Holst Choral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Gustav Holst
Genre:
Opera
Label: British Collection
Magazine Review Date: 5/1991
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 69
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 430 062-2LM
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Sávitri |
Gustav Holst, Composer
English Chamber Orchestra Gustav Holst, Composer Imogen Holst, Conductor Janet Baker, Sávitri, Mezzo soprano Purcell Singers Robert Tear, Satyaván, Tenor Thomas Hemsley, Death, Baritone |
| Rig Veda - Group 3 |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Imogen Holst, Conductor Jikta Saparová, Castor, Contralto (Female alto) Kamila Zajícková-Vyskocilová, Pollux Osian Ellis, Harp Peter Oswald, Jupiter, Charitas, Tenor Purcell Singers |
| (7) Partsongs |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Boris Christoff, Prince Galitsky; Khan Konchak, Bass English Chamber Orchestra Gustav Holst, Composer Imogen Holst, Conductor Luben Mihailov, Ovlur Purcell Singers Reni Penkova, Konchakovna, Mezzo soprano |
| (The) Evening watch |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Ditha Sommer, Gutrune, Soprano Ditha Sommer, Gutrune, Soprano Ditha Sommer, Gutrune, Soprano Gustav Holst, Composer Imogen Holst, Conductor Nadezda Kniplová, Brünnhilde, Soprano Nadezda Kniplová, Brünnhilde, Soprano Nadezda Kniplová, Brünnhilde, Soprano Purcell Singers Rudolf Knoll, Gunther Rudolf Knoll, Gunther Rudolf Knoll, Gunther |
Composer or Director: Gustav Holst
Genre:
Opera
Label: British Collection
Magazine Review Date: 5/1991
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 430 062-4LM
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Sávitri |
Gustav Holst, Composer
English Chamber Orchestra Gustav Holst, Composer Imogen Holst, Conductor Janet Baker, Sávitri, Mezzo soprano Purcell Singers Robert Tear, Satyaván, Tenor Thomas Hemsley, Death, Baritone |
| Rig Veda - Group 3 |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gustav Holst, Composer Imogen Holst, Conductor Marta Benacková, Genius Justiniana, Echo Osian Ellis, Harp Peter Mikulás, Mors, Baritone Purcell Singers Viktória Stracenská, Genius Justi |
| (7) Partsongs |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Constantin Chekerliski, Igor English Chamber Orchestra Gustav Holst, Composer Imogen Holst, Conductor Julia Wiener, Yaroslavna Purcell Singers Todor Todorov, Vladimir |
| (The) Evening watch |
Gustav Holst, Composer
Gerald McKee, Siegfried, Tenor Gerald McKee, Siegfried, Tenor Gerald McKee, Siegfried, Tenor Gustav Holst, Composer Imogen Holst, Conductor Otto von Rohr, Hagen, Bass Otto von Rohr, Hagen, Bass Otto von Rohr, Hagen, Bass Purcell Singers Rolf Kühne, Alberich Rolf Kühne, Alberich Rolf Kühne, Alberich |
Author: Michael Oliver
Things are looking up. As well as the preposterous total of around 30 currently available recordings of The Planets, we now have two of Savitri, two each of The Evening-watch and the Bridges Partsongs and three, no less, of the Third set of Rig Veda hymns. And so we should; indeed I could find room for a third Savitri, with a true soprano (as Holst specified) in the title-role. This is no criticism either of Felicity Palmer (the Savitri in Richard Hickox's beautiful reading on Hyperion) or of Dame Janet Baker's moving performance in this welcome reissue. The point is that all these works are closer to the centre of what makes Holst a profoundly original composer than The Planets is, and benefit more from the insights of contrasting interpretations.
Baker's Savitri (we should call it Tear's and Hemsley's Savitri also; both sing with great refinement) is one of her finest recorded performances, firmly sung, tenderly expressive, the voice in flawless condition. The sound is graver, less brightly incisive than Palmer's, but of course the Decca recording is a quarter of a century old. A bit of tape-hiss, therefore, and a hint of rawness (the voices are quite close) in louder passages, but the work exerts its strange, strong magic within a couple of bars and I really can't think that the Hyperion version, for all its atmospheric beauty of sound, has superseded the Decca. I'm grateful that we have both, and besides, there are couplings to consider. Hyperion offers Colin Matthews's fascinating orchestrations of Holst's 12 Humbert Wolfe songs. Decca's collection of choruses (the Rig Veda hymns before the opera—Holst liked the last of them to be used as an 'overture' to Savitri—the others following it) makes a perfect setting: a detailed exploration of the mastery of vocal scoring, especially for high voices, that Holst first revealed in Savitri. So much of his best music will rarely be heard in concerts because of the forces he wrote for; it is good to have so much of it on a single CD.
Speaking of couplings, Hilary Davan Wetton and the Holst Singers have recorded all three choral pieces for Hyperion (the Third group of Rig Veda hymns coupled with works by Bliss and Britten;The Evening-watch and the Bridges Partsongs on an all-Holst collection) using whiter and purer voices than Imogen Holst's accompanied group. I love the sound they make, and would include all three Hyperion issues as well as the Decca in my essential Holst discography, but for the homme (or femme) only moyen Holstien (which means all those who already have The Planets and feel that it's time to explore the rest of his work) the Decca reissue is ideal.'
Baker's Savitri (we should call it Tear's and Hemsley's Savitri also; both sing with great refinement) is one of her finest recorded performances, firmly sung, tenderly expressive, the voice in flawless condition. The sound is graver, less brightly incisive than Palmer's, but of course the Decca recording is a quarter of a century old. A bit of tape-hiss, therefore, and a hint of rawness (the voices are quite close) in louder passages, but the work exerts its strange, strong magic within a couple of bars and I really can't think that the Hyperion version, for all its atmospheric beauty of sound, has superseded the Decca. I'm grateful that we have both, and besides, there are couplings to consider. Hyperion offers Colin Matthews's fascinating orchestrations of Holst's 12 Humbert Wolfe songs. Decca's collection of choruses (the Rig Veda hymns before the opera—Holst liked the last of them to be used as an 'overture' to Savitri—the others following it) makes a perfect setting: a detailed exploration of the mastery of vocal scoring, especially for high voices, that Holst first revealed in Savitri. So much of his best music will rarely be heard in concerts because of the forces he wrote for; it is good to have so much of it on a single CD.
Speaking of couplings, Hilary Davan Wetton and the Holst Singers have recorded all three choral pieces for Hyperion (the Third group of Rig Veda hymns coupled with works by Bliss and Britten;
Holst Choral Works
Holst Choral Works
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