ΕΤΑΙΡΙΑ: Decca
ΚΑΛΛΙΤΕΧΝΗΣ: Jose de Eusebio
ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΑ: CD
ΣΥΝΘΕΤΗΣ: Isaac Albeniz

Κωδικός: 028947393726

Εξαντλήθηκε

''When the colourful Arthurian opera, Merlin, appeared on disc three years ago, it came as a surprise even to many lovers of Spanish music that Isaac Albeniz had written a series of operas to English texts. Now comes the earliest of Albeniz's English operas, Henry Clifford, a story of love and conflicting loyalties set at the time of the Wars of the Roses.
As with Merlin, the big snag is the libretto, the work of the composer's benefactor, the banker Francis Burdett Money-Coutts. But on disc one can forgive the slow-moving plot - history and the supernatural mixed oddly together - and the unbelievably clumsy verses, since the music is so fresh.
With ecstatic writing for women's voices in particular, each act brings memorable moments. As with Merlin, conductor Jose de Eusebio is a persuasive advocate, leading a fine cast headed by Alessandra Marc and Jane Henschel (both superb), tenor Aquiles Machado in the taxing title role and Carlos Alvarez as Lord St John, all coping with the English text very well. Recommended to anyone who enjoys an operatic costume drama in a warm, late-romantic idiom, opulently orchestrated.'' The Guardian