Alwyn; Miss Julie Opera CHANDOS SACD

Alwyn; Miss Julie

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CHSA 5253

Multiple Set of 2 CDs

Alwyn; Miss Julie

Release Date: July 2020
Originally recorded in October 2019

Composer
William Alwyn

Solo soprano - Miss Julie
Anna Patalong

Solo bass-baritone - Jean, the Count's valet
Benedict Nelson

Solo mazzo-soprano - Kristin, the cook
Rosie Aldridge

Solo tenor - Ulrik, the gamekeeper
Samuel Sakker

Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra

Conductor
Sakari Oramo

Producer
Brian Pidgeon

Engineer
Ralph Couzens

Engineer assistants
Alex James and Jonathan Cooper

Venue 5-8 October 2019
Phoenix Concert Hall, Fairfield Halls, Croydon

Genre:
Opera

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COMPACT DISC ONE

WILLIAM ALWYN

Miss Julie (1973 -76)

An Opera in Two Acts

Based on the Play by August Stringberg (1849-1912)

Acte I

Scene 1: 25:40

[Orchestral Introduction.] Allegro. Valse Tempo -

1:04

A tempo grazioso -

Jean: 'Miss Julie is crazy' -

1:36

Kristin: 'But the Count...' -

4:41

Jean: 'By God, I'm thirsty!' -

3:18

Miss Julie: 'Kristin, Kristin, Kristin!' -

2:28

Jean: 'Well, I've travelled around' -

4:28

Miss Julie: 'There's a new dance starting' -

2:01

Miss Julie: 'You know why I came here tonight?' -

1:48

Miss Julie: 'Midsummer Night, O, night of magic' -

3:38

10.

Kristin: 'I'm ready, Jean!'

0:34

Scene 2: 35:14

11.

[Orchestral Introduction.] Andante sostenuto (Poco adagio) -

2:32

Poco più mosso (a tempo di valse) - Andante sostenuto -

Poco più mosso - Più mosso - Tempo I - Meno mosso - Più mosso (Poco allegretto) -

12.

Jean: 'Kristin, Kristin...' -

3:45

13.

Miss Julie: 'Now you can kiss my hand' -

2:33

14.

Jean: 'That wouldn't do, either' -

3:51

15.

Jean: 'I have no time for dreams' -

2:02

16.

Miss Julie: 'Would you like me to dance' -

0:52

17.

Jean: 'Playing with fire' -

1:57

18.

Jean: 'You don't know what it is to be poor' -

1:42

19.

Miss Julie: 'But you can rise, Jean' -

1:55

20.

Ulrik: '"A lady went a-roaming..."' -

3:00

21.

Ulrik: 'She's the queen of the dance' -

1:52

22.

Jean: 'You can come out now' -

1:51

23.

Jean: 'I know, I know...' -

4:02

24.

Jean: 'I can't, not while we're still in this house'

3:15

Total time: 60:45

COMPACT DISC TWO

Act II

[Orchestral Introdution.] Lento - Allegro non troppo -

2:37

Poco più mosso - Lento ma non troppo -

Jean: 'Never again!' -

3:32

Jean: 'Now don't lose your head' -

3:34

Miss Julie: 'Scum on the surface of water' -

3:20

Miss Julie: 'If you want me again' -

4:06

Jean: If I only had enough money...' -

2:35

Miss Julie: 'You sound so cruel, Jean' -

1:36

[Orchestral Interlude.] Allegro precipitoso - Poco meno mosso, ma sempre allegro -

0:59

Kristin: 'Has she gone?' -

0:47

10.

Kristin: 'Whatever you say, I know you were here with the mistress' -

1:38

11.

Kristin: 'Class is class, and don't you forget it' -

1:22

12.

Kristin: 'We'll get married' -

1:02

13.

Ulrik: 'A pretty domestic scene!' -

1:05

14.

Kristin: 'I knew I was right!' -

1:40

15.

Kristin: 'There's someone upstairs' -

1:45

16.

Miss Julie: 'I'm ready now, Jean' -

2:07

17.

Jean: 'What the devil is that?' -

1:51

18.

Miss Julie: 'He's killed her, killed her!' -

2:33

19.

Kristin: 'You're man! You're both mad!' -

4:55

20.

Kristin: 'Well, well!' So you're going to elope!' -

1:15

21.

Jean: 'The Count's back!' -

1:09

22.

Jean: 'You can go, but I can't -

3:56

23.

Miss Julie: ' must be dreaming' -

2:30

24.

Miss Julie: 'Kiss me...before I go!'

1:58

Total time: 53:52

Solo: Anna Patalong soprano - Miss Julie

Solo: Benedict Nelson bass-baritone - Jean, the Count's valet

Solo: Rosie Aldridge mazzo-soprano - Kristin, the cook

Solo: Samuel Sakker tenor - Ulrik, the gamekeeper

Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra

Igor Yuzefovich leader

Conductor: Sakari Oramo

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Reviews

Interpretation ***** Sound Quality **** Repertoire Value **** Booklet ***

“… Anna Patalong has totally absorbed Julie and explores all facets of this insecure woman with a versatile, high-pitched soprano. How she, together with the baritone Benedict Nelson, whose Jean exudes seductiveness paired with brutality, attests the abysses of the relationship with the most subtle undertones, is great musical theater. Differentiated character studies also succeed Rosie Aldridge as rebellious cook Kristin and Samuel Sakker as drunkard Ulrik... With the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the conductor Sakari Orama builds up a never-ending tension, exposes the sensual-romantic structures and always pays attention to transparency, which is optimally captured by the sound engineering…”

Karin Cooper – Klassik.com – 11 January 2021

“The second recording of William Alwyn’s searing opera confirms the work’s vitality and importance. It is one of the best and most accessible operas to have been written in the past few decades… Soprano Anna Patalong manages to be alternately imperious and tender as the title character, creating a real person in front of our, well, ears… As Kristin, the cook, mezzo-soprano Rosie Aldridge displays a solid voice and oodles of personality. I could understand her every word. Bass-baritone Benedict Nelson carries off the role of the manipulative valet with immense authority … Particularly vivid are his imitations of the snippish orders given by the Count. (So we do get to hear the Count, by proxy.) Light tenor Samuel Sakker turns the small role of Ulrik, the gamekeeper, into a credible character: smug and petty… The conducting (by Finnish-born Sakari Oramo) and the orchestral playing seem solid and appropriate …”

Ralph P Locke – artsfuse.org – 25 December 2020

“… it is an advantage to hear Alwyn’s score so exquisitely played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Chandos’s wide-ranging recording…”

Christopher Webber – Opera – November 2020

Recording of the Month

“…Chandos have done this performance proud. The recorded sound is magnificent. The engineers allow all the intricacies and subtleties of Alwyn’s scoring to come out and also provide sound that has presence and impact so that the full-on passages really open out. An excellent balance has been achieved between singers and orchestra. I listened to the stereo layer of these SACDs and was mightily impressed. As is always the case with this label, the documentation is first-rate. Andrew Palmer’s comprehensive notes provide an excellent introduction to the opera … This new recording of Miss Julie is a formidable achievement…, this new version of Miss Julie is one that all admirers of William Alwyn’s music should consider as a mandatory purchase”

John Quinn – MusicWeb-International.com – 9 September 2020

“… The four singers inhabit their roles with wholehearted conviction, getting beneath the skin of their characters without any compromise on vocal beauty… Patalong’s singing, in particular, captures Miss Julie’s contradiction; radiantly passionate as her hopes rise and desperately fragile as they shatter. Her final scenes are simultaneously tender and chilling. Nelson, as Jean, has an almost frightening ability to let his voice harden like cold steel, often immediately after a passage that shows him at his most warmly expressive… And no one familiar with Sakari Oramo’s way of stripping the varnish from British music will be surprised by the atmospheric and vivid playing that he draws from the BBC Symphony Orchestra: there’s an almost forensic clarity, coupled to an unflagging tension and sense of forward movements…”

Richard Bratby – Gramophone magazine – September 2020

“Oramo here reveals a work undeserving of its neglect on stage … Patalong is a charismatic Julie, delivering her neurotic, angular lines with forebodings of suicidal hysteria, and Benedict Nelson, a late replacement as Jean, matches her with his crystal-clear diction.”

Hugh Canning - Sunday Times (Culture magazine) - 9 August 2020

Performance **** Recording *****

“…Vocally relying almost entirely on the two hugely demanding central roles, the performance itself conveys clear conviction. Anna Patalong sketches in a troubled, vacillating Miss Julie while Benedict Nelson provides a forceful presence as the superficially good-natured valet, Jean – underneath a brutish bully… The BBC Symphony Orchestra proves unfailingly adept. Sakari Oramo charts a secure course through the score’s heady, hot-house emotional world.”

George Hall – BBC Music magazine – August 2020

“… Sakari Oramo is one of the most committed and musical of conductors at work today, and he doesn’t miss a single dramatic opportunity in the piece… Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra are joined by an impressive cast featuring Anna Patalong in the title role in this acclaimed revival of Alwyn’s neglected masterpiece is recorded in surround sound.”

Barry Forshaw – CDChoice.co.uk – 30 July 2020

“… Alwyn’s gifts as a film composer translate stirringly to opera. The performers capture the work’s chilling immediacy, variously crazed, romantic and seedy, full of dissonant waltz and voluptuous orchestration. The tragic relationship between Patalong’s fervent Miss Julie and Nelson’s serpentine Jean, the valet, is winningly conveyed. Every word of the English libretto (Alwyn’s own) is clear. Highly recommended.”

Fiona Maddocks – The Guardian – 25 July 2020

“… Sakari Oramo’s dynamic account crackles with the kind of electricity usually associated with authentic live performances. Anna Patalong’s tones as Julie may not always be pretty, but they’re psychologically honest: this character isn’t playing hostess at a tea party. For dark fervour, Patalong is beaten by her husband, Benedict Nelson, who plays the valet Jean with a brazen authority especially rare for a singer parachuted into the cast at short notice. Rosie Aldridge brings plenty of personality to the cook Kristin, while I wouldn’t want to face a gun held by Samuel Sakker’s gamekeeper Ulrik (Alwyn’s invention). The BBC musicians, for their part, revel in a score so opulently emotional that parts might have been composed by Richard Strauss.” ****

Geoff Brown – The Times – 10 July 2020

“… The cast is superb, and the BBC Orchestra under Sakari Oramo's strong direction brings out all of the nuance of Alwyn's score. Excellent, well-balanced multi-channel audio. This is a class production with a 92-page booklet with many photos, informative program notes and the complete libretto. An important release! Thank you, Chandos!

Robert Benson – Classicalcdreview.com – July 2020

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Alwyn; Miss Julie

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WILLIAM ALWYN

Miss Julie (1973 -76)

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