‘Queen Victoria loved music for music’s sake and singing appealed especially to her. It was a joy, a necessity to her to hear music every day and to keep in contact with the musicians of her time. Artists met with the most charming and graceful reception and the Queen always entertained herself for a long time with them about the works and their performance!’
That excerpt is from Blanche Marchesi’s autobiography; the passage could be paralleled in the life of almost every singer of Victoria’s reign. The Queen was a connoisseur.
This CD is the first complete issue (outside of a limited edition box set collection) of a celebrated 2LP set recorded by Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge in 1962. The songs, arias and ballads were selected to make up the kind of program which as contemporary accounts reveal, might well have been given by royal command before Queen Victoria. The pieces range from ‘Ocean! Thou mighty monster’ from Weber’s ‘Oberon’ to one of Queen Victoria’s staunchest favourites – ‘Home, sweet home’. The colourful and fascinating original notes for the LP release by Andrew Porter are reprinted for this CD issue.
CD 1
CARL MARIA VON WEBER: Oberon: Ocean! Thou mighty monster
JULES MASSENET: Le Cid: De cet affreux combat … Pleurez, mes yeux
GIACOMO MEYERBEER: Dinorah: Dieu! Comme cette nuit est lente … Ombre légère (Shadow Song)
RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO: Pagliacci: Qual fiamma avea nel guardo … Stridono lassù
GIUSEPPE VERDI:
I Masnadieri: Dall’infame banchetto … Tu del mio Carlo
Luisa Miller: Che! e segnar questo mano … Tu puniscimi, o Signore? La Cambiale di Matrimonio: Come tacer … vorrei spiegarvi il giubilo
VINCENZO BELLINI: Beatrice di Tenda: Eccomi pronta … Deh, se un’urna
CD 2
JULIUS BENEDICT: The Gypsy and the Bird
LUIGI ARDITI: Parla!
LUIGI RICCI: Crispino e la Comare: Io non sono più l’Annetta
PAOLO TOSTI:L Ideale
LUIGI ARDITI: Il bacio
PAOLO TOSTI: La serenata
RUGGERO LEONCAVALLO: Mattinata
HENRY BISHOP: Lo, here the gentle lark
FRIEDRICH VON FLOTOW: Martha: The last rose of summer
WILLIAM VINCENT WALLACE: Maritana: Scenes that are brightest
MICHAEL WILLIAM BALFE: The Bohemian Girl: I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls
HENRY BISHOP: Clari, the Maid of Milan: Home, sweet home
Joan Sutherland, soprano
London Symphony Orchestra
Richard Bonynge
‘A remarkable and highly successful achievement … Of Miss Sutherland’s singing it is difficult to speak too highly and her programme has been admirably chosen’ Records and Recording
‘As for the cabaletta [‘O tu del mio Carlo’ from ‘I Masnadieri’], with all its fantastic trills in the most inconvenient places, it reveals Sutherland as she should be, in a class of her own when it comes to setting each little diamond note exactly in place … ‘The Gypsy and the bird’ [is] enchanting in every way …’The Last Rose of Summer’, ‘Scenes that are brightest’ and ‘Home, sweet home’ are all very beautiful in their way … this is an essential set for vocal collectors. The recording is outstandingly good.’ Gramophone
‘A beautifully clean, final cadenza in the ‘Luisa Miller’ aria, some dazzling passages in the first florid section of the ‘Dinorah’ Shadow Song, and much undeniably lovely tone throughout.’ Gramophone