Made in Britain
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Made in Britain
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, John Wilson
[ Avie Records / CD ]
Release Date: Monday 3 October 2011
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
Made in Britain celebrates a rich and nostalgic period of English music surrounding the turn of the 20th century, including evergreens such as Vaughn Williams' The Lark Ascending (for years Number 1 in the UK's Classic FM Hall of Fame) and Elgar's Salut d'amour, as well as the folk inspired Two English Idylls by Butterworth and English Folk Song Suites by Vaughn Williams. The program opens with Walton's commedia dell'arte concert overture Scapino and closes with the Nell Gwyn Overture by Edward German, music director of London's Globe Theatre from 1888. Along the way we take a walk through Delius' Paradise Garden from his opera A Village Romeo and Juliet, and stroll through Bax's woodland evocation The Happy Forest.
Overseeing this celebration is none other than today's leading interpreter of British Music, John Wilson conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the UK's oldest professional orchestra which, founded in 1840, is steeped in this glorious musical tradition. Hard on the heels of Wilson's high-profile headlining of the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain, BBC Radio 3's Light Fantastic Weekend, and appearance with his eponymous orchestra at the BBC Proms, Made in Britain catches a prevailing mood and taps into today's all-encompassing appetite for an evocative era.
"John Wilson is probably best known for his light-entertainment orchestral work, especially his restorations of classic film scores - a background which, it turns out, equips him well for this anthology of British musical landscapes." The Independent, 21st October 2011 ***
"The celebrated John Wilson brings his interpretative magic to bear on these pieces, which often transplant you so fully into the era you have to check you're not wearing a peplum suit or Oxford bags. The general mood is one of unhurried romanticism. The RLPO gently draws out every subtlety" Classic FM Magazine, December 2011 ****
"Rich, immaculate sound and impeccable orchestral playing too." The Arts Desk, 3rd December 2011
"[Clark's] playing has rapturous firepower...John Wilson's conducting secures ultra-vivid, sparklingly finished performances that also respond memorably to the quieter moments" BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ****
"a well-chosen programme of English orchestral miniatures very well recorded. He opens with Walton's portrait of the commedia dell'arte character Scapino, full of gusto yet bringing out tenderly the contrasting romantic episodes that fill out the character...Delius's sensuously romantic Walk to the Paradise Garden and Bax's lushly scored The Happy Forest are made glowingly radiant in John Wilson's richly textured evocations." Gramophone Magazine, December 2011
Tracks:
Walton: Scapino Overture
Butterworth: English Idyll No. 1
Butterworth: English Idyll No. 2
Delius: Walk to the Paradise Garden
Bax: The Happy Forrest
Elgar: Salut d'amour
Vaughan Williams: English Folk Suite No. 1
Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
German: Nell Gwyn Overture
