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Notes
Excelling in recordings of Delius, Elgar, and Holst, Sir Andrew Davis here presents a spirited programme of works by Sir Arthur Bliss. It follows a recording of Morning Heroes that made the top recommendations of 2015; likewise recorded in surround-sound, it conveys the energy of both the exceptional soloists and the impeccable BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.
Premiered along with Britten’s War Requiem at the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral in 1962, but hardly ever heard since, The Beatitudes is remarkable for its dramatic intensity, ‘full of contrast and striking orchestral effects’, as The Times noted after a recent Barbican performance given by the same forces. The reviewer added that ‘soprano Emily Birsan was silvery clear, well supported by the tenor Ben Johnson. And the biggest round of applause should go to the BBC Symphony Chorus, full of passion.’
To complete the album are an arrangement of the national anthem having all the flair that made the tenure of Bliss as Master of the Queen’s Music distinctive and successful, as well as the virtuosic Introduction and Allegro, dedicated to Stokowski and inspired by the powerful sound of American orchestras post-World War I.
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Reviews
“...A boisterous, unapologetically flag-waving arrangement of God Save the Queen from 1969 rounds out an important and wonderful album...”
Jim Svejda – Fanfare – Nov/Dec 2018
*** (Good Album)
Michel Fleury - Classica magazine (France) - April 2018
***** (Superb Album)
Sound 4/5 SACD Sound 4/5
Benoit Fauchet – Diapason magazine – March 2018
“…Expressive and beautiful breath control from Emily Birsan (soprano) and Ben Johnson (tenor) give sublime renditions of the verse of George Herbert. And there is a truly contemplative interpretation of the powerfully dramatic words of Dylan Thomas (And death shall have no dominion) together with some apposite biblical texts. The BBC symphony chorus master, David Temple, adds to this recording with some animated but disciplined vocal control. The BBC Symphony Orchestra players live up to their distinguished reputation for faultless playing and the evergreen Sir Andrew Davis shepherds home every last note of Bliss’s distinctive Coventry cathedral calling…”
Chris Bye – The British Music Society – March 2018
“… The artists involved here give a splendid account of themselves, the soloists coping equally well with serenely calm lines as well as some strikingly florid passages elsewhere. The choir blends very well with the orchestra and the organ makes its presence felt not just in the prelude, “A troubled world”, but also in the section “And the loftiness of man”. Bliss’s choral writing manages to be thoroughly English yet wholly personal at the same time; it is never quite like anyone else’s…”
Paul RW Jackson – The British Music Society – March 2018
Performance **** Recording *****
“… There is no doubting Sir Andrew Davis’s grasp of The Beatitudes, and he steers a broadly authoritative performance, with incisive, committed playing from the BBC Symphony Orchestra…”
Terry Blain – BBC Music magazine – April 2018
Album of the Week
“…Davis follows his championing of the First World War cantata Morning Heroes with this splendid account of the oratorio, reflecting the spiritual atmosphere of the occasion, yet not without its interludes of drama and violence. The writing for soloists (Emily Birsan, above, and Ben Johnson) is ecstatically lyrical. The Introduction and Allegro is a vigorous orchestral fugue and Bliss’s arrangement of the national anthem, with ceremonial trumpet fanfares, owes its rarity to the difficult, and nuanced, harmonic setting of the words.”
Hugh Canning – The Sunday Times (Cultural magazine) – 11 March 2018
“… Andrew Davis clearly has a peculiar empathy for this music and the clean edges of Bliss’s orchestral palette, complemented by some lovely playing from the BBC SO and the two soloists, Emily Birsan and Ben Johnson…”
Jeremy Dibble - Gramophone magazine - March 2018
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