Gordon Crosse - Ariadne Op. 31 • Changes Op. 17
Sarah Francis, oboe
Label: Lyrita
Track 1: Recorded at Kingsway Hall, August 1974, Producer: James Burnett, Engineers: Stanley Goodall, John Dunkerley |
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Ariadne was first performed, with outstanding success, at the Cheltenham International Festival on 11 July 1972 by Sarah Francis and Contrapuncti conducted by Michael Lankester. The present recording was made in Kingsway Hall, London, immediately following a performance given with members of the London Symphony Orchestra at a BBC Prom concert at the Royal Albert Hall in August 1974. Ariadne has had a considerable number of performances, many of them with Sarah Francis as soloist, and her name stands at the head of the score as dedicatee.
"It says much for Lyrita that their presentation both visual and aural encourages exploration. High standards achieved by them in the 1970s and sustained into the 1980s are one of the label’s hallmarks ... A generous CD then ... which both affirms and denies Crosse's reputation as a disciple of the cutting edge avant-garde ..." Rob Barnett, www.musicweb-international.com Click here to read the full review
"As for the performances, I can single out Jennifer Vyvyan for sheer gorgeousness with those high notes in the Nurse’s Song and beauty of restraint in The Door of Death, and it certainly sounds as if the LSO are playing out of their skins. There is an intense English straightness about some of the diction, and I can imagine the delivery of such lines as ‘Hey nonny no!’ being done a little less in the old BBC received pronunciation these days. That this kind of thing stands out at all only emphasises the international drama and strength of the music as it stands. English it is of course, but, far from advocating some kind of streetwise interpretation - the weight of the music still takes us to places far beyond well modulated tones and Mr. Cholmondeley-Warner. For choral societies looking for an alternative to A Child of Our Time or Noye’s Fludde I would say – go for it!" Dominy Clements, www.musicweb-international.com Click here to read the full review |
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