Commissioned for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and dedicated to Georg Solti, ‘Final Alice’ is scored for gargantuan forces and is based on the last two chapters of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. It has been described by the composer as a ‘grand concerto for voice and orchestra’and an ‘opera written in concert form’. The solo part is partly spoken and partly sung and here despatched with great flair by Barbara Hendricks. The spacious recording, made in 1980 at Chicago’s Medinah Temple, is of demonstration class and the whole piece, lasting an hour, is a real spectacle. The booklet includes David Del Tredici’s original liner notes as well as the libretto.
DAVID DEL TREDICI
Final Alice
Barbara Hendricks, soprano
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Georg Solti
Recording location: Medinah Temple, Chicago, USA, January 1980
‘… the demonstration class recording of David Del Tredici’s spectacular Lewis-Carroll-meets-Richard-Strauss-on-acid ‘Final Alice’, a much sought after early Decca digital LP release, finally reaches CD ( and at budget price) thanks to Australian Eloquence’ BBC Radio 3 forum
‘The LP, cassette and Japanese London CD all had the same dozen or so small digital glitches in the master. One of them appeared in the left channel of the Acrostic Song during a trumpet passage, but without headphones most listeners didn’t notice. On the LP this particular glitch seemed to be a moment of Adjacent Groove Wall Blast and I was surprised when the same breakup appeared on the cassette and, later, the Japan CD which was clearly digital in origin. Whatever source you used, the result is superb. At last we have the definitive edition of an important musical masterpiece. Your new cover artwork is wonderful’ Customer comment
‘All credit to the Decca team for doing this piece proud and to Australian Eloquence for returning it to the catalogue. Not to be missed’ MusicWeb
‘The Decca release of Final Alice is a reissue of the original LP, and it’s hard to imagine this performance will ever be bettered. Hendricks is spectacular, and the CSO never sounded more sonically Technicolor’ Fanfare
‘a remarkable document…a modern American classic, superbly performed and recorded’ International Record Review
‘This much-delayed CD issue had me jumping for joy’ Gramophone