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Track Listings
| 1. O Waly Waly (Benjamin Britten) |
| 2. A Corpus Christi Carol (Benjamin Britten) |
| 3. Early One Morning (Benjamin Britten) |
| 4. How Sweet the Answer (Benjamin Britten) |
| 5. Sleep (Ivor Gurney) |
| 6. By a Bierside |
| 7. The First Mercy (Peter Warlock) |
| 8. Her Song (John Ireland) |
| 9. Tryst (John Ireland) |
| 10. My True Love Hath My Heart (John Ireland) |
| 11. Lost Love (Herbert Howells) |
| 12. King David (Herbert Howells) |
| 13. Gavotte (Herbert Howells) |
| 14. Come Sing and Dance (Herbert Howells) |
| 15. Cotswold Love (Michael Head) |
| 16. Foxgloves (Michael Head) |
| 17. A History of the Thé Dansant (Sir Richard Rodney Bennett) |
Product Description
Review
Her singing is consistently beautiful in this programme of English songs,encompassing Britten folk-song arrangements and Richard Rodney Bennett's bluesy history of the The Dansant,taking in some of the loveliest lyrical outpourings of Herbert Howells,John Ireland,Ivor Gurney and Michael Head.Connolly is arguably the natural successor to Janet Baker. --Gramophone awards issue '11
Connolly brings the simplicity and veiled ardour which is of their essence. Performance **** Recording **** --BBC Music Magazine,Dec'11
Connolly and Martineau make an impressive double act. Her voice has such a pleasing weight and texture.**** --Classic fm Magazine,Dec'11
In short,Connolly and her supersensitive accompanist,Malcom Martineau,ideally recorded,are throughout simply ideal in this treasurable repertoire. --IRR,Oct'11
Sarah Connolly sings immaculately,with sensitive accompamiment from Malcolm Martineau,in sound both clear and perfectly balanced. --Gramophone,Jan'12
Connolly brings the simplicity and veiled ardour which is of their essence. Performance **** Recording **** --BBC Music Magazine,Dec'11
Connolly and Martineau make an impressive double act. Her voice has such a pleasing weight and texture.**** --Classic fm Magazine,Dec'11
In short,Connolly and her supersensitive accompanist,Malcom Martineau,ideally recorded,are throughout simply ideal in this treasurable repertoire. --IRR,Oct'11
Sarah Connolly sings immaculately,with sensitive accompamiment from Malcolm Martineau,in sound both clear and perfectly balanced. --Gramophone,Jan'12
CD Description
Sarah Connolly received excellent reviews for her recital performance of English Songs on 11 April 2011 at the Alice Tully Hall in New York. The New York Times wrote: Ms Connolly s voice was strong and steady through its range, velvety, but with a soft, subtle graininess that gave weight and presence to even her most ethereal floated notes. Here the mezzo-soprano, accompanied by Malcolm Martineau on piano, performs four arrangements by Benjamin Britten: three folk songs and one song from an early choral work. These complement the recent Britten CD on Chandos, on which Connolly performs the cantata Phaedra as well as A Charm of Lullabies (CHAN 10671). Next come eleven songs from the 1920s, which is considered the golden decade for English art songs. Among the highlights are By a Bierside, Ivor Gurney s stark reflection on death, written in the World War I trenches, and Herbert Howells s King David which has long been considered a masterpiece. Howells himself said: I am prouder to have written King David than almost anything else of mine. The most recent contribution to this disc of English Songs is the surreally retro A History of the Thé Dansant by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, which was published in 1995.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
"My True Love Hath My Heart" is an anthology of English song performed by the mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly. The singer has a smooth, mellow voice, perfectly suited to this repertoire, and it is interesting to note that she may be compared on disc with the superlative Janet Baker whose recital from the 1960s can be found on a reissued Regis CD, and includes a good many of the same songs. No doubt it would be difficult to get the better of that fine singer, but recording techniques have greatly improved since those days, and Chandos do a superb job here.
The programme begins with three of Britten's folksong arrangements ("O Waly Waly", "How Sweet the Answer", and "Early One Morning"), along with an arrangement of the Corpus Christi Carol from "A Boy Was Born". As Michael Pilkington notes, Britten's folksong arrangements were distinctive in that he imbued them with his personal style rather than simply setting the original tune without embellishment.
There are four songs by Herbert Howells, the undoubted highlight of which is King David. The stature of this song is borne out by the fact that Howells himself considered it to be his finest, and Walter de la Mare, who provided the text, wanted no-one else to set it after Howells had done so. On this recording Sarah Connolly gives it a beautiful, unhurried treatment, wonderfully emphasising the change of key at "he rose". "Come Sing and Dance" is brim full of gladness, and Connolly fully conveys the mood of ecstasy in the tone of her voice. Other Howells songs are the ever-popular Gavotte, and the lesser-known "Lost Love".
John Ireland is represented by the slightly folksy "Her Song" (Hardy), "My True Love Hath My Heart" (Philip Sidney) and "Tryst" (Arthur Symons), and Ivor Gurney by two of his most outstanding compositions, "Sleep" (Fletcher) and By a Bierside" (Masefield). The latter has a heart-rending poignancy, but the final piano flourish introduces a surprising uplift of mood. Michael Head is the least well-known of the composers on this disc, but his two contributions, "Foxgloves" and "Cotswold Love", certainly deserve to sit among this exalted company, and are fully conversant with the twentieth century English art-song tradition. The inimitable Peter Warlock, meanwhile, weighs in with "The First Mercy", in which Bruce Blunt's touching Christmas text is fully reciprocated by Warlock's tender, gently rocking music.
Many of the songs on this disc are classics of the genre, but the final offering, Richard Rodney Bennett's "A History of The Dansant", is something of a novelty. The poems, by Bennett's sister Meg Peacocke, are imaginary depictions of smart-set life on the Riviera in the 1920s-30s, and the music, with its foxtrot and tango rhythms, is intended to reflect the upper-crust antics of that period.
All in all, this is a "must-have" disc for all lovers of English art-song.
The programme begins with three of Britten's folksong arrangements ("O Waly Waly", "How Sweet the Answer", and "Early One Morning"), along with an arrangement of the Corpus Christi Carol from "A Boy Was Born". As Michael Pilkington notes, Britten's folksong arrangements were distinctive in that he imbued them with his personal style rather than simply setting the original tune without embellishment.
There are four songs by Herbert Howells, the undoubted highlight of which is King David. The stature of this song is borne out by the fact that Howells himself considered it to be his finest, and Walter de la Mare, who provided the text, wanted no-one else to set it after Howells had done so. On this recording Sarah Connolly gives it a beautiful, unhurried treatment, wonderfully emphasising the change of key at "he rose". "Come Sing and Dance" is brim full of gladness, and Connolly fully conveys the mood of ecstasy in the tone of her voice. Other Howells songs are the ever-popular Gavotte, and the lesser-known "Lost Love".
John Ireland is represented by the slightly folksy "Her Song" (Hardy), "My True Love Hath My Heart" (Philip Sidney) and "Tryst" (Arthur Symons), and Ivor Gurney by two of his most outstanding compositions, "Sleep" (Fletcher) and By a Bierside" (Masefield). The latter has a heart-rending poignancy, but the final piano flourish introduces a surprising uplift of mood. Michael Head is the least well-known of the composers on this disc, but his two contributions, "Foxgloves" and "Cotswold Love", certainly deserve to sit among this exalted company, and are fully conversant with the twentieth century English art-song tradition. The inimitable Peter Warlock, meanwhile, weighs in with "The First Mercy", in which Bruce Blunt's touching Christmas text is fully reciprocated by Warlock's tender, gently rocking music.
Many of the songs on this disc are classics of the genre, but the final offering, Richard Rodney Bennett's "A History of The Dansant", is something of a novelty. The poems, by Bennett's sister Meg Peacocke, are imaginary depictions of smart-set life on the Riviera in the 1920s-30s, and the music, with its foxtrot and tango rhythms, is intended to reflect the upper-crust antics of that period.
All in all, this is a "must-have" disc for all lovers of English art-song.
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