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Vaughan Williams, Venables - Portraits of a Mind
£13.34
In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day
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New Item
Label: Albion Records
Cat No: ALBCD057
Barcode: 5060158190577
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Vocal/Choral
Release Date: 19th May 2023
The cycle's five songs are exceptionally well sung by Alessandro Fisher, who convincingly encompasses emotions stretching from the balmy pastoralism of the opening ‘The Lark Ascending’ (with chirruping near-quotations from VW), to the pained retrospection of the Rossetti setting ‘Echo’ [...] But it’s Fisher’s On Wenlock Edge which is the true jewel of this particular collection.
On Wenlock Edge has been in the back pocket of just about every major British tenor of the last century and in the last fifty years many of them have made recordings too. […] But none have quite the expressive range of Fisher which – bold statement though this is – strikes me as the more complete and compelling performance I have heard.
Venables’s strong set is worthy of commemoration for the composer […]. The result is an original and beautifully balanced cycle that, frankly, would grace any recital or recording. It receives a marvellous rendition from Fisher, and the accompaniments by the Navarra Quartet and William Vann.
Venables’s settings are exemplary for their sensitivity to the chosen texts and ability to underline and illuminate their meanings, and Fisher is an ideal vocal exponent thrilling in the sensitivity as well as the sheer beauty of his singing.
The performance of On Wenlock Edge is exemplary, the finest I have heard. The balance of tenor and instrumentalists is sheer perfection. The two voices in the conversation of Is My Team Ploughing by Fisher could not be bettered. His pure tenor rings out every bit as strongly as the bells in Bredon Hill.
