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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | The Barbirolli English Music Album
anon.: | The Irish Ho Hoane arr: John Barbirolli | Barbirolli: | An Elizabethan Suite | Bax: | The Garden of Fand recorded 21 June 1956, Free Trade Hall, Manchester | Bull, J: | The King's Hunt arr: John Barbirolli | Butterworth, G: | A Shropshire Lad - Rhapsody recorded 20 June 1956, Free Trade Hall, Manchester | Byrd: | Pavana "The Earle of Salisbury" arr: John Barbirolli | Elgar: | Enigma Variations, Op. 36 Recorded 12 May 1947 Houldsworth Hall, Manchester HMV previously unpublished Bavarian Dance No. 2 Recorded 30 May 1947 Kingsway Hall, London HMV unpublished take | Farnaby, G: | A Toye arr: John Barbirolli Giles Farnaby’s Dreame arr: John Barbirolli | Ireland: | The Forgotten Rite - Prelude recorded 31 May 1949, No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London Mai-Dun recorded 31 May 1949, No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London These Things Shall be recorded 1 May 1948, Houldsworth Hall, Manchester with Parry Jones (tenor) Hallé Choir | Purcell: | Suite for strings, woodwind and horns arr: John Barbirolli | Vaughan Williams: | Fantasia on Greensleeves recorded 26 February 1948 Houldsworth Hall, Manchester Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis recorded 6 June 1946 Houldsworth Hall, Manchester |
This BARBIROLLI ENGLISH MUSIC ALBUM contains something of a scoop in that the recording of Elgar’s Enigma Variations was made on 12 May 1947, the first time Barbirolli recorded the work. For some undiscoverable reason, the discs were never issued and the work was re-recorded on 23 October of the same year (also issued on CD by the Barbirolli Society on SJB1017). His affection for this inexhaustible masterpiece shone through every performance of it he gave as he gloried in the piquancy of the illustration of Elgar’s “friends pictured within” — and he liked to remind Michael Kennedy that the Variations and JB were born in the same year, 1899. Elgar’s genius was to weld his series of vignettes into a large-scale composite portrait — of himself. This gift for writing a miniature which was a microcosm of a big work is illustrated also in the second (the exquisite Lullaby) of the Three Bavarian Dances, a previously unpublished take, recorded on 30 May 1947. | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | John Wilson conducts Ireland
“This attractive compilation, sparkily performed by John Wilson and the Hallé, is exactly the kind of push Ireland's reputation needs” The Guardian, 19th June 2009 **** “The advertising blurb on the CD cover quotes a reviewer in The Times. It states quite categorically, “I'd rather listen to the Hallé play English music than any other orchestra in the world.” … if I am honest I would have to agree that this present performance of John Ireland's orchestral music is
truly superb. The present CD is a veritable feast of Ireland's orchestral music. In fact it makes an excellent introduction to his music. There are six works on this disc, which represent different facets and
interests of the composer's achievement. Perhaps the most important works are those associated with location and history - Mai-Dun and The Forgotten Rite. Much of his music was infused with evocations of place and the people who had
lived there. This was especially the case when those places had connections with the prehistoric and had 'mystical aspects' associated with their beliefs and rituals. He had a heightened sense of 'awareness of place': a kind of sixth-sense.
This is a great CD that every Ireland enthusiast will insist on having. The main competition for this music is the Boult recordings on Lyrita and the Hickox edition on Chandos. All these recordings are essential and I would not be without them. I was introduced to Ireland's orchestral
music through the Lyrita LPs so I naturally have a soft spot for them. However, John Wilson and the Hallé have excelled themselves and produced a landmark disc that presents this great music with enthusiasm, passion and understanding.” John France, MusicWeb International Recording of the Month “John Wilson directs to the manner born and draws a crisply disciplined response from the Hallé, who seem to be enjoying the experience enormously.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2009 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Alan Rowlands & Adrian Sims play Vaughan Williams & IrelandA Unique recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams's Sixth Symphony on two pianos.
Alan Rowlands and Adrian Sims (pianos) Vaughan Williams valued the opinions of close friends on his new works, even if he did not always follow the advice given. In the early years, it was to his first wife Adeline as well as to fellow composers George Butterworth and Gustav Holst that he would turn. Later, the circle of advisers widened, to include Sir Arthur Bliss, Gerald Finzi and Herbert Howells, the conductors Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Adrian Boult and Sir Malcolm Sargent and musical friends such as R.O. Morris, Steuart Wilson, Ruth Dyson and Roy Douglas. These and many others were invited to a ‘play-through’ of Vaughan Williams’ new work. Such first hearings were arranged for piano, or two pianos, and central to many of these performances in the 1940s and 1950s was Michael Mullinar (1895 - 1973). Mullinar was an expert accompanist, teacher and composer who would on occasion venture into solo repertoire. Vaughan Williams sketches for the Sixth Symphony and Michael Mullinar’s two-piano arrangement with various interpolations by the composer can be found in the British Library. Alan Rowlands edited the two-piano arrangement for this recording making use of the final orchestral published version to fill in any gaps. Thus we can hear for the first time what a ‘play-through’ actually sounded like. “splendidly lucid and spontaneous...For anyone familiar with this masterpiece it certainly makes for absorbing listening, the work's clashing harmonies and knotty counterpoint elucidated to frequently telling effect.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Boult conducts Ireland
“Assembled from three of Boult's four Lyrita LPs devoted to Ireland, this generous programme launches with the red-blooded symphonic prelude Tritons (a student offering from 1899). Boult and the LPO do not shirk the melodrama and go on to lend equally dedicated advocacy to the magical 1913 prelude TheForgotten Rite and glowering 1921 symphonic rhapsody Mai-Dun.
The stand-out track remains Boult's wonderfully spry and observant account of A LondonOverture (1936), which is easily a match for Barbirolli's almost exactly contemporaneous LSO version for EMI. The 1942 Epic March, too, glints with memorable defiance. The JuliusCaesar diptych is less immediately gripping, but the five-movement suite compiled by Charles Mackerras from Ireland's 1946 score for Ealing Studios' The Overlanders certainly has its moments, not least the touching 'Romance' (which plunders material from A Downland Suite of 1932) and infectiously jaunty outer portions of the central 'Intermezzo'.
Considering some of these sessions took place as long ago as December 1965, the judiciously refurbished sound still packs quite a punch.
Altogether a very welcome reissue.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| | | (also available to download from $10.75) | This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched. (Available now to download.) |
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