Recording of the Year 2023

Vocal Recording of the Year 2023

“… This album is a tribute to Roderick Williams’s devotion to British songs, his superb performance of them, and his ingenuity in producing such skilful orchestrations…”

Shortlisted for the Gramophone Voice & Ensemble Award

“… a beautifully-performed and recorded disc of deservedly wide appeal. This CD will give much pleasure.” *****

Outstanding

Recording of the Month – March 2023

“… Of course the performances match the quality of the orchestrations. Williams, Elder and Hallé are a match made in heaven…” *****

Editor’s Choice - Vocal

“…A must-have recording, not only for those who are devoted fans of Williams’s art but also those who are entranced by this wonderful repertoire.”

“Apart from being one of the most distinguished baritones at work in the UK, we now learn that the singer Roderick Williams has skills as an orchestrator, as proved in this enterprising collection of songs and song cycles which have enjoyed many performances and recordings over the years in their original piano form, but glow here in orchestral dress…. These songs portray the composers’ evocative responses to the poetry they set, and Williams’s orchestrations further convey the songs’ meanings through highly effective use of orchestral instruments and textures.”

Recommended

“A richly rewarding recital – superb repertoire skilfully orchestrated and beautifully performed.”

“… The baritone’s orchestrations of English songs and cycles respond with characteristic intuition and subtlety to the more familiar original works — Butterworth’s Six Songs from a Shropshire Lad, Vaughan Williams’s The House of Life, Ireland’s Sea Fever and Great Things — while evangelising persuasively on behalf of the more obscure, among them Ruth Gipps’s austere The Pulley and Rebecca Clarke’s haunting The Seal Man. The fact that Williams sings these arrangements gives them a special frisson: you hear both his responses and interpretations. Fascinating.” ****

Recommended

“…these performances have been recorded very sympathetically; the balance between the solo voice and the instruments is consistently successful… Lovers of English song should investigate this disc and experience how new, perceptive light has been shone on these poetic compositions.”