Stanford: Cushendall, Op. 118 & Other Song Cycles

Sharon Carty, Benjamin Russell and Finghin Collins

Publicado el 09-02-24 por SOMM Recordings
Artistas principales: Sharon Carty Benjamin Russell Finghin Collins
Género Clásica

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Idioma disponible: inglés

There are few musical figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries British Isles as influential as Charles Villiers Stanford. Stanford's reputation as a composer has generally been eclipsed by his role as a teacher at the Royal College of Music and Cambridge, where several of his pupils have overshadowed him, most notably Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. However, Stanford has found a champion in the Somm Recordings label, which began offering recordings of his works in the 1990s. This recording of the composer's Irish Song Cycles offers the premiere recordings of two cycles as well as two arias from the opera Shamus O'Brien, Op. 61. Somm committed fully to the Irish songs of the Dublin-born Stanford, as the three performers are also Ireland-born: mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty, baritone Benjamin Russell, and pianist Finghin Collins. Collins gives properly sympathetic and precise support to both singers throughout. Carty begins the program with the premiere recordings of the titular Cushendall, Op. 118. This set challenges the singer with emotional and stylistic variety, and Carty is strong throughout; her voice is powerful, and as it continues to mature, she will no doubt be a mezzo to keep an eye on. Russell may be the real find here, with a honeyed upper register and a full, dark lower. In this repertoire, it may draw comparisons to a young Bryn Terfel. While the inclusion of the three Blarney Ballads, scathing parodies of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, may seem at odds with the rest of the program, the first song, "The Grand Ould Man," gives Russell a chance to show off his range as an actor-singer as he shifts from a caricatured voice of the PM to his full, deep baritone. Closing the program are the two selections (one each from two characters) from Shamus O'Brien. Consider the finale, "A Grave Yawns Cold," where Carty steps into the role of Nora, the wife of Shamus. Carty delivers a raw, emotional reading as Nora hears a banshee's call and dreads the arrival of her husband's death. A well-performed and recorded program, and one that should be of interest to British Isles art song enthusiasts.

© Keith Finke /TiVo

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Stanford: Cushendall, Op. 118 & Other Song Cycles

Sharon Carty

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Cushendall, Op. 118: No. 1, Ireland

Sharon Carty