NEW ON NAXOS | JANUARY 2023
Albert William KETÈLBEY (1875–1959) British Light Music, Vol. 14 Bells Across the Meadows • In a Monastery Garden In a Persian Market • Suite Romantique Sylvia Čápová, Piano • Slovak Philharmonic Male Chorus Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra • Adrian Leaper
Albert Ketèlbey was an excellent pianist, touring Britain and honing his craft as an expert tunesmith as musical director of London’s Vaudeville Theatre. The delightful miniature In a Monastery Garden placed Ketèlbey at the forefront of British Light Music composers, with its birdsong and atmospheric chants delivering a ‘glow of exultation’ that proved hugely popular in its day. From the unashamedly sentimental Bells Across the Meadows to the impressive Suite Romantique and the famous In a Persian Market , Ketèlbey’s music takes us back to a nostalgic era of palm court salons and imaginative reverie. Key Features: • Albert Ketèlbey’s fame and popularity was ubiquitous during the 1920s and 30s but his work became neglected after the Second World War and he died in relative obscurity. His work has since been reappraised, and in a 2003 poll by the BBC radio programme Your Hundred Best Tunes , Bells Across the Meadows was voted the 36th most popular tune of all time, and the 50th anniversary of Ketèlbey's death was marked with a performance of In a Monastery Garden at the Last Night of the Proms. Some recordings of Ketèlbey’s music have been made but few of these are now easily available. • Conductor Adrian Leaper has an enormous discography of nearly 80 albums across many labels. His recordings for the Naxos and Marco Polo labels include five volumes in the British Light Music edition, and recordings of symphonies by Havergal Brian.
8.555175 Release Date: 27 Jan 2023
Companion Titles – Previous releases in the British Light Music series
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Click to listen to In a Monastery Garden
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Daniel-François-Esprit AUBER (1782–1871) Le Philtre Opera in two acts Libretto by Eugène Scribe Sung in French Luiza Fatyol, Adina Vilichi, Sopranos • Patrick Kabongo, Tenor Emmanuel Franco, Baritone • Eugenio Di Lieto, Bass Kraków Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra • Luciano Acocella
The two leading operatic composers of their time were Rossini and Auber, one now fêted, the other largely overlooked. In 1831 Auber and his long-standing librettist Eugène Scribe produced Le Philtre , which took the concept of petit opéra to the extreme, even outdoing Rossini’s Le Comte Ory in depicting a rural setting peopled not with Arcadian shepherds but with ordinary country folk. Auber’s Franco-Italian style can be heard in the work’s ensembles, while elsewhere the opera shimmers with rich arias, buffo elements and delightful cavatinas. Le Philtre was an unalloyed success receiving 243 performances and inspired Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore . Key Features: • This recording is part of our ongoing series of releases covering productions from the Rossini in Wildbad bel canto opera festival. • Conductor Luciano Acocella has directed other operas for Naxos including Meyerbeer’s Romilda e Costanza on 8.660495-97: ‘The playing of the Passionart Orchestra under Luciano Acocella is lively’ ( Gramophone ).
8.660514-15 [2 Discs] Release Date: 13 Jan 2023
Companion Titles – Rossini in Wildbad
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Click to listen to Act II – De désespoir je reste anéanti (Guillaume, Joli-Cœur)
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