- Audio CD (27 Oct 1997)
- Number of Discs: 2
- Label: Gala
- ASIN: B000026B1C
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 189,507 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Jubilee Offer: Patriot Classics for £2.50 |
Product details |
Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Act One: Scene 1: This Way! This Way! - Chor/John Pritchard | |||
| 2. Act One: Scene 1: What's That? Surely Music? - Covent Garden/John Pritchard | |||
| 3. Act One: Scene 2: (Leading to:) - Orch/John Pritchard | |||
| 4. Act One: Scene 2: Stop! Stop! Stop! - Richard Lewis | |||
| 5. Act One: Scene 3: O, Mark, Who Are They? - Chor/John Pritchard | |||
| 6. Act One: Scene 4: Jenifer, Jenifer, My Darling - Richard Lewis | |||
| 7. Act One: Scene 4: What Steps Are Those? - Joan Sutherland | |||
| 8. Act One: Scene 5: Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho - Covent Garden/John Pritchard | |||
| 9. Act One: Scene 5: What Sort Of Place Is This, D'you Think? - Otokar Kraus | |||
| 10. Act One: Scene 6: So You, So You Are Mark's Fine Brood Of Friends - Otokar Kraus | |||
See all 23 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Act Two: 2nd Dance: The Waters In Winter - Orch/John Pritchard | |||
| 2. Act Two: 3rd Dance: The Air In Spring/(Leading To:) - Orch/John Pritchard | |||
| 3. Act Two: Scene 3: Ah! They'll Kill Him! - Joan Sutherland | |||
| 4. Act Two: Scene 3: (Neat And Ready To Rejoin) King Fisher - Joan Sutherland | |||
| 5. Act Two: Post Scene: Sun Shines On A Midsummer Day - Chor/John Pritchard | |||
| 6. Act Three: Evening And Night - Orch/John Pritchard | |||
| 7. Act Three: Scene 1: Ohay! Ohay! - Chor/John Pritchard | |||
| 8. Act Three: Scene 1: No! King Fisher Summons You - Otokar Kraus | |||
| 9. Act Three: Scene 2: Keep The Holster Close By You - Otokar Kraus | |||
| 10. Act Three: Scene 3: Now, Bella, Call The Ancients - Otokar Kraus | |||
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See all 24 tracks on this disc
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
The Midsummer Marriage is redolent of Michael Tippett at his most enticingly lyrical and invitingly opaque. That said, if you are looking to explore the riches or eccentricities of his marvellous first opera in detail, I wouldn't start here. The sound quality requires some aural excavation. But once you have absorbed Colin Davis's definitive Royal Opera House account (Lyrita SRCD2217, 1995), this radio broadcast of the first performance at Covent Garden - conducted by John Pritchard and produced by Christopher West on 27 January 1955 - is well worth the investment. And for fully-fledged Tippett aficionados, it's obviously essential.
There's vigour, feeling and commitment in Pritchard's pioneering rendition. What it occasionally lacks in polish it makes up for in freshness - something the age of the recording cannot wither. Mezzo soprano Oralia Dominguez's Sosostris is one of the standout performances for me, very much capturing the magical theatricality which Tippett intended. (With a repertoire stretching out from Monteverdi to Wagner, she also worked with Pritchard on a fine Coronazione di Poppaea, recorded by EMI.)
The voice-overs for the radio audience only really become obtrusive during the Ritual Dances - with the first also frustratingly orphaned on disc one. In fact this is probably the most disappointing aspect of the performance, with the intricacy of Tippett's contrapuntal imagination dulled and subdued at some vital moments of orchestral intensity.
But such shortcomings should not be allowed to detract from the inherent virtues of this recording. Not only does it capture an important moment in twentieth century musical history, it also shows that Tippett's music - sometimes portrayed as dryly intellectual or obscure - is, at its heart, expressive and warm, inviting us not just to view the world but to relish it in all its glory and pain.
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