Elgar's songs, generally speaking, are the Cinderella of his oeuvre, as he
usually needed a large canvas for the full expression of his musical ideas,
yet all of them are thoroughly characteristic and enjoyable. This disc, from
the enterprising Somm company, is perhaps the best advocacy they have so
for received. All three vocal soloists sing with character and admirable
clarity, not least of diction. Perhaps Catherine Wyn-Rogers has the edge
but Neil Mackie and the immensely promising Christopher Maltman also contributes
splendidly and the fact that the 23 tracks are shared between three different
voices help one the more readily to enjoy the whole CD at a sitting. Malcolm
Martineau is a sympathetic accompanist; the recording is excellent and the
booklet prints all the words.
The basic presentation is chronological, so we began with the early, pre
1900, songs -, Victorian ballads in effect - then pass to the two Benson
songs of Opus 41 and to Pleading, an Edwardian ballad, and then to
perhaps Elgar's best songs, from around 1910 (Twilight, The Torch,
sing with gripping intensity by Mr, Mackie, The River, the tender
A Child Asleep etc.). We end with two snippets, sung by Mr. Maltman,
Salvaged from Elgar's unfinished opera The Spanish Lady but which
drew on early sketch books. Practically all the songs have been recorded
previously, though most of them not many times - I had not come across pulsating
Arabian Serenade before, nor the vocal setting In Moonlight
(with Shelley's words imported thereto; and beautifully phrased by Miss
Wyn-Rogers) of the "Canto Popolare" interlude from The South".
Reviewer
Phil Scowcroft