~ Carlos Alvarez
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Disc 1:
Disc 2:
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Disc 2:
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On this CD:
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Merlin
Composed by Isaac Albéniz
Performed by Spanish National Chorus, Madrid Comunidad Chorus, Madrid Symphony Orchestra
with Carlos Chausson, Ángel Rodriguez, José López Ferrero, Plácido Domingo, Javier Roldán, Carlos Alvarez, Christopher Maltman, Jane Henschel, Ana Maria Martinez, Felipe Bou, Javier Franco
Conducted by José De Eusebio
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
It sounds like an opera plot in itself. Albéniz, acknowledged master of the piano, keen to prove himself on the operatic stage, collaborating with Francis Burdett Money Coutts (founder of the bank) on an Arthurian trilogy. Only Merlin has ever been performed, and has waited over a century to be heard as the composer intended. Worth the wait? Yes, in so far as this is a serious treatment of an age-old legend. The music, written by a composer who has absorbed the "leitmotiv" technique of Wagner thoroughly but never slavishly, filters Gregorian chant tellingly into the musical material and gives the characters an emotional depth that not even Coutts's ham-fisted libretto can deny. It helps to have Plácido Domingo in commanding voice as Arthur, Jane Henschel insinuating as Morgan le Fay, and Carlos Alvarez as Merlin, whose unwary use of his own power initiates a fateful chain of consequences. José Eusebio's labour of love in realising the work for performance is evident in his authoritative conducting, while a spacious recording presents the music in the best light. A missing masterpiece? Not quite, but try the Prelude to Act 3 [CD2, track 3] and see if you're not hooked. --Richard Whitehouse
It sounds like an opera plot in itself. Albéniz, acknowledged master of the piano, keen to prove himself on the operatic stage, collaborating with Francis Burdett Money Coutts (founder of the bank) on an Arthurian trilogy. Only Merlin has ever been performed, and has waited over a century to be heard as the composer intended. Worth the wait? Yes, in so far as this is a serious treatment of an age-old legend. The music, written by a composer who has absorbed the "leitmotiv" technique of Wagner thoroughly but never slavishly, filters Gregorian chant tellingly into the musical material and gives the characters an emotional depth that not even Coutts's ham-fisted libretto can deny. It helps to have Plácido Domingo in commanding voice as Arthur, Jane Henschel insinuating as Morgan le Fay, and Carlos Alvarez as Merlin, whose unwary use of his own power initiates a fateful chain of consequences. José Eusebio's labour of love in realising the work for performance is evident in his authoritative conducting, while a spacious recording presents the music in the best light. A missing masterpiece? Not quite, but try the Prelude to Act 3 [CD2, track 3] and see if you're not hooked. --Richard Whitehouse
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