Michael Tippett - The Midsummer Marriage
Opera in Three Acts, Libretto by the Composer
Alberto Remedios, tenor
Joan Carlyle, soprano
Raimund Herincx, baritone
Elizabeth Harwood, soprano
Stuart Burrows, tenor
Helen Watts, contralto
Stafford Dean, bass
Elizabeth Bainbridge, mezzo
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Sir Colin Davis, conductor
Label: Lyrita
Copyright: 1995 Lyrita Recorded Edition, England
Catalogue number: SRCD.2217
UPC/EAN: 5020926221728
Format: CD
Analogue / Digital recording: ADD
Number of discs: 2
Total playing time: 2 hours 33 mins
Price: £ 29.99 (+ postage & packing)
No recording information available
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"So many of the expressions of our age have frowned in their in their contemplation of it … but here was Tippett in 1955 expressing joy, boundless optimism and faith in beauty and humanity. As so often with his pieces, it took a while to sink in, and for players and singers to get their fingers and vocal chords around those springy rhythms and sinewy lines. The moment at which that happened was the moment of this recording and the performances that preceded it. Davis, raptly in love with this score … reveals again and again the opera’s magical sonorities. It is a superb performance. The recording, too, communicates a real sense of live performance. A masterpiece, in short, and one that can be listened to again and again without exhausting its exuberant generosity" Michael Oliver, Gramophone
"... This issue is a life-enhancing creation which no serious music lover should be without. Once I’d started I was hooked, and played the whole thing through, relishing every moment ..." Dominy Clements, www.musicweb-international.com Click here to read the full review
"History may well reveal Tippett’s opera The Midsummer Marriage to be his greatest work. Sir Colin Davis is certainly a man on a mission to convince you of this ... No opera-lover should be without this set. Even if you think you have an aversion for Tippett, do give it a try as this seems to be the work in which his creative energies reached a zenith ..." Colin Clarke, www.musicweb-international.com Click here to read the full review
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| Disc 1 |
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The Midsummer Marriage |
Michael Tippett |
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| 1 |
Act I, Scene 1 |
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3.45 |
| | This way! This way! (semi-chorus) |
| 2 |
Act I, Scene 1 |
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1.07 |
| | What's that? Surely music? (girls, men) |
| 3 |
Act I, Scene 2 |
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0.51 |
| | (leading to:) (orchestra) |
| 4 |
Act I, Scene 2 |
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5.00 |
| | Stop! Stop! Stop! (Mark) |
| 5 |
Act I, Scene 3, 4 |
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11.47 |
| | O Mark, who are they? (chorus)
Jenifer, Jenifer my darling (Mark) |
| 6 |
Act I, Scene 4, 5 |
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9.55 |
| | What steps are those (Jenifer)
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho ... (men) |
| 7 |
Act I, Scene 5 |
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3.57 |
| | What sort of place is this d'you think? (King Fisher) |
| 8 |
Act I, Scene 6 |
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2.56 |
| | So you, so you are Mark's fine brood of friends (King Fisher) |
| 9 |
Act I, Scene 6 |
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1.54 |
| | So you, so you, so you're the company my daughter keeps! (King Fisher) |
| 10 |
Act I, Scene 7, 8 |
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16.04 |
| | Here I am, Sir, what can I do? (Jack)
Jenifer, Jenifer, my daughter Jenifer! (girls, men, King Fisher) |
| 11 |
Act I, Scene 8 |
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2.09 |
| | Returning to the earth is cruel (Jenifer) |
| 12 |
Act I, Scene 8 |
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4.37 |
| | Come now with me and drop this childish masquerade (King Fisher) |
| 13 |
Act I, Scene 8 |
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5.56 |
| | Is it so strange ... (Jenifer) |
| 14 |
Act I, Scene 8 |
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4.08 |
| | You, you who were with me when she left me (Mark) |
| 15 |
Act I, Scene 8 |
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4.40 |
| | See by a heavenly magic in this glass (Jenifer) |
| 16 |
Act II, Pre Scene, Scene 1 |
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6.51 |
| | Call - crying as they're flying ... (chorus)
Jack, don't let's go with all the others (Bella) |
| 17 |
Act II, Scene 1 |
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3.57 |
| | What day is it? (Bella) |
| 18 |
Act II, Scene 1, 2 |
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7.15 |
| | I'll lay the baby to my breast (Bella)
(Strephon enters from behind the temple) (orchestra) |
| 19 |
Act II, Scene 2 |
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1.56 |
| | (Some of the trees appear to move) (orchestra) |
| Disc 2 |
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The Midsummer Marriage |
Michael Tippett |
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| 1 |
Act II, 1st Dance |
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3.54 |
| | The Earth in Autumn (orchestra) |
| 2 |
Act II, 2nd Dance |
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4.59 |
| | The Waters in Winter (orchestra) |
| 3 |
Act II, 3rd Dance |
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2.50 |
| | The Air in Spring (orchestra) |
| 4 |
Act II, Scene 3 |
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5.22 |
| | (leading to:) (orchestra)
Ah! They'll kill him! (Bella) |
| 5 |
Act II, Scene 3, Post Scene |
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3.21 |
| | (neat and ready to rejoin) King Fisher (Bella)
Sun shines on a Midsummer day (chorus) |
| 6 |
Act III, Scene 1 |
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5.41 |
| | Evening and Night (orchestra)
Ohay! Ohay! (chorus) |
| 7 |
Act III, Scene 1, 2 |
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2.36 |
| | No! King Fisher summons you ... (King Fisher)
Keep the holster close by you (King Fisher) |
| 8 |
Act III, Scene 3 |
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3.04 |
| | Now Bella, call The Ancients (King Fisher) |
| 9 |
Act III, Scene 3, 4 |
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3.49 |
| | Do you accept my challenge? (King Fisher)
See where we carry on our mighty shoulder (men) |
| 10 |
Act III, Scene 5 |
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2.25 |
| | I needn't tell Madame Sosostris (King Fisher) |
| 11 |
Act III, Scene 5 |
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2.54 |
| | Who hopes to conjour with the world of dreams (Sosostris) |
| 12 |
Act III, Scene 5 |
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4.14 |
| | I alone cannot consult myself (Sosostris) |
| 13 |
Act III, Scene 5 |
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2.26 |
| | You who consult me (Sosostris) |
| 14 |
Act III, Scene 5 |
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3.30 |
| | I see a meadow (Sosostris) |
| 15 |
Act III, Scene 6 |
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5.02 |
| | She saw what happens in the soul (chorus) |
| 16 |
Act III, Scene 7 |
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3.16 |
| | Pride is virtue in a man of power (The Ancients) |
| 17 |
Act III, Scene 7, 8 |
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3.30 |
| | (For a moment the stage is quite still) (orchestra)
King Fisher's dead (a man) |
| 18 |
Act III, Scene 8, 4th Dance |
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9.08 |
| | (After the She ancient returns upstage) (orchestra)
Fire in Summer (chorus) |
| 19 |
Act III, Scene 9 |
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2.12 |
| | Was it a vision? (chorus) |
| 20 |
Act III, Scene 9 |
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1.27 |
| | O summer sun ... (chorus) |
| 21 |
Act III, Scene 9 |
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6.19 |
| | (The moonlight has faded out) (orchestra) |
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