I recently had the pleasure of
reviewing this fine CD from Melba Recordings in Australia. I began my review
with a little reminsicience...
“I first heard The Salley Gardens
some 37 years ago. It was in the music department of my old school, Coatbridge
High. One of the sixth-formers was preparing for a recital, and Britten's
arrangement was part of this. At that time, I was 'into' Richard Strauss's Four
Last Songs and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, so Britten's arrangement came as a
surprise. It was simple, straight-to-the-point and quite simply beautiful. Even
at sixteen years old I thought it was one of the loveliest things I had ever
heard”.
After a brief resume of the
various recordings of this fine music, and noting that “the fundamental recording
is by the composer and Peter Pears on Decca London. Love him or loathe him,
Pears is the touchstone for all subsequent recordings...”
I felt that “the present CD...is
superb. It is does not supersede any past recordings, but it is well and truly
in the trajectory of Pears, Ferrier, Langridge, Thomas Allen et al. Steve
Davislim, a fine Australian tenor, is able to generate a wide variety of moods
as he tackles each of these songs. His vocalism is perfectly capable of showing
joy, sadness, happiness, fear, tragedy and wit as he progresses from song to
song and verse to verse. There are many surprises, delight and felicities in
these pages.
This is a great CD. I am only
sorry that it comprises only extracts from the 'collected' works, and is not a complete
edition. Yet I guess that is largely impossible for a single soloist.
Positively, this is a fine introduction to some of the loveliest and most
attractive songs in the vocal repertoire. They are, by and large, beautifully
performed by both the singer and the accompanist. And most importantly of all I
feel that Steve Davislim thoroughly enjoys singing these songs.
Please read the full review
at MusicWeb
International
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