Hindemith: The Long Christmas Dinner (Das lange Weihnachtsmahl)

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Hindemith: The Long Christmas Dinner (Das lange Weihnachtsmahl)

Camille Zamora (Lucia/Lucia II), Sara Murphy (Mother Bayard/Ermengarde), Jarrett Ott (Roderick/Sam), Josh Quinn (Brandon:), Glenn Seven Allen (Charles), Catherine Martin (Genevieve), Kathryn Guthrie (Leonora), Scott Murphree (Roderick II)

American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein

The American Symphony Orchestra plays warmly under Leon Botstein's baton…[and he] has assembled a fine group of singers who blend well, several (above all the mezzo Sara Murphy) relishing the... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2015 More…

Release Date: 25th Sep 2015
Catalogue No: BRIDGE9449
Label: Bridge
Length: 48 minutes

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Hindemith: The Long Christmas Dinner

Work length48:42

$16.00

$20.80

Camille Zamora, Sara Murphy, Jarrett Ott, Josh Quinn, Glenn Seven Allen, Scott Murphree, Catherine Martin, Kathryn Guthrie
American Symphony Orchestra
Leon Botstein

Introduction (Live)

Track length1:49

$1.00

$1.30

I Reckon We're Ready (Live)

Track length1:49

$1.00

$1.30

I Was Remembering (Live)

Track length2:24

$1.00

$1.30

What a Joy (Live)

Track length6:06

$1.00

$1.30

How Long Have We Been in This House? (Live)

Track length4:34

$1.00

$1.30

Merry Christmas to All (Live)

Track length5:14

$1.00

$1.30

Did You Enjoy Yourselves at the Ball? (Live)

Track length0:55

$1.00

$1.30

Light Is Her Step (Live)

Track length4:20

$1.00

$1.30

It Was Great to Be in Alaska Then (Live)

Track length2:40

$1.00

$1.30

Time Flies So Fast (Live)

Track length5:49

$1.00

$1.30

We Talk of the Weather (Live)

Track length2:41

$1.00

$1.30

Why Are You All So Gloomy? (Live)

Track length2:28

$1.00

$1.30

Mother, Now I Must Pack (Live)

Track length1:19

$1.00

$1.30

Forgive Me (Live)

Track length1:37

$1.00

$1.30

I Was Trying to Think This Morning (Live)

Track length2:18

$1.00

$1.30

Such Beautiful Snow (Live)

Track length2:39

$1.00

$1.30

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This recording marks a major event in American music: the premiere recording of the original English language version of Paul Hindemith’s final opera, “The Long Christmas Dinner” (1960/61) on a libretto by Thornton Wilder. Conductor Leon Botstein writes: “One aspect that Thornton Wilder and Paul Hindemith shared was their mastery of the short form in their respective fields: the single-act work. Nowhere is Wilder’s skill in this dramatic form so ambitiously and thrillingly demonstrated than in “The Long Christmas Dinner”, which transforms the concept of duration by compressing 90 years into under an hour, and thereby exposes fundamental issues of life and its rebirths. Hindemith, too, loved the form, and used it to invoke sudden spikes of emotion, whether it be horror, laughter, or astonishment. That these two great artists collaborated on a form that they both dominated and reinvigorated is a rare and happy historical convergence.” This CD release includes complete librettos in English and German, and extensive background notes by Hindemith scholar Joel Haney, conductor Leon Botstein, and Tappan Wilder, nephew and literary executor of Thornton Wilder.

Reviews

December 2015

The American Symphony Orchestra plays warmly under Leon Botstein's baton…[and he] has assembled a fine group of singers who blend well, several (above all the mezzo Sara Murphy) relishing the beauty of the words and the musical lines.

December 2015

Botstein has assembled a fine group of singers who blend well, several relishing the beauty of the words and the musical lines—the mezzo Sara Murphy is especially good in this respect as an earthy Mother Bayard. Other notable performances come from Kathryn Guthrie, who spins fine coloratura as the local beauty, Leonora, who marries into the family, and the baritone Jarrett Ott has warm resonance as Sam. As expected of a Botstein enterprise, there are insightful notes.

6th September 2015

The performance under Leon Botstein preserves that lightness and subtlety very carefully, and while it’s sometimes difficult on disc to make enough distinction between the characters (there are 11 roles, some of which are doubled here), the basic conceit of the narrative works perfectly. All the performances gel.

Hindemith: The Long Christmas Dinner (Das lange Weihnachtsmahl)

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