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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Ian Bostridge has one of the most beautiful voices on record, and has shown enormous courage and wisdom in selecting material that will extend and develop his extraodinary gifts. Not all of this material has been a perfect match for his smooth and soaring tenor voice, notably some of Schubert’s more dramatic “lieder”. In contrast, nothing could be more perfectly suited to Bostridge’s gifts than this generous and beautiful collection of traditional English songs by Britten, Finzi, Grainger, Warlock and others.
Bostridge brings more than just a beautiful tone and a subtle musical phrasing to these songs. In contrast with the pure vowel sounds of most continental languages, as Ian says in his sleeve-notes, the complex vowels of “Southern British English” are formidably difficult to render attractively in song. (It’s not just a question of singing them prettily. Think how accurately the pronunciation of a word like “house” or “bath” can betray someone’s geographical and social background – our vowels are a caste-mark as well as a means of communication). But somehow Bostridge himself, in his fruitful partnership with Julius Drake, manages to transcend the divisions and deliver these songs in a way that places no barrier between the listener and the music.
It is impossible in a written review to describe the sense of exhilaration that comes with these lilting pastoral airs and occasional boisterous ditties. They are at one and the same time ancient and modern, embracing at once the mutual cross-fertilisation between classical and “pop” sensibilities that has always underpinned the best of English music. Even the most trivial of these songs (e.g. “Jillian of Berry”) are memorable, and some of them (notably Sir Charles Stanford’s chilling musical setting of the Keats’ poem, “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”) would not have been beneath the great Schubert himself.
This is a wonderful album.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I already liked Ian Bostridge, but I thought "English songs" would be rather light and without substance. But I have fallen in love with this CD and never tire of it! I was already an admirer of Vaughan Williams, Britten, Finzi, Warlock and Delius, and I'm glad for this introduction to other composers as well. Also, much beautiful poetry is chosen, from Shakespeare, Yeats, Rossetti, Keats, and others, and each is treated with careful consideration by the composer, *partnering* music with poetry rather than simply enhancing or overshadowing the lyric. Bostridge seems to have the perfect voice for this music, light and charming when appropriate, heart-breaking at other times, always an engaging storyteller. He obviously understands intimately each word and note that he sings. The listener can hear his facial expressions and body language! The English Songbook is a beautiful collection of excellent craftsmanship, and one of the best CDs I have.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a beautiful CD. The songs are excellent throughout. The understanding between Bostridge and Drake is evident. I especially liked the Finzi songs, but was intrigued to hear "The death of Queen Jane", a traditional folk song about Henry VIII and Jane Seymour which was rediscovered in the USA. A very good CD and one that I will return to often.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
ANOTHER MASTERPIECE COMPILATION FROM IAN!
This was another detour for the great Ian Bostridge - as was 'The Noel Coward Songbook' (see my Review for that title) and no mistake, where all the Songs are sung in English. Read more
Published 9 months ago by FAMOUS NAME
Excellent!!
Well done, Bostridge!!
A great joy everytime I play this CD!
His emotion alone makes this collection of songs worthwhile.
Published on 28 Feb 2005 by Madam Bonaparte
An outstanding and entertaining collection
Ian Bostridge's voice is used to good effect covering this range of songs in English. Fans of his leider works will be thoroughly delighted with the emotion and intonation... Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2001
Extraordinary.
Colors outside the lines. Pops the repertoire into three dimensions. Passionate, intelligent readings.
Published on 21 Dec 1999
a treasury of British poetry enhanced by the finest singing
Bostridge, and his talented pianist, Drake, combine to make one of the finest recordings of the century. Read more
Published on 30 Nov 1999
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