Introit: The Music of Gerald Finzi
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Tom Poster
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Decca
Magazine Review Date: 04/2016
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 76
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 478 9357DH
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Lo, the full, final sacrifice |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Dies natalis, Movement: The salutation |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Amy Dickson, Saxophones Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Let us garlands bring, Movement: Who is Silvia? |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor Nico Fleury, French Horn |
Loves Labour's Lost, Movement: Soliloquy I |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Loves Labour's Lost, Movement: Soliloquy II |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Loves Labour's Lost, Movement: Soliloquy III |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
(7) Partsongs, Movement: Clear and gentle stream |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Earth and Air and Rain, Movement: No. 6, Rollicum-rorum |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Amy Dickson, Saxophones Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Introit |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor Thomas Gould, Violin |
Let us garlands bring, Movement: Come away, come away, death |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Amy Dickson, Saxophones Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Prelude |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Romance |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Earth and Air and Rain, Movement: No. 7, To Lizbie Brown |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Amy Dickson, Saxophones Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Dies natalis |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Let us garlands bring, Movement: Fear no more the heat o' the sun |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Amy Dickson, Saxophones Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
(A) Severn Rhapsody |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor |
Eclogue |
Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer
Aurora Orchestra Gerald (Raphael) Finzi, Composer Nicholas Collon, Conductor Tom Poster, Composer |
Author: Richard Bratby
Collon and the Aurora Orchestra play this music with genuine freshness. Phrases are expressively moulded, inner parts nurtured and long lines beautifully sustained, with a lively attention to detail that pays real dividends: the way, for instance, that the woodwinds and solo string lines gently come forwards then step back in the Three Soliloquies from Love’s Labour’s Lost. And listen to the violins’ ascent from 2'20" onwards in A Severn Rhapsody to hear just how much ardour these players can generate. The recording, made at the Fairfield Halls, is warm with a slight bloom that suits this music well.
Collon’s soloists measure up well against the competition, too. Gould’s Introit has more of a sense of conversation than Lesley Hatfield’s equally fine Naxos account, and set against Piers Lane’s recording with the ECO, there’s an attractively inward quality to Poster’s Eclogue. The Aurora Orchestra respond sensitively to each, and this feels like chamber music – a good sign in this most thoughtful of composers.
So what’s the problem? The disc is padded out with bits of Dies natalis, torn from context, and a number of songs and other extracts, newly arranged for solo saxophone or horn plus strings. What were the Finzi Trust (who supported this recording) thinking? ‘To aid wider appreciation’, according to the blurb; in which case, why not spend the soloist budget on recording the real thing – the Clarinet Concerto, say?
The arrangements are tasteful, the soloists eloquent. But the supremely self-critical Finzi was intensely aware of the differences in texture and meaning between instrumental and vocal music. If you’re one of those unenlightened souls who dismiss Finzi as a purveyor of generic ‘smooth classics’, these arrangements will do nothing to change your mind. A black mark against an otherwise commendable disc.
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