Margaret Price in Recital
Margaret Price
Label
Decca
Catalogue No.
4825237
Barcode
00028948252374
Format
2-CD
About

A song recital new to CD from a peerless lyric soprano, coupled with classic recordings of Ravel and Verdi.

 

In 1971 Andrew Porter wrote that Margaret Price’s voice was among the things that make one ‘glad to be alive’. In the 1960s she had recorded for a small Welsh label a recital of Welsh, German and Italian songs that would become signature items for her over the coming decades. Reissued in 1969 by L’Oiseau-Lyre, the album makes it to CD for the first time in this compilation. In favourites such as Schubert’s Heidenröslein, Verdi’s Ave maria and five Welsh folksongs, Price is on sovereign form, with a gleaming upper register and engagingly fresh phrasing.

 

Also from the early 70s is a rare foray into contemporary music inspired by her Welsh heritage, with Alun Hoddinott’s setting of a text by Emyr Humphries, Roman Dream. She recorded this for Argo along with a set of Gaelic folksongs by Phyllis Tate; these, too, are transferred to CD for the first time.

 

More familiar delights are offered on CD2, with Deutsche Grammophon capturing her voice in full and glorious maturity in a 1987 album of Verdi songs and a recording of Ravel’s opulent, oriental song-cycle Shéhérezade, in which she is sensitively partnered by the London Symphony Orchestra under a long-time musical partner, Claudio Abbado; together in 1971 they had recorded the Altenberg-Lieder of Berg which fill out CD1. Thus Price sings in five languages through the course of the compilation, and shows herself a gifted word-painter in each of them: it’s a comprehensive tribute to the art of a soprano esteemed by Sir Georg Solti as ‘a musician’s singer and a conductor’s singer’.

TRACK LISTING / ARTISTS

CD 1                         

1 BELLINI Almen se non poss’io*

2 DONIZETTI La Conocchia*

3 VERDI Ave Maria*

4 ROSSINI L’Invito*

 

FRANZ SCHUBERT

5 Du bist die Ruh’, D.774*

6 Heidenröslein, D. 257*

7 Gretchens Bitte, D.564*

8 Die Forelle, D.550*

 

TRADITIONAL – WELSH FOLK SONGS

9 Y bore glas*

10 Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn*

11 Wrth Fynd Efo Deio I Dowyn*

12 Dafydd y Garreg Wen*

13 Y Deryn Pur*

14–16 TATE Three Gaelic Ballads*                                                                                                          

17 HODDINOTT Roman Dream, Op. 54*                                                                                              

18–22 BERG Altenberger Lieder

CD 2                         

GIUSEPPE VERDI

1 Il tramonto

2 La seduzione    

3 Ad una stella    

4 Lo spazzacamino                                                                                                                                        

5 Perduta ho la pace                                                                                                                                    

6 Deh, pietoso, oh Addolorata

7 Chi i bei dì m’adduce ancora

8 La zingara

9 L’esule                                                                                                                                                           

10 Non t’accostare all’urna                                                                                                                       

11 In solitaria stanza                                                                                                                                    

12 Nell’orror di notte oscura                                                                                                                    

13 Il poveretto   

14 Stornello                                                                                                                                                     

15 Ave Maria

16–18 RAVEL Shéhérazade                                                                                                                       

               

Margaret Price, soprano

James Lockhart, piano (CD1: 1–17)

Geoffrey Parsons, piano (CD2: 1–15)

London Symphony Orchestra / Claudio Abbado (CD1: 18–22, CD2: 16–18)

 

*FIRST CD RELEASE ON DECCA

Track previews
Almen se non poss'io
Songs for Voice and Piano: L'esule
Songs for Voice and Piano: La seduzione
Songs for Voice and Piano / Seste Romanze II: 3. Ad una stella
Songs for Voice and Piano / Seste Romanze II: 4. Lo spazzacamino
Songs for Voice and Piano / Seste Romanze I: 5. Perduta ho la pace
Songs for Voice and Piano / Seste Romanze I: Deh, pietoso, oh Addolorata
Chi i bei dì m'adduce ancora
Songs for Voice and Piano / Seste Romanze II: 2. La zingara
Songs for Voice and Piano / Seste Romanze I: 1. Non t'accostare all'urna
Altenberg Lieder, Op. 4: No. 5, Hier ist Friede
Songs for Voice and Piano / Seste Romanze I: 3. in solitaria stanza
Songs for Voice and Piano / Seste Romanze I: 4. Nell'orror di notte oscura
Songs for Voice and Piano: Il poveretto
Songs for Voice and Piano: Stornello
Ave Maria (arr. for Soprano and Piano)
Shéhérazade, M. 41: I. Asie
Shéhérazade, M. 41: II. La flûte enchantée
Songs for Voice and Piano / Seste Romanze II: 1. Il tramonto
Altenberg Lieder, Op. 4: No. 4, Nichts ist gekommen
La conocchia
Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn
Ave Maria
L'Invito
Du bist die Ruh', D.776
Heidenröslein, D.257
Gretchens Bitte, D.564
Die Forelle, D.550
Y bore glas
Wrth Fynd Efo Deio I Dowyn
Altenberg Lieder, Op. 4: No. 3, Über die Grenzen des All
Dafydd y Garreg Wen
Y Deryn Pur
Three Gaelic Ballads: 1. The Lake of Coolfin
Three Gaelic Ballads: 2. Hark! The Soft Bugle
Three Gaelic Ballads: 3. Hush Song
Roman Dream, Op. 54
Altenberg Lieder, Op. 4: No. 1, Seele, wie bist du schöner
Altenberg Lieder, Op. 4: No. 2, Sahst du nach dem Gewitterregen
Shéhérazade, M. 41: III. L'indifférent
Recording information

Recording Producers: Esme Lewis (Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi [CD1], Rossini, Schubert, Traditional); James Burnett (Tate, Hoddinott); Karl Faust, Rainer Brock (Berg); Christopher Alder (Verdi [CD2]); Günter Breest, Christopher Alder (Ravel)

Recording Engineers: Michael Hall (Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi [CD1], Rossini, Schubert, Traditional); Günter Hermanns, Wolfgang Werner (Berg); Tryggvi Tryggvason & Dan Gosling (Tate, Hoddinott); Karl-August Naegler (Verdi [CD2]); Klaus Hiemann, Hans-Rudolf Müller (Ravel)

Recording Locations: UK, 1969 (Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi [CD1], Rossini, Schubert, Traditional); St. John’s, Smith Square, London, UK, 4, 7, 8 January & 21–23 July 1971 (Tate, Hoddinott); Anvil Film Studios, Denham, London, UK, 4–8 December 1970 (Berg); Konzerthaus, Mozartsaal, Vienna, Austria, April 1986 (Verdi [CD2]); All Saints Church, London, UK, 9–13 November 1987 (Ravel)

Remastering Engineer: Chris Bernauer

Original LP/CD Releases: L’Oiseau-Lyre SOL 345 (Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi [CD1], Rossini, Schubert, Traditional); Argo ZRG 691 (Tate, Hoddinott); Deutsche Grammophon 2530 146 (Berg); Deutsche Grammophon 419 621-1 (LP), 419 621-2 (CD) (Verdi [CD2]); 427 314-2 (Ravel)

Reviews

‘The attraction is the voice, warm, with a mezzo quality still evident, beautifully even in texture, nobly full-bodied on high, generous in phrasing.’ Gramophone, April 1976 (L’Oiseau-Lyre recital)

 

‘The real prize is the haunting Altenberg Lieder, sung to perfection by Margaret Price-and the sound is excellent.’ High Fidelity, December 1988 (Berg)

 

‘In this recital, as was usual with Price, she sang with tremendous energy, filling each phrase with a great tone and superb coloration. Also as usual, her technique is solid and always there when she needs it, but never used for “flash”. Price simply had too much good taste to be ostentatious.’ Fanfare, Jan/Feb 2013 (Verdi)