The Very Best of Glyndebourne on Record
see full tracklist at end of review
rec. 1934-97
EMI CLASSICS 2 64218 2 [5 CDs: 388:59]
Celebratory album sets are nothing new. And those looking for smuggled novelties
in this 5 CD album will look in vain. There are no unpublished Busch-directed
performances; no unearthed Gui. The box is devoted, perfectly reasonably, to
the established record.
The box cover sets the scene. A contented sheep grazes in the foreground; toffs
graze in the background. There are hampers. The men all look very tall and
lean. The women are all elegantly decked out. It’s the archetypical Glyndebourne
afternoon.
Inside we have, in the main, the standard EMI transfers of old friends. The
exceptions include the 2009 transfers of the first three selections from the
Busch Marriage of Figaro, five tracks from the The Beggar’s
Opera, The Soldier’s Tale, and all the post-War Gui Figaro extracts.
The transfers are in any case non-problematic.
A sampler such as this will inevitably hit on highlights. The first CD takes
pre-War Mozart. Figaro’s extracts last about a quarter of an hour
and allow one to sample Audrey Mildmay, Domgraf-Fassbaender and Aulikki Rautawaara. Così lasts
a little longer and we can hear all the principal singers, which is a satisfactory
solution, given that Heddle Nash didn’t make the earlier Figaro selection. Don
Giovanni was the last of the three Mozart operas conducted by Busch to
be recorded. This has the longest run of excerpts; seven minutes from Act I
including (inevitably) Leporello’s Madamina - the Leporello was
Salvatore Baccaloni. There are about 22 minutes from Act II and these extracts
allow us to hear John Brownlee’s Don, David Franklin (the Commendatore)
and Mildmay’s Zerlina, as well as the Act II epilogue. The 1940 recording
of Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera is something of a classic. Mildmay
and Roy Henderson, often too wooden a singer, are here. Michael Redgrave is
Macheath. In all there are about ten minutes included.
The second disc begins in the immediate post-War period with Reginald Goodall’s
recording of The Rape of Lucretia. Unlike the Busch recordings, but
like the Gay, these extracts were recorded at Abbey Road in London. These extracts
last nine minutes. Other highlights of this second disc include Busch’s
all-too-brief return with Così and Idomeneo - Sena Jurinac
in both - and Gui’s La Cenerentola. Rather more uncommon is Pritchard’s
1954 Busoni Arlecchino extract, from the same year these forces gave
the British stage premiere. The following year the conductor was in the studio
with Glyndebourne forces to record The Soldier’s Tale with Helpmann,
Terence Longdon and Anthony Nicholls, alongside the elite RPO chamber ensemble
(Leavins, Brymer, Brooke, Walton).
More rejuvenatory Mozart starts disc three. It’s Gui’s Figaro represented
by about nineteen minutes of the performance which featured Jurinac, Sciutti,
Bruscantini, Calabrese and other equally persuasive front-liners. Gui was,
after Busch’s death, effectively the house’s music director from
1952 to 1964. The second Idomeneo, directed by Pritchard, features different
extracts from the Busch, thankfully. Gui’s eminence as a Rossini conductor
is clearly not overlooked; though the Comte Ory examples are brief it’s
inevitable perhaps that the Barber of Seville should take up the lion’s
share. De Los Angeles’s appearance is a coup. But I wouldn’t overlook
the final scene from Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea where
Richard Lewis and Magda László perform Raymond Leppard’s
edition with exquisite romanticism under Pritchard’s direction. Glyndebourne
was the first British professional company to stage a work from the early baroque,
as George Hall’s notes remind us.
Mozart is a constant in the Glyndebourne story and the fourth disc is given
over entirely to him. Pritchard is on hand once again, in 1972, for Die
Entführung with Margaret Price, Ryland Davies and Noel Mangin in an
abridged LP. In the 1980s Haitink was a regular visitor and his Don Giovanni and Così are
documented. These traversals are well known, naturally enough, though it’s
still pleasurable to sample the sets. For Figaro in 1987 he had in his
cast Rolandi, Desderi, and Lott. The last incarnation of the famous 1988 Rattle-directed Porgy
and Bess was in a big box of Americana collated from Rattle’s many
recordings. There it was in toto; here clearly we only have room and
time for about twenty minutes’ worth, though most of the stand-out numbers.
Felicity Lott and Thomas Hampson are on hand for Lehár. A signpost towards
the house’s interest in and propagation of new music comes in the shape
of Jonathan Dove’s Figures in the Garden. The composer conducts
members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. And finally we have a
slice of probably justified auto back-slapping. This comes via the EMI Centenary
Gala at Glyndebourne in 1987 with Welser-Möst and Andrew Davis presiding,
and some superior vocal talent running through favourites.
It ends a box that necessarily charts the decades adeptly but selectively.
The booklet has full running details, cast lists and recorded information.
Jonathan Woolf
A box that necessarily charts the Glyndebourne decades adeptly but selectively.
... see Full Review
Full tracklist
The Very Best of Glyndebourne on Record
CD 1 [76:15]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
[1] Overture 3.49
[2] Se a caso Madama (Act 1) 2.38
Recorded 28 & 24.VI.1935; The Theatre, Glyndebourne
[3] Dunque…O cielo! Il patente
del paggio (Act 2 finale) tutti 5.30
Recorded 6.VI.1934; The Theatre, Glyndebourne
2900231 M A, bands 1 - 3
[4] Sull’aria…Che soave
zeffiretto 3.01
[5] Ricevate, o pedroncina chorus 1.21
Recorded 6.VI.1934; The Theatre, Glyndebourne
Audrey Mildmay (Susanna), Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender (Figaro), Aulikki Rautawaara
(Countess), Roy Henderson (Count), Constance Willis (Marcellina), Norman Allin
(Bartolo), Heddle Nash (Basilio), Morgan Jones (Antonio)
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [London Symphony
Orchestra] / Fritz Busch
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: COSÌ FAN TUTTE
[6] Una bella serenata (Act 1) 2.15
[7] Ah guarda, sorella (Act 1) 4.55
[8] Una donna a quindici anni (Act
2) 3.21
[9] Donne mio, la fate (Act 2) 2.47
[10] Fra gli amplessi (Act 2) 5.56
Heddle Nash (Ferrando), Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender (Guglielmo), John Brownlee
(Don Alfonso), Ina Souez (Fiordiligi), Luise Helletsgruber (Dorabella), Irene
Eisingler (Despina)
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [London Symphony Orchestra] / Fritz Busch
Recorded 25 - 28.VI.1935; The Theatre, Glyndebourne
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: DON GIOVANNI
[11] Madamina, il catalogo è questo… (Act
1) 5.47
[12] Finch’ han dal vino (Act 1) 1.20
[13] Vedrai carino (Act 2) 3.52
[14] O statua gentilissima (Act 2) 3.35
[15] Che grido è questo mai? (Act 2) 8.47
[16] Ah, dov’è il perfido? (Epilogue
to Act 2) 5.58
John Brownlee (Don Giovanni), Salvatore Baccaloni (Leporello), Audrey Mildmay
(Zerlina), David Franklin (Commendatore), Ina Souez (Donna Anna), Luise Helletsgruber
(Donna Elvira), Kolomon von Pataky (Don Ottavio), Roy Henderson (Masetto)
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [London Symphony
Orchestra] / Fritz Busch
Recorded 29.VI. - 5.VII.1936; The Theatre, Glyndebourne
GAY & PEPUSCH (arr. AUSTIN): THE BEGGAR’S OPERA
[17] O Polly, you might have toyed and kissed 1.55
[18] My heart was so free 0.38
[19] Were I laid on Greenland’s coast 1.15
[20] How happy could I be with either 0.41
[21] I’m bubbled, I’m troubled 0.43
[22] Cease your funning 1.50
[23] The modes of the court 1.01
[24] Would I might be hanged 2.14
Sir Michael Redgrave (Macheath), Audrey Mildmay (Polly Peachum), Constance
Willis (Mrs. Peachum), Roy Henderson (Peachum), Linda Gray (Lucy), Bruce Flegg
(Filch)
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [Orchestra of
15 players] / Michael Mudie
Recorded 11, 12 & 15.IV.1940; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
CD 2 [79:57]
Benjamin BRITTEN: THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA
[1] Tarquinius does not wait (Act
1) 2.47
[2] She sleeps as a rose (Act 2) 2.52
[3] Flowers bring to every year (Act
2) 3.15
Peter Pears (Male Chorus), Joan Cross (Female Chorus), Nancy Evans (Lucretia),
Flora Nielsen (Bianca)
English Opera Group Chamber Orchestra / Reginald Goodall (piano)
Recorded 17 - 19.VII.1947; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
Giusseppe VERDI: MACBETH
[4] Una macchia è qui tuttora!
(Act IV) 7.35
Margherita Grandi (Lady Macbeth), Vera Terry (Dama), Ernest Frank (Medico)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Thomas Beecham
Recorded: 16.I.1948; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: COSÌ FAN TUTTE
[5] Soave sia il vento (Act 1) 3.03
[6] Prenderò quel brunettino
(Act 2) 3.00
[7] Il core vi dono (Act 2) 4.00
Sena Jurinac (Fiordiligi), Blanche Thebom (Dorabella), Mario Borriello (Don
Alfonso), Erich Kunz (Guglielmo)
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] / Fritz Busch
Recorded 14 & 15.VII.1950; The Theatre, Glyndebourne
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: IDOMENEO
[8] Vedrommi intorno (Act 1) 3.40
[9] Placido è il mar (Act
2) 3.45
[10] Zeffiretti lusighieri (Act 3) 4.00
Richard Lewis (Idomeneo), Sena Jurinac (Ilia), Dorothy McNeil (Elettra)
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] / Fritz Busch
Recorded 2 & 3.VII.1951; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
Gioachino ROSSINI: LA CENERENTOLA
[11] Miei rampolli, miei rampolli femminini (Act
1) 4.45
[12] Nel volto estatico (Act 1) 5.00
[13] *Nacqui all’affanno (Act 2, finale)
6.23
Marina de Gabarain (Angelina = Cenerentola), Juan Oncina (Don Ramiro), Ian
Wallace (Don Magnifico), Sesto Bruscantini (Dandini), Hervey Alan (Alidoro),
Alda Noni (Clorinda), Fernanda Cadoni (Tisbe)
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] / Vittorio Gui
Recorded 17-21.XI.1953 & *15.II.1954; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
Ferrucio BUSONI: ARLECCHINO
[14] Mit dem Schwerte, mit der Laute 9.00
Murray Dickie (Leandro), Elaine Malbin (Colombina), Kurt Gester (Arlecchino)
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] / Sir John Pritchard
Recorded 17-20.VII.1954; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
Igor STRAVINSKY: THE SOLDIER’S TALE
Text by C.F. Ramuz; English version by Michael Flanders and Kitty Black
[15] Tango 2.00
[16] Waltz 1.25
[17] Ragtime 2.00
[18] The Devil’s Dance 1.21
[19] The Little Choral 0.29
[20] The Devil’s Song 0.39
[21] The Great Choral 3.41
[22] Ttiumphal March of the Devil (begin with
the laugh) 2.20
Robert Helpmann (The Devil), Terence Longdon (The Soldier), Anthony Nicholls
(The Narrator)
Chamber Ensemble [Members of Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] / Sir John Pritchard
Arthur Leavins, violin; Edmond Chesterton, double-bass; Jack Brymer, clarinet;
Gwydion Brooke, bassoon; Richard Walton, cornet; Sidney Langston, trombone;
Stephen Whittaker, percussion
Recorded 12, 13, 25 & 28.IV. and 4 & 25.V.1955; No. 3 Abbey Road Studios,
London
CD 3 [77:25]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
[1] Bravo, signor padrone!...Se vuol
ballare (Act 1) 3.16
[2] E Susanna non vien!...Dove sono 6.53
[3] *In quegl’anni (Act 4) 3.59
[4] Pace, pace mio dolce tesoro (Act
4, Finale) tutti 6.40
Sesto Bruscantini (Figaro), Graziella Sciutti (Susanna), Sena Jurinac (Countess),
Franco Calabrese (Count), Hughes Cuénod (Basilio), Ian Wallace (Bartolo),
Rise Stevens (Cherubino), Monica Sinclair (Marcellina), Jeanette Sinclair (Barbarina),
Gwyn Griffiths (Antonio), Daniel McCoshan (Don Curzio)
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] / Vittorio Gui
Recorded 4 - 9 & 11 - 12.VII.1955; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: IDOMENEO
[5] Ah perchè pria…Spiegarti
non poss’io (Act 3) 4.35
[6] Andrò ramingo (Act 3)
5.29
[7] Oh smania!...D’Oreste,
d’Alace (Act 3) 2.49
Richard Lewis (Idomeneo), Sena Jurinac (Ilia), Leopold Simoneau (Idamante),
Lucille Udovick (Elettra)
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] / Sir John Pritchard
Recorded 6 & 30.VII.1956; Kingsway Hall and 7.VII & 4, 6, 8, 13, 26,
27.VIII.1956; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
Gioachino ROSSINI: LE COMTE ORY
[8] O bon ermite (Act 1) b, a, c[ 3.27
[9] À la faveur (Act 2) b,
c, a[ 9.45
Juan Oncina (Le Comte Ory), Cora Canne-Meuer (Isolier), Sari Barabas (La Comtesse
Adèle), Flora Nielsen (Bianca)
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] / Vittorio Gui
Recorded 28 - 31.VIII. and 1, 2 & 5.IX.1956; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios,
London
Gioachino ROSSINI: IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
[10] La ran la le ra…Largo al factotum
(Act 1) 4.45
[11] La calunnia è un venticello (Act
1) 4.29
[12] Fermi tutti. Nessun si mova (Act 1, Finale)
tutti 9.59
[13] Ah, qual colpo inespettato!...Zitti, ziti,
piano, piano (Act 2) 5.59
Sesto Bruscantini (Figaro), Luigi Alva (Il conte d’Almaviva), Victoria
de los Angeles (Rosina), Carlo Cava (Basilio), Ian Wallace (Bartolo), Laura
Sarti (Berta), John Rhys Evans (Un ufficiale)
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] / Vittorio Gui
Recorded 4 - 7 & 9 - 11.IX.1962; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
Claudio MONTEVERDI (ed. LEPPARD): L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA
[14] Put ti miro, pur ti stringo (Act 3, Finale) 4.19
Magda László (Poppea), Richard Lewis (Nerone)
Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra [Royal Philharmonic Orchestra] / Sir John Pritchard
Recorded 1, 3 & 31.VII and 1 - 3, 6 & 8.VIII.1963; No. 1 Abbey Road
Studios, London
CD 4 [77:05]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL
[1] Ach ich liebte, war so glücklich
(Act 1) 5.42
[2] O! wie will ich triumphieren
(Act 3) 3.29
[3] Welch ein Geschick (Act 3) 8.00
Dame Margaret Price (Constanze), Ryland Davies (Belmonte), Noel Mangin (Osmin)
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir John Pritchard
Recorded 22 - 24.VII.1972; The Organ Room, Glyndebourne
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: DON GIOVANNI
[4] Là ci darem la mano (Act
1) 3.33
[5] Or sai chi l’onore (Act
1) 2.51
[6] Dalla sua pace (Act 1) 4.31
[7] Riposate, vezzose ragazze (Act
1, Finale) tutti 8.12
[8] Deh vieni alla finestra (Act
2) a 2.03
Sir Thomas Allen (Don Giovanni), Carol Vaness (Donna Anna), Keith Lewis (Don
Ottavio), Elizabeth Gale (Zerlina), Richard Van Allan (Leporello), Maria Ewing
(Donna Elvira), John Rawnsley (Masetto)
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Bernard Haitink
Recorded 3 - 12.I.1984; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: COSÌ FAN TUTTE
[9] Smanie implacabili (Act 1) 1.46
[10] Come scoglio immoto resta (Act 1) 4.36
[11] Non siete ritrosi, occhietti vezzosi (Act
1) 1.35
[12] Un’aura amorosa (Act 1) 4.43
[13] Dammi un bacio, o mio tesoro (Act 1, Finale)
tutti 3.22
Carol Vaness (Fiordiligi), Delores Ziegler (Dorabella), John Aler (Ferrando),
Dale Duesing (Guglielmo), Lilian Watson (Despina), Claudio Desderi (Don Alfonso)
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Bernard Haitink
Recorded 16 - 21, 23, 26 & 27.II.1986; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
[14] Non più andrai (Act 1) 3.38
[15] Porgi, amor (Act 2) 4.33
[16] Voi, che sapete (Act 2) 2.52
[17] Vedrò, mentr’io sospiro (Act 3) 3.30
[18] L’ho perduta, me meschina! (Act 4) 1.49
[19] Deh vieni, non tardar (Act 1) 3.52
Claudio Desderi (Figaro), Gianna Rolandi (Susanna), Dame Felicity Lott (Countess),
Richard Stilwell (Count), Faith Esham (Cherubino), Anne Dawson (Barbarina)
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Bernard Haitink
Recorded 17 - 21 & 24 - 26.II.1987; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios, London
CD 5 [78:17]
George GERSHWIN: PORGY AND BESS
[1] Summertime… (Act 1, Scene
1) d, chorus 3.28
[2] Bess, you is my woman now (Act
2, Scene 1) 5.30
[3] Oh, I can’t sit down… (Act
2, Scene 1) 4.24
[4] It ain’t necessarily so…(Act
2, Scene 2) 3.45
[5] Bess is gone… (Act 3) 3.23
Sir Willard White (Porgy), Cynthia Haymon (Bess), Damon Evans (Sporting Life),
Harolyn Blackwell (Clara), Marietta Simpson (Maria), Maureen Brathwaite (Lily),
Cynthia Clarey (Serena), Barrington Coleman (Mingo)
The Glyndebourne Chorus
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle
Recorded 8, 10, 11, 13, 14 & 16 - 19.II.1988; No. 1 Abbey Road Studios,
London
Franz LEHÁR: DIE LUSTIGE WITWE
[6] O Vaterland, du machst bei Tag…Da
geh’ich zu Maxim (Act 1) 2.23
[7] Es lebt’ eine Vilja… (Act
2) 6.15
[8] Lippen schweigen (Act 3) 3.35
Dame Felicity Lott (Hanna Glawari), Thomas Hampson (Graf Danilo Danilowitsch)
The Glyndebourne Chorus
London Philharmonic Orchestra / Franz Welser-Möst
Recorded 18, 20 & 22.VII.1993; The Royal Festival Hall, London
A GLYNDEBOURNE WIND SERENADE
Jonathan DOVE (born 1959): Figures In The Garden
[9] 1. Dancing
in the Dark 2.14
[10] 2. Susanna
in the Rain 3.48
[11] 3. A
Conversation 1.18
[12] 4. Barbarina
Alone 2.19
[13] 5. The
Countess interrupts a Quarrel 2.35
[14] 6. Voices
in the Garden 1.40
[15] 7. Nocturne:
Figaro and Susanna 3.18
Members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Paul Goodwin & Catherine Latham (oboe), Nicholas Bucknall & Timothy
Lines (clarinet)t
Andrew Watts & Frances Eustace (bassoon), Roger Montgomery & Robert
Maskell (natural horn)
directed by the Composer
Recorded: 22.XI,1991; Henry Wood Hall, London
EMI CENTENARY GALA AT GLYNDEBOURNE - 1997
DVOŘÁK: Rusalka
[16] Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém
(Song to the Moon) (Rusalka; Act 1) 6.01
Amanda Roocroft, soprano
KERN: Show Boat
[17] Ol’ Man River (Joe; Act 1) 3.41
Willard White, bass
VERDI: Falstaff
[18] È sogno? O realtà? (Ford;
Act 2) 5.09
Thomas Hampson, baritone
[19] Sul fil d’un soffio etesio (Nanetta,
Act 3) 4.00
Alison Hagley, soprano
HANDEL: Semele
[20] Where’er you walk (Jupiter; Act 2) 4.36
John Mark Ainsley, tenor
BERNSTEIN: Candide
[21] Glitter and be gay (Cunegonde; Act 1) 5.51
Natalie Dessay, soprano
7243 56465 2 1 [7], [8], [10] - [12] & [14]
London Philharmonic Orchestra / [16] & [17] Franz Welser-Möst; [18]
- [21] Andrew Davis
Recorded Live: 27.IV.1997; The Theatre, Glyndebourne