The Vanishing Bridegroom (Ailish Tynan, Anna Stéphany, Andrew Tortise, Owen Gilhooly, Jonathan Lemalu, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins)
The Vanishing Bridegroom (Ailish Tynan, Anna Stéphany, Andrew Tortise, Owen Gilhooly, Jonathan Lemalu, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Martyn Brabbins)
Label Catalogue Number: NMCD196
Running Time: 82:47
UPC Code: 5023363019620
Release Date: September 2014
Originally recorded in 2014
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Notes
Judith Weir: The VanishingBridegrrom – Ailish Tynan, Anna Stéphany, Andrew Tortise, Owen Gilhooly, Jonathan Lemalu, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra Martyn Brabbins,
Judith Weir's opera, commissioned by Glasgow District Council for the 1990 City of Culture celebrations, takes three Scottish folktales, all concerned with disappearance: The Inheritance features a runaway bride, a singing forest and a lost sum of gold; The Disappearance tells of a man abducted by supernatural forces; and The Stranger is the story of an independent-minded girl wooed by a sinister stranger.
Weir's writing combines lush descriptive soundscapes with ethereal choruses and Gaelic folk melodies; the romanticism of the three tales is offset by the sardonic humour and down-to-earth attitude of their protagonists and of the composer herself.
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Reviews
Critic’s Choice
"... A serious tour de force in technical and dramatic terms … brims with moments where the level of atmospheric storytelling is mesmerising "
BBC Music Magazine 2014
"Weir’s music capably conveys both urgent foreboding and pastoral calm"
Opera News
Recording of the Month
"Weir weaves a fascinating music tale … [and the] performance, led ably by Martyn Brabbins, does true justice to this varied and evocative score"
Limelightmagazine.com.au
"... Ms Weir’s brash, impetuous, spiky music is at once unabashedly modern and continually entertaining. A terrific performance "
The New York Times
"The narrative line in each panel is crystal clear, and there is also more than sufficient action to hold our attention: a wedding breakfast, a robbery complete with policeman on the trail, a hellfire preacher with an apocalyptic vision, magic moments (sheep droppings turn to gold at one point), even, in The Disappearance, fairies. […] Given that the recording emanates from a single live public concert performance, at the Barbican Hall in 2008, it is a heroic achievement to have captured this multifaceted opera so well: the challenges must have been many ..."
International Record Review
"A composer of integrity, [Weir] communicates intelligently with different audiences and ages. This timely release of The Vanishing Bridegroom (1990), her most successful opera, underscores her gift for concision, ambiguity and sound-pictures of sophisticated lyricism"
Financial Times
"Magical ... an important omission in Weir's recorded catalogue very decently filled"
Gramophone Magazine
"...On CD it emerges with real vitality and it is hard to imagine this performance being bettered. Not a bad way of introducing yourself to the new Master of the Queen's Music ..."
BBC Radio 3 CD Review
"... On first hearing, The Vanishing Bridegroom is baffling but intruiing, by the third, it is thrilling from first note to last. Easy? No.Fascinating? Yes."
James H North - Fanfare - January/February 2015
***** (Superb album)
Benoît Fauchet - Diapason magazine (France) - May 2015
"Musically, Ms Weir’s style would never be mistaken for romantic; but while it is modern, it is very wasy to listen to The orchestral writing is always interesting, and often the combinations of soloists, chorus, and orchestra are quite beautiful The performance is very good. All the singers are more than adequate for their roles. I especially liked Anna Stephany, as the Daughter in Part III. The orchestral and choral work is excellent ..."
Richard Sininger - American Record Guide - January/February 2015
while the orchestra, chorus and soloists all have plenty to do, Weir’s textures never become muddy thanks to the excellent engineering and superb performances. Brabbins leads a well-paced reading that follows every twist and turn of Weir’s colourful score. Soprano Anna Stéphany and bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu give particularly strong performances in the final tale" ****
Owen Mortimer - Opera Now magazine - October 2014
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