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PENDERECKI: Magnificat. Kadisz. DANIELPOUR: Songs of Solitude (2002). War Songs (2008). Toward
the Splendid City (1992). NYMAN: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat (1986) STANFORD: Stabat Mater (Symphonic Cantata, Op. 96). Song to
the Soul, Op.97b. The Resurrection . O ce again we are indebted to Naxos for their continuously providing quality performance of lesser-known music in hiughest qualiuty audio , and at a most reasonable price. Here we have four vocal issues gthat command attention. The first features two major choral works by Penderecki. Magnificat, composed 1973-74 is quite removed from what one would expect, crashing dissonance, huigh contrasts, and impassioned writing. It must be very difficult to perform (it was recorded October 7 - 10, 2010. Kadisz is a much later work (2009), and finds the composer in an appropriately reverential mood. The recording was made October 22 0 23, 2010. Both of these major choral works are performed to perfection. Complete texts and translations are provided. Of great interest is the disk of music of Richard Danielpour. Songs of Silence Soliutude sets six poems of W.B. Yeats and reflects the tragecy of 9/11. Walt Whitman texts were set to music in the five War Songs dedicated to the men and women who died in the Iraq conflict. written for the Nashville Symphony commemorating the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. The disk ends with an 8-minute orchestral work, Toward the Splendid City, a portrait of New York City the composer's hometown.Excellent performances throughout, superb audio, and complete texts are provided. A rarity is the disk of Michael NNyman's "opera The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales is a 1985 book by neurologist Oliver Sacks describing the case histories of some of his patients.On e patient, known as Mr. P, who is afflcted with visual agnosia.has a particularly coinfusing life, outoined in this 58-minute work.Nyman's opera was premiered in 1986, and is scored for three vocalists and a small string ensemble. The music is effective, an unusual theater experience. This performance was recorded at OCE Ocean Way in Nashville May 23 - 25 2014. This performance is an emotional ride through the mind, sensitively performed by a sterliung cast with assosted by Nashville Opera directed by Dean Williamson. The CD booklet includes comprehensive cast and track information; the complete libretto is available online.: Charles Villier Stanford was only 17, a student un Leiupzig when he composed The Resurrection (1875). This was more than a decade before Mahler used Klopstock's poem in his Symphony No. 2. The Resurrection is scored for tenor solo, chorus and orchestra. After the premiere of the revised version in 1886 it was almost forgotten. It is heard here in an edition by Jeremy Dibble. The cantata Stabat Mater is a major work (44:12) with four soloists, chorus and orchestra. It was written for the1907 Leeds Festival, and, with its rather florid writing, shows Stanford's interest in the world of opera. The CD also contains Song to the Soul, composed in 1913, never performed during the compose's life. There are vocal treasures here with perfect performances by distinguished soloists, the famed Bach Choir and the Bournemouth Symphony on their home ground, conducted by David Hill. Superb sound, and complete texts are provided. Thank you once again Naxos! R.E.B. (December2016)
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