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Product Description
CD Composer: Delius,Frederick
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By GlynLuke
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Audio CD
I first heard and was captivated by Delius, as I`m sure many of a certain age were,
in the `60s BBC TV film about the composer by Ken Russell - one of his less overwrought efforts. I soon bought a lovely LP of various pieces conducted by John Barbirolli (the Delius/Barbirolli box set available is excellent, despite a less than perfect Brigg Fair).
Nowadays, thanks to a post-sixties resurgence of interest in this distinctive composer, there are many recordings to choose from of almost all the works, and Naxos, who have done British music proud over the years, here present the languorous Florida Suite (Delius was an orange grower there as a young man, returning later to check how the fruit crop was doing) as well as the gorgeous Over The Hills And Far Away, and four other similarly compelling pieces by this most idealistic of artists.
Even a six-minute one-off simply called Scherzo is delightful.
David Lloyd-Jones and the ENP convey this music to the listener in both superb sound and fulsome, sturdy playing, which is as it should be since Delius needs a strong hand on the tiller, so that the sometimes meandering structure can form a bedrock for his invariably dreamy musical musings.
With German parentage, Fritz Theodore Albert Delius was born in Bradford, Yorks in 1862, travelled much in Scandinavia, especially his beloved Norway - where he befriended and was taught by Grieg - and eventually settled in France. To call him a quintessentially English composer is not only inaccurate but gives a false impression of this hard-to-place composer. He was as inspired by the Florida night as by dawn over the fjords, by a rural French garden as by the Yorkshire Dales.... Read more ›
in the `60s BBC TV film about the composer by Ken Russell - one of his less overwrought efforts. I soon bought a lovely LP of various pieces conducted by John Barbirolli (the Delius/Barbirolli box set available is excellent, despite a less than perfect Brigg Fair).
Nowadays, thanks to a post-sixties resurgence of interest in this distinctive composer, there are many recordings to choose from of almost all the works, and Naxos, who have done British music proud over the years, here present the languorous Florida Suite (Delius was an orange grower there as a young man, returning later to check how the fruit crop was doing) as well as the gorgeous Over The Hills And Far Away, and four other similarly compelling pieces by this most idealistic of artists.
Even a six-minute one-off simply called Scherzo is delightful.
David Lloyd-Jones and the ENP convey this music to the listener in both superb sound and fulsome, sturdy playing, which is as it should be since Delius needs a strong hand on the tiller, so that the sometimes meandering structure can form a bedrock for his invariably dreamy musical musings.
With German parentage, Fritz Theodore Albert Delius was born in Bradford, Yorks in 1862, travelled much in Scandinavia, especially his beloved Norway - where he befriended and was taught by Grieg - and eventually settled in France. To call him a quintessentially English composer is not only inaccurate but gives a false impression of this hard-to-place composer. He was as inspired by the Florida night as by dawn over the fjords, by a rural French garden as by the Yorkshire Dales.... Read more ›
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By B. Mason
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a good selection of Delius' romantic music; which with the Florida suite is up there with the best of them. The other pieces grow on you. A good introduction to Delius which will have you investigating other pieces in his significant repetoire
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.9 out of 5 stars
7 reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful "Florida Suite"
18 Sep 2001
By John O'Neill
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
Delius, to me, is one of the most underappreciated composers. Often dismissed as a composer of light, impressionistic miniatures, he in fact composed several large scale works of which the "Florida Suite" may be the most famous. Made up of four movements the work contains some of the composers most delightful melodies including the famous "La Calinda" which he would use again in his opera "Koanga". This is its original setting and makes for a wonderful opening to the work. The second movement "By the River", a favorite of Sir Thomas Beecham, contains a wonderful flowing melody that just carries the listener along.
This CD is also of importance to the Delius fan as it contains several works which are recorded for the first time on this CD: Idylle Printemps,La Quadroone, and "Scherzo".
The recording has a wonderful full sound and David Lloyd-Jones, who has previously recorded several acclaimed releases for Naxos, gets excellent performances out of the members of the English Northern Philharmonia.
79 minutes of Delius in a recording that can stand up to the majors in every way.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Performances
17 Jan 2005
By D. A Wend
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
If you like music descriptive a landscapes and the bucolic life, the Florida Suite is certainly what you are looking for. The Florida Suite stems from the time the young Delius spent on a plantation (sent by his father as a possible business future for his son) overseeing orange groves. Fortunately for us, Delius studied music and not business. Delius' father recognized his son's true vocation and sent him to the Leipzig Conservatory to study music; the Florida Suite was written during his student years. The first movement of the suite includes music (known as La Calinda) that was later used in Koanga, so it is appropriate to have the final scene of that opera included in this CD. The third movement recalls the plantation workers after the day is done and the dance they do that has Spanish feel to it. The final movement is a very effective evocation of night. The opera Koanga is set on a plantation in Louisiana, revolving around a slave-girl named Palmyra, which worked well with descriptive music about Florida.
Over the Hills and Far Away is a fantasy-overture. It is a joyous work that evokes a landscape of distant hills. The theme is the subject of several variations. The Idylle Printemps nicely expresses the season of the title and the Scherzo and La Quadroone were part of a larger suite for orchestra (subtitled Rhapsodie floridienne). This music is perfect if you have had a difficult day and want to relax.
The CD is nicely recorded and David Lloyd-Jones is a superb interpreter of Delius' music. Highly recommended.
Over the Hills and Far Away is a fantasy-overture. It is a joyous work that evokes a landscape of distant hills. The theme is the subject of several variations. The Idylle Printemps nicely expresses the season of the title and the Scherzo and La Quadroone were part of a larger suite for orchestra (subtitled Rhapsodie floridienne). This music is perfect if you have had a difficult day and want to relax.
The CD is nicely recorded and David Lloyd-Jones is a superb interpreter of Delius' music. Highly recommended.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Such a great treat!
5 April 2004
By Mr Russell S. Wollman
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Frederick Delius' "Florida Suite" has got to be among the finest compositions of all time. Every line of it amply speaks for Delius' strong connection with and subtle appreciation for the myriad aspects of nature. Few works can match its elegant beauty, which is rendered so nicely on this performance. And the wonderful sound quality makes for very satisfying listening.
Among the quick results I've obtained from listening to this CD is a real appetite for the works of Mr. Delius. I read that he abandoned England in his youth for the managment of some orange groves of Florida, which he rather neglected in favor of his music. We are very lucky indeed that both the orange crop-and this sumptuous music-remain vital today. Mr. Delius has gone, but perhaps we will see his like once more, in a better world, to remind us of the power of nature.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 7 reviews
4.9 out of 5 stars
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