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Notes
Edward Gardner returns with the BBC Symphony Orchestra to the intoxicating orchestral music of Karol Szymanowski in their third disc devoted to the composer. Their previous releases have been widely praised, Gardner being described in BBC Music Magazine as ‘one of the finest non-Polish interpreters of Szymanowski.’ Ben Johnson, a tenor whose star is rapidly rising, joins Gardner and the BBC SO here as a soloist in two works.
Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 1 was composed in 1907 while he was still in his twenties. Stylistically it belongs to his early period, heavily influenced by the late-Romantic style of Wagner and Strauss. It was disavowed later in life as Szymanowski rejected his early influences but its brash youthful energy and intense emotion has won many audiences over.
The exquisite Love Songs of Hafiz for tenor soloist and orchestra are transitional works. Composed in 1911, they represent a move toward his middle period marked by a fascination with oriental themes, here reflected in the choice to set 14th Century Persian poetry.
Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 3 ‘Song of the Night’ is considered the apex of his middle-period output and one of his finest works. Scored for a huge orchestra with choir and tenor soloist, Szymanowski again sets Persian poetry, here celebrating the beauty of the starlight Eastern night. Szymanowski conveys the poem’s vision with sensuous and highly emotional music, scored in extraordinarily subtle orchestral colour.
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Reviews
“Here are three luxurious, finely played and sung pieces in very good modern sound. Ben Johnson is expressive clear, and very easy to listen to …”
Stephen Estep – American Record Guide – March/April 2015
“… That magical moment where the solo tenor voice (Ben Johnson) floats in at the start of part 3 [Symphony No 3] is exquisitely judged, heralding delicate images of nature and surging climaxes in which Gardner whips up the BBC chorus and orchestra into waves of elated passion. Johnson has the central role in ‘Love Songs of Hafiz” and, cruelly high though the line sometimes lies, occupies it with telling emotional panache.” ****
Geoffrey Norris – The Daily Telegraph – 22 November 2014
Music ****½ (Very Good/Outstanding) Sound ****½ (Very Good/Outstanding)
Thomas Schulz – Fono Forum magazine (Germany) - March 2015
***** (Superb album) Sound 5/5 SACD Sound 5/5
Didier Van Moere - Diapson magazine (France) - February 2015
Performance **** Recording ****
“… The Third Symphony (Song of the Night), one of Szymanowski’s most famous works, includes settings for tenor soloist and chorus of poetry by Rumi. The BBC Symphony Chorus sings with languid exaltation, yet it is the orchestral detail that impresses most here, right from the still, mystery-laden opening. The violin solos sound sweetly unsettling, and in the middle movement the dance episodes break out and retreat naturally. Love Songs of Halfiz – settings of the Sufi poet who succeeded Rumi – also inspire colourful playing…”
John Allison – BBC Music magazine – February 2015
“…This is a very recommendable addition to Edward Gardner’s Szymanowski series …”
Ben Hogwood – Classical Source.com – January 2015
“… The choral/orchestral forces of Symphony No 3 benefit greatly from Chandos’s typically airy acoustic and Edward Gardiner’s unindulgent but still atmospheric balancing of elements …”
David Patrick Stearns – Gramophone magazine – December 2014
Performance ***** Sonics *****
"... Edward Gardner’s cohesive performance of this symphony Symphony No 1]holds the work togetherbetter than any previous versions that I have encountered and makes a good case for a work rarelyheard in the concert hall. The fine acoustic of the recording venue – this time the Watford Colosseum– plays an important part in keeping textures clear.This SACD is another marvellous addition to thegrowing discography of this fascinating composer’s oeuvre."
Graham Williams - SA-CD.net - 2 November 2014
"Edward Gardner’s BBC SO recordings of Szymanowski’s orchestral works are among the best, and Chandos’s engineering does wonders for the modernist, if lush, textures, the jewelled orchestration and the exotic orientalism of the Third Symphony (The Song of the Night), and the beautiful Love Songs of Hafiz. Johnson is a fine soloist here ..."
Hugh Canning - The Sunday Times (Culture magazine) - 30 November 2014
“…Ben Johnson’s fine-grained English tenor delivers the text in cleanly articulated German …”
David Gutman – International Record Review – December 2014
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