need of a long-range sense of line) are effectively forgotten by the end. There is real chamber music dialogue in the Andante un poco adagio, and the finale is true to the vivace marking. The Allegretto grazioso shines brightest in this performance, however: autumnal, like a half-caught memory and yet conjuring up an Austrian Landler in the process.

The same musicianly qualities grace the E flat Sonata. The final variations are strongly characterised and Bradbury's half-tone in the first movement is a joy. The Hindemith merely adds to the pleasure afforded by this CD: the final pianissimo of the first movement hangs magically in the air whilst the playful second and fourth movements offer aural balm.

Competition is not as fierce as might be imagined in the Brahms and this coupling is, anyway, unique. Bradbury and Roberts provide a rewarding musical experience.

Performance ****(*) Recording ****

Colin Clarke (Classical Music on the Web)

THE CLASSIC AND ROMANTIC HORN CD 2-4102

TERRY JOHNS (horn), JULIA LYNCH, BRIAN KELLOCK (Pianos)

Classic sonatas by Beethoven, Saint-Saens and Hindemith complement arrangements of Gershwin, Weill and van Heusen numbers - and a new work by Terry Johns, who played on the soundtrack of Superman, Star Wars and many other films!

Beethoven: Horn Sonata in F, op.17
Gershwin: Someone to watch over Me
van Heusen: All the Way
Saint-Saens: Romance in E, op.67
Johns: Holland Park
Hindemith: Horn Sonata (1939)
Weill: September Song

"marvellous and memorable performance..I can thoroughly recommend this CD"
Federation of Recorded Music Societies - Bulletin

"Terry Johns brings..a sensibility that gives the most fundamental element of music, melody, its due........he fully realises Beethoven's dictum that music should pass from the heart of the composer to the heart of the listener.. recommended to all those who still think that various categories of music are mutually exclusive - and to everyone else"
William Zagorski - Fanfare (USA)

SOFT CORE HORN CD 2-4103

TERRY JOHNS (horn), BARRY BOOTH (piano)

Some evergreen songs given a unique treatment in these arrangements by Barry Booth for horn and piano. This new recording has been highly praised by two of Britain's top instrumentalists - see the News Page.

My Ship (Kurt Weill) So in Love (Cole Porter)
My Romance (Richard Rodgers) Yesterdays (Jerome Kern)
Someone to Watch over Me (George Gershwin)
My Foolish Heart (Victor Young) Bill (Jerome Kern)
In the Still of the Night (Cole Porter) White Christmas (Irving Berlin)
Embraceable You (George Gershwin) A Child is Born (Thad Jones)
The Nearness of You (Hoagy Carmichael) People (Jules Styne)
Soon it’s Gonna Rain (Harvey Schmidt)

" a most tasteful, beautiful and relaxing record. I strongly recommend it". - Barry Tuckwell

"This cleverly titled collection is a must.. Terry Johns gives the melodies a vocal quality...stunningly inventive...the perfect accompaniment to a large gin and tonic" - Musician (March 1999)

"I can't think of a more perfect combination of instruments to evoke the feeling of the unsung words of that masterpiece [referring to Cole Porter's "In the Still of the Night]. Beautiful mood music" - Desmond Carrington - BBC Radio 2

COX AND BOX (by Burnand and Sullivan) CD 2-4104

LEON BERGER, IAN KENNEDY and DONALD FRANCKE
with Kenneth Barclay (piano)

THE ORIGINAL 1866 VERSION - this recording was first issued on limited edition cassette by the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society in 1984 and was highly praised. In 1995, a reviewer in "BBC Music Magazine" expressed his wish to see this production on CD, and so here it is!

Ian Kennedy was described by one critic as "the best Box on record". An uninhibited interpretation of this high musical farce. Not to be missed by any G&S or musical comedy fan.

"A professionally performed and comically expert recording" - BBC Music Magazine

"the performance has real flair and accomplishment" - Gramophone

"this merry enterprise...is very convincing. Strongly recommended" ***** - Classic CD

"earnest dedication to authenticity…..Donald Francke is genuinely funny…" - Opera Quarterly (USA)

"Recorded at a 1984 performance, this is the world-première issue of the original 60-minute Cox and Box. The performance is delightful. Leon Berger is a rough and ready Cox, and Ian Kennedy a mellifluous Box. Kenneth Barclay keeps the proceedings moving smartly on the piano. Highly recommended for all Savoyards." - James Camner - Fanfare (USA)

A SOCIETY CLOWN - THE SONGS OF GEORGE GROSSMITH CD2-4105

Leon Berger (baritone), Selwyn Tillett (piano) --photos below

Grossmith was one of Britain's top music hall artists at the turn of the 20th century, and also successfully toured the American vaudeville theatres. His comic songs (some written in collaboration with W S Gilbert) range widely in style and many came from shows and revues which enjoyed great success. He was also the creator of several roles in the Savoy Operas.The best-selling novel "Diary of a Nobody" , written by "GG" together with his brother Weedon, is still in print.

Sadly he never recorded himself, but Leon Berger and Selwyn Tillett, acknowledged authorities on Grossmith and his music, have re-created them wonderfully in period style.  Produced in association with the Sir Arthur Sullivan Society

"Leon Berger's clear delivery and even clearer diction do well for these songs, while Selwyn Tillett is a sympathetic accompanist. The booklet is nicely presented and the CD, which is well recorded and affords generous measure, is generally very recommendable" - Phil Scowcroft (British Music Society)

Tracks: See Me Dance the Polka; He Was a Careless Man; The Bus Conductor’s Song; My Janet; How I Became an Actor; The Lost Key; The Mother & Her Child were There!; His Nose was on the Mantelpiece; The French Verbs Song; I am Not in the Vein, My Muse; Oh Butcher, Oh Baker; If you Value a Peaceable Life; I’m Tired of the Moon, My Love & Myself; Go On Talking - Don’t Mind Me!; I Don’t Mind Flies; The Baby on the Shore; I’m his Daisy; How I Became a Detective; My Lady Nature’s Little Joke; Tommy’s First Love; I Loved Her & I Left Her; Your Honoured & Ancient Name; The Happy Old Days at Peckham; See Me Reverse.

t***NEW***

SIR ARTHUR BLISS: PIANO CONCERTO CD2-4106
TREVOR BARNARD (piano),

THE PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA   cond. SIR MALCOLM SARGENT

At last available on CD, this recording shot Trevor Barnard to fame in 1962 when released on HMV. The first stereo recording of this fine British concerto, it was subsequently re-issued by EMI as part of its "Great British Concertos" set in the 70s.  The recording has been digitally remastered by Tonmeister Leslie Craythorn in Australia, after re-equalisation by Huntcliff Recording of Redcar, England.

This is a broad, optimistic work - bold and pioneering but also conservative in many respects - rather like the American people to whom it is dedicated!     Issued under licence from EMI Records Ltd

"Barnard's playing is tremendously committed and he copes well with the many virtuoso demands Bliss forces on him. There is a great Romantic sweep to the first movement: the orchestra (inspired under Sargent) obviously enjoys letting its hair down. …Throughout, the orchestral detail revealed by Craythorn's transfer is little short of miraculous. Barnard's variety of touch comes to the fore in the last movement also, the effect almost spectral at times. …….Wholeheartedly recommended." -Colin Clarke (Classical Music on the Web)

l***NEW***
THE JANE AUSTEN COLLECTION
Concert Royal CD2-4107

"Yes, yes, we will have a pianoforte, as good a one as can be got for thirty guineas, and I will practise country dances, that we may have some amusement for our nephews and nieces, when we have the pleasure of their company."

So wrote Jane Austen (1775-1817) to her sister Cassandra on 27th December 1808. Music played a significant part in Jane's life in the cottage at Chawton in Hampshire she shared with her mother and sister. According to Caroline, one of her nieces, she practised the pianoforte each day before breakfast, but could not be prevailed upon to perform in public.

This CD by original-instrument specialists Concert Royal presents music from the personal collection of the Austen family; music that would have been heard, if not played and sung, by Jane, her parents and her sister Cassandra. Performed in "drawing-room" style this is music presented as it would have been heard in Jane's time. The CD also includes extracts from "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma" and from some of Jane's letters to her sister, including the above reference to the family's forthcoming acquisition of a square piano, an instrument of the type used on this recording. Very different in tone (and tuning) to the modern grand piano, it is sometimes difficult to believe that this is the type of keyboard upon which many of the great works of Mozart were composed. "This is a delightful idea for a recording… The non-musical items in the programme are done splendidly by the soprano Margarette Ashton… The performers themselves, Concert Royal, are excellent. With original instruments which include a one keyed flute and a square piano joining a soprano voice that is small but admirably suited to the repertoire the concept succeeds. The well-recorded programme really does create images of the scene that we are intended to imagine."

A recommendation then for an imaginative and enterprising CD - Classical Music on the Web

TRACKS:

1. The Highland Laddie trad.; arr. Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
2. The Yellow Hair'd Laddie trad.; arr. L.A. Kozeluch (1747-1818)
3. Peaty's Mill arr. Stephen Paxton (1735-1787)
4. Extract from "Sense and Sensibility" (1811) -Marianne compares Edward's lack of sensibility with Willoughby
5. Andantino Ignace Joseph Pleyel (1757-1831)
6. Extract from "Sense and Sensibility" (1811) - Marianne has been abandoned by Willoughby
7. The Mansion of Peace Samuel Webbe snr. (1740-1816)
8. Time hath not Thinn'd William Jackson (1730-1803)
9. William Joseph Haydn; arr. Thomas Billington (1754-1832)
10. Extract from a letter from Jane to her sister Cassandra (5th September 1796) followed by Boulangeries (anon.)
11. Cymon and Iphigenia Thomas Augustine Arne (1710-1778)
12. Extract from a letter from Jane to her sister Cassandra (27th December 1808) followed by:
Air des Ballets de la Caravane A. E. M. Grétry (1741-1813)
13. The Wedding Day James Hook (1746-1827)
14. The Nightingale anonymous
15. Extract from "Emma" (1816) - Mrs. Cole tells of the mysterious arrival of a pianoforte for Jane Fairfax
16. The Shepherd's Song Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
17. Extract from a letter from Jane to her sister Cassandra (15th January 1796) followed by
The Irishman anonymous

CD 2-4108

Charles Avison 6 Concerti from opus 9:
no.1 in G major; no.4 in G minor;
no.6 in E minor; no.7 in E flat major;
no.8 in B flat major; no.9 in C minor

THE GEORGIAN CONCERT

Leader: Simon Jones

Artistic Director: Peter Harrison

Avison's music has been neglected for too long and we are delighted to offer the first recording on authentic instruments of these fine concerti.

These pieces were written to be played in various ways; as chamber concerti with continuo in the baroque style; as works for solo keyboard; or as string quartets, as such being the earliest English examples of that genre. On this disc the opportunity is taken to present individual concerti with either harpsichord or chamber organ continuo, or without either.

2-7001* pilgrim's star Hail Mary Regina Derieva/Akathistos Russian Choir

2-7002* pilgrim's star Pierucci - Via Crucis Aidija Chorus of Lithuania cond. Grazinis

2-7003* pilgrim's star Franciscan Road Friars of St. Saviour's Monastery, Jerusalem

DSM 3 dansing Guardian Spirit Dan Evans

DSM 4 dansing Spirit Dancing Dan Evans

  Main Site Menu     |    Back to Labels Menu     |    Order Information Page