Lost is my Quiet: Duets and Solo Songs
£13.25
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Label: BIS
Cat No: BIS2279
Format: Hybrid SACD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Vocal/Choral
Release Date: 15th September 2017
Contents
Works
Duets (3), op.77Duets (6), op.63
Lost is my quiet for ever, Z502 (realised Benjamin Britten)
Music for a while, Z583 (realised Benjamin Britten)
Oroonoko, Z584
The Maid's Last Prayer or Any Rather Than Fail, Z601
Elizabethan Lyrics (7), op.12
Shakespeare Songs (5), op.23
Artists
Carolyn Sampson (soprano)Iestyn Davies (countertenor)
Joseph Middleton (piano)
Works
Duets (3), op.77Duets (6), op.63
Lost is my quiet for ever, Z502 (realised Benjamin Britten)
Music for a while, Z583 (realised Benjamin Britten)
Oroonoko, Z584
The Maid's Last Prayer or Any Rather Than Fail, Z601
Elizabethan Lyrics (7), op.12
Shakespeare Songs (5), op.23
Artists
Carolyn Sampson (soprano)Iestyn Davies (countertenor)
Joseph Middleton (piano)
About
‘Creamy’, ‘luminous’ and ‘supple’ are words that often appear in reviews about both Carolyn Sampson and Iestyn Davies, and in these duets they achieve a marvellous blend as well as the utmost precision. They are aided in this by Joseph Middleton, described in The Telegraph (UK) as an ‘unfailingly sensitive accompanist’.
Sound/Video
Paused
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1Purcell: Sound the trumpet
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2Purcell: Lost is my quiet
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3Purcell: If music be the food of love (3rd version)
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4Purcell: Music for a while
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5Purcell: No, resistance is but vain
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6Purcell: Celemene
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7Mendelssohn: Ich wollt', mein Lieb' ergosse sich, op.63 no.1
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8Mendelssohn: Gruss, op.63 no.3
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9Mendelssohn: Volklied, op.63 no.5
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10Mendelssohn: Maiglockchen und die Blumen, op.63 no.6
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11Mendelssohn: Scheidend, op.9 no.6
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12Mendelssohn: Neue Liebe, op.19 no.4
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13Mendelssohn: 3 Duets, op.77 - 1. Sonntagsmorgen
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14Mendelssohn: 3 Duets, op.77 - 2. Das Ahrenfeld
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15Mendelssohn: 3 Duets, op.77 - 3. Lied aus 'Ruy Blas'
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16Schumann: 3 Duets, op.43 - 1. Wenn ich ein Voglein war
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17Schumann: 3 Duets, op.43 - 2. Herbstlied
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18Schumann: 3 Duets, op.43 - 3. Schon Blumelein
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19Schumann: Nachtlied, op.96 no.1
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20Schumann: Stille Liebe, op.35 no.8
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21Schumann: Der Einsiedler, op.83 no.3
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22Schumann: Auftrage, op.77 no.5
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23Schumann: So wahr die Sonne scheinet, op.37 no.12
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24Quilter: It was a lover and his lass, op.23 no.3
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25Quilter: Weep you no more, sad fountains
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26Quilter: Music, when soft voices die, op.25 no.5
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27Quilter: Drink to me only with thine eyes
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28Quilter: Love's philosophy, op.3 no.1
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29Quilter: Love calls through the summer night
Europadisc Review
The Purcell settings that open the disc are all realizations by Benjamin Britten, and the piano accompaniments work wonderfully well, sounding all of a piece with the performances, without any hint of anachronism. Sound the trumpet makes for a lively curtain raiser, establishing a festive tone for the disc as a whole, the superbly matched voices intertwining with ease. In contrast, the following ‘title’ track, Lost is my quiet, demonstrates the singers’ refined sensitivity and silken tones. Davies’s rendition of Music for a while (originally composed for Dryden's play Oedipus) is an early highlight, beautifully nuanced and mysterious, before the duets No, resistance is but vain and Celemene bring a gentle lifting of the mood, Celemene highlighting the contrast between Sampson's shimmering soprano and Davies's velvety countertenor.
With a shift to the high Romantic era, the programme really hits its stride. One of this disc’s many attractions is the light it shines on the duets of Mendelssohn and Schumann, the former brimming over with transparent joy, the latter more emotionally complex and melancholy but still prone to outbursts of quintessentially Schumannesque exuberance (as at the marvellous halfway point of Herbstlied, op.43 no.2). As with the Purcell and Quilter, groups of duets frame solo songs, allowing each singer their moment in the sun. Davies excels in the resigned barcarolle that is Mendelssohn’s Scheidend, and even more in the magical stillness of Schumann’s Nachtlied (setting a Goethe text made famous by Schubert’s Wanderers Nachtlied II), while Sampson matches her colleague for rapt concentration in Schumann’s Kerner setting Stille Liebe. She also keeps Middleton on his toes (or is it the other way round?) in the energetically pacey Aufträge: as ever, the accompaniments are vividly articulate. Whether revelling or dreaming in nature, or brooding on the pangs of love or solitude, these are all fascinating works – not just the solo songs but equally the abundantly characterful duets – and the performances are endlessly engrossing, the vocal shading brilliantly judged.
Cleverly balancing out the opening Purcell-Britten selection, the programme concludes with a similarly engaging choice of duets and solos by Roger Quilter. This is music that combines unassuming but deft compositional skill with an appealing simplicity (charming settings of Shakespeare’s It was a lover and his lass and the anonymous Weep you no more). But Quilter’s music also touches on an underlying pain, as in the gorgeous solo Shelley setting, Music, when soft voices die. Another Shelley setting, Love’s philosophy, finds Sampson at her most radiant, while the concluding waltz-like duet, Love calls through the summer night, excerpted from Quilter’s operetta Rosmé, makes for a rousing conclusion, matching the high spirits of the disc’s opening.
Each section of the programme is as beautifully thought through as the whole, and for a wide-ranging but coherent selection of enticing and exquisitely sung duets this has to be one of the finest discs of its kind for many a year. This could easily be just another drawing-room-style recital, but the sheer quality of the musicianship raises the disc far, far beyond that. Sampson and Davies have the ability to blend their voices quite effortlessly, while each retaining their own individuality, and Middleton’s playing is fantastically responsive. The teamwork is as natural as it is alluring, with three of today’s outstanding musicians combining to create what must be a sure-fire hit. Quite simply, a bullseye.
Reviews
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