This programme was originally released on Black Box (BBM3007)
in 2000, shortly after the recording took place. Champs Hill
Records re-released it last summer, attractively packaged with
full song texts (translated where necessary) included in the
booklet.
Like many other discs before - Hyperion's recent re-release
on their Helios label of Poulenc songs, warmly reviewed here,
for example - this is in essence a Felicity Lott with Graham
Johnson showcase. The amount of space devoted to their biographies
and photos - a double side apiece - compared to nothing on any
of the many composers, testifies to that.
That does not matter very much: this is, after all, a CD celebrating
summer through beautiful music. The selection of songs is generous
and varied - the majority in English, but several in German
and French too, from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, from
Franz Schubert's quintessential lieder to Leonard Bernstein's
musical theatre. All the songs, whether familiar old favourites
or not, are of a mellifluous, lyrical bent, some reflective,
some joyous, many of them celebrating love; all conjuring up
the warm, hazy afternoons or long, lazy evenings of summer.
In this splendidly chosen programme, 29 songs simply whizz by
- regardless of the weather outside! So ravishing is most of
the music, and so captivating the performances of Lott and Johnson
that it hardly matters that some of the poetry is little more
than doggerel, that virtually all the songs have been plundered
from song cycles and opuses, or that one of the art songs is
an impostor: Cole Porter's The Tale of an Oyster.
Felicity Lott has made French songs her speciality - or one
of them, at least - and sings very well in the language. Her
German too is more than respectable. Yet whatever language she
sings in, Lott does it with total understanding of the meanings
of the texts, lovely enunciation and impeccable intonation.
The same may be said of Graham Johnson's piano. Together they
make a formidable team. Not everyone will love Lott's
voice but it is almost inconceivable that anyone could dislike
it.
The CD booklet has at least a brief note on every song. There
are one or two typos dotted about, but with so many different
texts and translations - which are both literal and of good
standard - these are easily forgiven. Sound and technical quality
are excellent, as they almost invariably are at Champs Hill.
Refreshing too that the production team allow at least five
seconds of silence between tracks.
In sum, from beginning to end this is a gorgeous, unmissable
disc for all seasons.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
see also review by Oleg
Ledeniov
Track listing
George GERSHWIN (1898-1937)
Summertime [2:20]
Samuel BARBER (1910-1981)
Sure on this Shining Night [2:20]; The Monk and his Cat [2:34]
Edward ELGAR (1857-1934)
The Shepherd's Song [2:49]
Gabriel FAURÉ (1845-1924)
Clair de Lune [3:06]; Soir [2:20]; Notre Amour [2:08]
Roger QUILTER (1877-1953)
Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal [2:04]; Love's Philosophy [1:30]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Who is Sylvia? [2:48]; Auf dem Wasser zu Singen [3:43]
Thomas ARNE (1710-1778)
Where the Bee Sucks [1:40]
Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869)
L'Ile Inconnue [3:35]; Villanelle [2:18]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Der Nussbaum [3:40]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Meine Liebe ist Grün [1:35]
Liza LEHMANN (1862-1918)
Ah, Moon of my Delight [4:27]
Frank BRIDGE (1879-1941)
Go Not, Happy Day [1:35]
Frederick DELIUS (1862-1934)
To Daffodils [2:14]
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958)
Orpheus with his Lute [2:23]
John IRELAND (1879-1962)
The Trellis [2:45]
Haydn WOOD (1882-1959)
A Brown Bird Singing (1922) [2:29]
Irish Traditional
The Lark in the Clear Air [1:32]
Peter WARLOCK (1894-1930)
Sleep [2:25]
Cole PORTER (1891-1964)
The Tale of an Oyster [3:09]
Leonard BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)
My House [1:45]
Michael HEAD (1900-1976)
The Little Road to Bethlehem [2:32]
Harold FRASER-SIMSON (1872-1944)
Vespers [2:19]
John RUTTER (b.1945)
The Lord Bless You and Keep You [2:15]
Felicity Lott (soprano) 