New Album Releases: CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD - CUSHENDALL - IRISH SONG CYCLES (Sharon Carty, Benjamin Russell, Finghin Collins)

Artist:
Sharon Carty
Benjamin Russell
Finghin Collins

Genre:
Classical

Total Time:
81:19

Record Label:
Somm Recordings

Purchasing Links:
CD, MP3, Apple Music

Release Date
February 16, 2024

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Find out more about this album release after the jump.

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Product Description: SOMM Recordings continues its acclaimed championing of the music of Charles Villiers Stanford with Cushendall, a captivating collection of his Irish song cycles by mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty, baritone Benjamin Russell and pianist Finghin Collins. Twelve first recordings include the seven-part Cushendall, a trio of Blarney Ballads, and two songs from Stanford’s opera Shamus O’Brien. Composed during a period of political turbulence in his native Ireland, the Irish song cycles, Stanford’s biographer Jeremy Dibble comments in his authoritative notes, “undoubtedly articulate an increasing sense of regret, isolation and personal nostalgia [for what] was no longer the country and home he had known from his youth”. Setting poems by Ulster-Scots poet John Stevenson, Cushendall evokes the landscape and way of life on Antrim’s coastline in some of Stanford’s most sophisticated music with allusions to Irish folksongs and Wagner’s Die Walkure. A Fire of Turf sets Winifred Letts’ reflections on “the passing seasons of the year… an analogy with the protagonist’s recollection of his past life… memories kept alive by the glowing warmth of the turf”. A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster contains six variegated songs, again setting Letts; the Blarney Ballads delightfully wicked lampoons of Britain’s then Prime Minister, Gladstone; the highly popular Shamus O’Brien providing two contrasting arias. SOMM’s previous Stanford recordings include his String Quintets (SOMMCD 0623) and String Quartets (SOMMCD 0160, 0185, 0607) with the Dante Quartet, praised by Gramophone for their “ardent, alert and thoroughly lived-in performances”, and Partsongs with the Paul Spicer-led Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir (SOMMCD 0128), which Limelight described as “excellent… beautifully sung”. Children’s Songs (SOMMCD 0655), with Kitty Whately, Gareth Brynmor John and Susie Allan, was lauded by Opera Today as “a generous, involving recital”, while Gramophone hailed SOMM’s world premiere recording of The Travelling Companion (SOMMCD 274-2) as “a landmark”.

TRACK LIST:

1 . Cushendall, Op. 118: No. 1, Ireland Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (03:21)

2 . Cushendall, Op. 118: No. 2, Did You Ever? Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (02:59)

3 . Cushendall, Op. 118: No. 3, Cushendall Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (04:46)

4 . Cushendall, Op. 118: No. 4, The Crow Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (02:01)

5 . Cushendall, Op. 118: No. 5, Daddy-Long-Legs Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (03:07)

6 . Cushendall, Op. 118: No. 6, How Does the Wind Blow? Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (05:10)

7 . Cushendall, Op. 118: No. 7, Night Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (04:19)

8 . A Fire of Turf, Op. 139: No. 1, A Fire of Turf Benjamin Russell & Finghin Collins (03:48)

9 . A Fire of Turf, Op. 139: No. 2, The Chapel on the Hill Benjamin Russell & Finghin Collins (02:51)

10 . A Fire of Turf, Op. 139: No. 3, Cowslip Time Benjamin Russell & Finghin Collins (01:30)

11 . A Fire of Turf, Op. 139: No. 4, Scared Benjamin Russell & Finghin Collins (02:09)

12 . A Fire of Turf, Op. 139: No. 5, Blackberry Time Benjamin Russell & Finghin Collins (02:32)

13 . A Fire of Turf, Op. 139: No. 6, The Fair Benjamin Russell & Finghin Collins (01:53)

14 . A Fire of Turf, Op. 139: No. 7, The West Wind Benjamin Russell & Finghin Collins (03:55)

15 . A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster, Op. 140: No. 1, Granduer Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (04:23)

16 . A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster, Op. 140: No. 2, Thief of the World Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (01:01)

17 . A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster, Op. 140: No. 3, A Soft Day Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (02:19)

18 . A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster, Op. 140: No. 4, Little Peter Morrissey Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (03:02)

19 . A Sheaf of Songs from Leinster, Op. 140: No. 5, The Bold Unbiddable Child Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (01:03)

20 . Blarney Ballads: No. 1, The Grand Ould Man Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (04:03)

21 . Blarney Ballads: No. 1, The Grand Ould Man Benjamin Russell & Finghin Collins (07:00)

22 . Blarney Ballads: No. 2, The March of the Man of Hawrden Benjamin Russell & Finghin Collins (03:52)

23 . Blarney Ballads: No. 3, The Wearing of the Blue Benjamin Russell & Finghin Collins (04:00)

24 . Shamus O'Brien, Op. 61 .(Arr. for Voice & Piano by Anonymous): Where Is the Man That Is Coming? Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (02:40)

25 .Shamus O'Brien, Op. 61 .(Arr. for Voice & Piano by Anonymous): A Grave Yawns Cold Sharon Carty & Finghin Collins (03:45)

Cushendall Irish Song Cycles Sharon Carty Benjamin Russell Finghin Collins Album

OTHER ALBUM RELEASES:

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

New Album Releases: CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD - CUSHENDALL - IRISH SONG CYCLES (Sharon Carty, Benjamin Russell, Finghin Collins)

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