Bliss: Mary of Magdala; The Enchantress

Bliss: Mary of Magdala; The Enchantress

CHSA 5242 (Chandos Records, SACD)

DSD
Multi-channel/Stereo
NEW RELEASE

Playing time: 76'58"
Tracks: 22
Booklet pages: 44
© 2019 Chandos Records Ltd
Main country of recording: UK
Country of manufacture: UK
Sent to a reviewer on 8 January 2020


Listen: Bliss: Ashen the Sky (Mary of Magdala) (track 14, 0:56-1:56)

Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano
James Platt, bass
BBC Symphony Chorus
Neil Ferris, chorus director
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Stephen Bryant, leader
Andrew Davis, conductor

Arthur Bliss (1891-1975):

The Enchantress (1951) - Scena for Contralto and Orchestra, with words adapted from the Second Idyll of Theocritus by Henry Reed (1914-1986)
1 Bring me the laurel leaves
2 Oh moon, shine fair
3 Silent the sea, beneath the silent winds
4 How I saw him in the street
5 And now in the fire I fling you

Meditations on a Theme by John Blow (1955) (Psalm XXIII - The Lord is my Shepherd)
6 The Lord is my Shephered / I will fear no evil
7 He leadeth me beside the still waters
8 Thy rod and staff They comfort me
9 Lambs
10 He restoreth my soul
11 In green pastures
12 Through the valley of the shadow of death
13 In the House of the Lord

Mary of Magdala (?1962-63) - Cantata for contralto and bass soli, chorus and orchestra, to text written and adapted by Christopher Hassall (1912-1963)
14 Ashen the sky
15 At last, at last
16 Look there, look there
17 Why trouble ye her / How does she dare to touch him! / Why trouble ye her?
18 The proud Aegyptian Queen
19 Surely this was the place
20 But what are those two strangers / Woman, woman, why weepest thou? / Because they have taken away my Lord
21 But who is that yonder / Mary, Mary / Rabboni! Master / Touch me not / O Loveliest rose
22 Mary, Mother was the pleasant bower / He is the gardener still / He trims, ties back / She that was once besmirched / O Holy Mary Magdalen

Recorded 13, 14 April 2019 at Watford Colosseum, UK