Richard Hickox, The Sinfonia Chorus, Northern Sinfonia - Vaughan Williams: Sir John in Love (2001)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 591 Mb | Total time: 136:39 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 9928(2) | Recorded: 2000
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 591 Mb | Total time: 136:39 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 9928(2) | Recorded: 2000
There's no lack of glorious melody in Sir Johnin Love, and not just folksong cunningly interwoven. Musically, what comes over strongly, more richly than ever before in this magnificent recording from Richard Hickox, is the way that the writing anticipates later Vaughan Williams, not just the radiant composer of the Fifth Symphony and Serenade to Music, with keychanges of heartstopping beauty, but the composer's darker side, with sharply rhythmic writing.
The work's title, Sir John in Love, points to Vaughan Williams's different approach to the central character. With him Shakespeare's fat knight isn't just comic but a believable lover, more genial and expansive than in Boito's portrait, yet hardly a noble figure such as Elgar portrayed in his big symphonic study. Donald Maxwell makes a splendid Falstaff, relishing the comedy without making it a caricature. Above all, his full, dark voice is satisfyingly fat-sounding. On Vaughan Williams Opera 1205 the only previous recording, the vintage EMI set of 1974, Raimund Herincx gave a finely detailed performance, but lacked that important quality.
The 1974 set certainly stands the test of time remarkably well, but the extra fullness and richness of the Chandos sound coupled with as keen a concern for the atmospheric beauties of the score, notably in offstage effects, gives the new set an obvious advantage. Interpretatively, Hickox is just as incisive as Meredith Davies on EMI in bringing out the sharper side of the score, though he's more warmly expressive, a degree more affectionate in drawing out the glowing lyricism.
Chandos's casting is satisfyingly consistent, with no weak link. Matthew Best may be rather gruff at times as Ford, but that's very much in character, when, if anything, he's more venomous here than in Verdi, until at the start of Act 3 Vaughan Williams allows a wonderful duet of reconciliation with Mrs Ford, 'Pardon me, wife'.
As Ursula Vaughan Williams has reported, her husband wrote Sir John in Love 'entirely for his own enjoyment', because he was in love with the subject. And from first to last this new set reflects that.— Gramophone Classical Music Guide
Performer:
Shallow, a country Justice - Adrian Thompson, tenor
Sir Hugh Evans, a Welsh parson - Stephen Varcoe, bass
Slender, a foolish young gentleman, Shallow's cousin - Daniel Norman, tenor
Peter Simple, his servant - Henry Moss, baritone
Page, a citizen of Windsor - Roderick Williams, baritone
Sir John Falstaff - Donald Maxwell, baritone
Bardolph - John Bowen, tenor
Nym - Richard Lloyd-Morgan bass
Pistol - Brian Bannatyne-Scott, baritone
Anne Page, Page's daughter - Susan Gritton, soprano
Mrs Page, Page's wife - Laura Claycomb, soprano
Mrs Ford, Ford's wife - Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano
Fenton, a young gentleman of the Court at Windsor - Mark Padmore, tenor
Dr Caius, a French physician - Adrian Thompson, tenor
Rugby, his servant - Mark Richardson, bass
Mrs Quickly, his housekeeper - Anne-Marie Owens, mezzo-soprano
The Host of the 'Garter Inn' - Stephan Loges, baritone
Ford, a citizen of Windsor - Matthew Best, bass
The Sinfonia Chorus
Northern Sinfonia
Conductor - Richard Hickox
Tracklist:
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Sir John in Love
CD1:
Act I
01. Orchestral introduction - Shallow, Sir Hugh Evans: 'What hoa, what hoa!'
02. Anne Page: 'Ahem'
03. Anne Page: 'This is my father's choice'
04. Page: 'How now, what does Master Fenton here?'
05. Dr Caius: 'Vere is dat knave Rugby?'
06. Episode
07. Bardolph, Nym, Pistol: 'How now, mine Host of the Garter'
08. Sir John Falstaff: 'I spy entertainment in her . . .'
09. Pistol: 'Wilt thou revenge . . .?'
10. Ford: 'Love my wife? I will be patient'
Act II
11. Orchestral introduction -
Scene 1
Mrs Page: ' ''Thine own true knight'' '
12. Mrs Qucikly: 'Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more'
Scene 2
13. Sir John Falstaff: 'Bardolph! Bardolph, I say!'
14. Sir John Falstaff: 'Go thy ways, go thy ways, old Jack!'
15. Ford: 'Sir, my name is Brook'
16. Ford: 'Ha, is this a vision?'
CD2:
Act III
Scene 1: Interlude
01. Orchestral introduction -
Fenton: 'Yet hear me speak'
02. Chorus of Young Women: 'Fair and fair and twice so fair'
03. Anne Page: 'But listen, good mine Host'
Scene 2
04. Orchestral introduction -
Sir Hugh Evans: ' ''When as we sat in Papylon'' '
05. Peter Simple: 'Yonder he's coming'
06. Page: 'Come, Master Ford'
07. Orchestral introduction -
Scene 3
Mrs Ford: 'What, John! What, Robert!'
08. Mrs Ford: 'Alas, my love, you do me wrong'
09. Mrs Quickly: 'Mistress Ford!'
10. Ford, Chorus of Men: 'Ah!'
Act IV
11. Orchestral introduction -
Scene 1
Ford: 'Pardon me, wife'
12. Mrs Page: 'There is an old tale that goes Herne the hunter'
13. (Interlude)
Scene 2
14. Orchestral introduction -
15. Sir John Falstaff: 'The Windsor bell hath struck twelve'
16. Mrs Ford: 'Ah' -
Sir John Falstaff: 'Who comes here?'
17. Mrs Qucikly: 'But till 'tis one o'clock'
18. Dance of the Fairies
19. Sir Hugh Evans: 'But stay! I smell a man of middle earth'
20. Page: 'Nay, do not fly'
21. Mrs Page: 'My heart misgives me'
22. Sir John Falstaff: 'Stand not amazed'
Exact Audio Copy V1.3 from 2. September 2016
EAC extraction logfile from 13. March 2019, 21:15
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Exact Audio Copy V1.3 from 2. September 2016
EAC extraction logfile from 13. March 2019, 22:01
The Sinfonia Chorus, Northern Sinfonia, Richard Hickox / Vaughan Williams - Sir John in Love - CD2
Used drive : ASUS SDRW-08U7M-U Adapter: 1 ID: 0
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Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%
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Thanks to the original releaser