Sir Michael Tippett

Editorial Reviews
BBC Magazine
Interest naturally focuses on Tippett's own readings of classic scores that explore or ... seek to reinvent.... Overall, these performances show the hand of a master still fully confident in his powers.

Tracks:

Quando Me N'vo
Ah! Je Veux Vivre
What a Curse For a Woman Is a Timid Man!
Dieu! Quel Frisson Court Dans Mes Veines!...Amour, Ranime Mon Courage
O Mio Babbino Caro
Les Filles De Cadix
Summertime
How Can I Cherish My Man In Such Days
Les Belles Fleurs!...Entre L'amour Et Le Devoir
Depuis Le Jour Ou Je Me Suis Donnee
Eccomi In Lieta Vesta...Oh! Quante Volte
Chi Il Bel Sogno Di Doretta
'Quel Guardo Il Cavaliere...'...So Ancho'io La Virtu Magica

Amazon.com

Nicole Cabell, the winner of the 2005 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, is a full-voiced lyric soprano with ease of production, a free top, and a basically lovely sound. This ambitious recital - we get chestnuts (Musetta's Waltz, "O mio babbino caro," "Je veux vivre," "Summertime," etc) as well as rarities (the selections from The Old Maid and the Thief and Tippett's A Child of our Time as well as Teresa's big aria from Benvenuto Cellini) - shows a curious mind and versatility. On the technical side, her prominent vibrato occasionally sounds like the start of a beat in the voice that could cause trouble, and her diction can be mushy. In addition, as of now, Cabell isn't much of an interpreter. "Les filles de Cadix" exhibits a strange lack of either Latin flavor or flirtatiousness; Musetta's Waltz is straightforward and lacks an individual stamp. On the plus side, as mentioned, the sound of her voice itself is very appealing. "Depuis le jour" and Doretta's Dream (from Rondine) are beautifully floated, even if they don't erase memories of Price, Fleming, or several other singers. The Menotti aria is well-articulated and makes its point. Conversely, "O mio babbino caro" is simply boring, lacking in girlish charm. "Summertime" is deliciously sung, and Norina's aria from Don Pasquale has plenty of flavor. It will be interesting to see how she develops; at the moment some troublesome traits are mixed in with great promise. Sir Andrew Davis lends fine support. --Robert Levine

Album Details

28 Year Old American Soprano Nicole Cabell Came to the Attention of the Opera World Overnight When, in June 2005, She Won What Has Become the Most Important Competition for Young Opera Singers and was Crowned BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. The Competition Jury Included Legendary Singers Dame Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne and the Win Placed Nicole Cabell in a Distinguished Line of Cardiff Prize-winners that Includes Karita Mattila, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Bryn Terfel.

Customer Reviews:

Great,but.......2007-07-07

A great recording, but I don't know this artist and have nothing to compare it with. I will try to get other performances by this artist to uase as comparison

Rapture!.......2007-06-28

I had written a review previously, but for some reason, I cannot find it. As I am not well versed in classical music, it is probably for this reason that I feel compelled to write a review of this CD, because Ms.Cabell has inspired me with a new passion to learn more of opera, and classical music. I was lucky enough to witness her win at the 2005 Cardiff Singer of the World competition in Wales, and have been a fan since that marvelous performance. Nicole's voice has such an astounding beauty. Chi il bel sogno di Doretta, (track #12) moves me to tears every time I listen to it. We all feel that she will be a true star, and would like to send her CD to all of our friends as well.

I'm ordering more copies of Nicole!.......2007-06-18

just played this for friends who have sung,taught and judged opera for all their lives.
They were thrilled by Nicole's voice. I am now ordering more copies as gifts.

Wonderful!.......2007-06-10

I think that this CD is some of the best, if not better, soprano work since Fleming (sorry Renee I am a huge fan but I think this is an amazing first album). It slaps Netrebko and Gheorghiu.

The songs in here are sung with great ease. Some of the work in here isn't what you hear as often while some of it is. Most people make a huge fuss about singing the tracks that "everyone" sings, but Cabell dos this well.

Her technique is amazing. Her voice is very fluid and legato; in addition to that, she has such an evenness of tone production. The bottom notes are as focused as her top ones which is something many sopranos, even the famous ones, struggle with.

She is on her way to the top!

Nice, but I do tend to want more than "nice".......2007-05-28

I do not own this recording. I listened to excerpts at a music shop, as I almost always do with recordings of singers who are new to me. So please do bear in mind that my review is based on selected listening - I did listen to perhaps two minutes of each track, except in the case of the Puccini, to which I listened only for about 30 seconds.

I didn't like what I heard. I don't mean it's an unpleasant voice. It was perfectly pleasant. I'm sure that in places the voice is lovely, but it was not so lovely in the recording that I felt impelled to hear more. I heard nothing - nothing - that made me want to hear more.

There are so many singers with nice voices - especially sopranos. I do not feel this is a voice of EXCEPTIONAL beauty, and I do not feel at all that this singer has an interpretative ability that shines in the singing. I felt unmoved - and it was on that basis that I switched off the headphones and shook my head when asked if I was purchasing the CD.

The cover of this CD is utterly gorgeous - I think it will attract a lot of people. I can only speak for my own taste when I say the voice itself doesn't interest me. I felt none of the charm, winsomeness, rich emotional involvement and sense of individuality that would lift these arias and songs out of the ordinary. And I have so many recordings (over 3000) that I did not feel I'd miss anything by not having this recording.

I do want to stress that this is my own taste... my own opinion based on my personal reaction to Ms Cabell's voice. The really odd selection of pieces in this recording wouldn't have bothered me if I'd fallen in love with this voice - but I haven't done that... and that's the caveat for me.

Tippett: Concerto for Double String Orchestra, Ritual Dances, etc.

Average customer rating:

Tippett: Concerto for Double String Orchestra, Ritual Dances, etc.
Hartley , Watkins , Davis , and BBC Symphony Orchestra
Manufacturer: Apex/Warner Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005NIF8
Release Date: 2006-04-14

Tracks:

Concerto For Double String Orchestra
Fantasia Concertante On A Theme Of Corelli
Ritual Dances From The Midsummer Marriage - Prelude
Ritual Dances From The Midsummer Marriage - Transformation & Preparation For
Ritual Dances From The Midsummer Marriage - The First Dance: The Earth In Autumn
Ritual Dances From The Midsummer Marriage - The Second Dance: The Water In Winte
Ritual Dances From The Midsummer Marriage - The Third Dance: The Air In Spring
Ritual Dances From The Midsummer Marriage - The Fourth Dance: Fire In Summer

Sir Michael Tippett: Triple Concerto (for Violin, Viola, Cello) / Piano Concerto - BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Average customer rating:

Definative Tippett

Sir Michael Tippett: Triple Concerto (for Violin, Viola, Cello) / Piano Concerto - BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Alexander Baillie , Gerard Causse , Ernst Kovacic , Martino Tirimo , and BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Manufacturer: Nimbus Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000037E2
Release Date: 1992-12-02

Tracks:

Con: I. Medium Fast- - Ernst Kovacic/Gerard Causse/Alexander Baillie
Con: I. Interlude: Medium Slow- - Ernst Kovacic/Gerard Causse/Alexander Baillie
Con: II. Very Slow, Calmer Still- - Ernst Kovacic/Gerard Causse/Alexander Baillie
Con: II. Interlude: Medium Fast- - Ernst Kovacic/Gerard Causse/Alexander Baillie
Con: III. Medium Fast - Ernst Kovacic/Gerard Causse/Alexander Baillie
Con: I. Allegro Non Troppo - Martino Tirimo
Con: II. Molto Lente E Tranquillo - Martino Tirimo
Con: III. Vivace - Martino Tirimo

Amazon.com

Tippett's Piano Concerto is the sort of piece that you would get if a 16th-century English madrigalist with Stravinsky's sense of rhythm had written Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto. Some combination, huh? Actually, this long- lined, lyrical work shares the same magical atmosphere as the contemporaneous opera The Midsummer Marriage, and it surely deserves to be better known. The Triple Concerto, a much later work in a thornier idiom (the opening shriek will either fascinate you or send you running for cover), but it still finds room for one of the composer's most haunting tunes in its slow movement. These performances are as fine as any, and very well recorded. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Definative Tippett.......2002-08-26

This disc represent two of the finest works by one of Britain's greatest composers, in definative readings by thge composer himself. As such, they are self-recommending. But if you are new to Tippett,or interested in collecting some of his most intriguing instrumental works, this is a great CD for that.

The Piano Concerto is a masterwork and one of the best of it's time. Written at roughly the same time as the composer's opera, The Midsummer Marriage, this work is steeped in the ecstatic lyricism that informs that work. Tippett was inspired by a performance of the Beethoven Fourth Concerto and wished to create a work in which the piano could truly sing. He certainly does in this piece. Though difficult, the concerto is not flashy, which may explain it's rarity on concert performances. Rather, the piano is a first among equals, and the entire work is lyrical and very moving.

The Triple Concerto is part of Tippett's late movement toward uniting aspects of his thornier style from the 60's with the lyrical impulse from his earlier music. The piece is steeped in the sound world of the 2nd Viennese school, but it is not completely atonal. The slow movement has one of the most beautiful, ecstatic lyrical lines that Tippett ever wrote, and the piece is perfumed with the exotic sounds of the Far East, particularly with instrumentation inspired by Indonesian Gamelan music.

Tracks:

King Priam: Prelude
King Priam: Hecuba: What Is It, Nurse?
King Priam: Priam: Old Man Of Troy, You're Welcome
King Priam: Hecuba: Then Am I No Longer Mother To This Child
King Priam: Priam: A Father And A King
King Priam: Priam: The Queen Is Right
King Priam: First Interlude - Nurse, Old Man: Thus Shall A Story Begin
King Priam: 1st Huntsman: The Bull Is Away Over There
King Priam: Paris: They Have Taken My Bull
King Priam: Hector: Father, He's A Shepherd Boy
King Priam: Priam: So I'd Hoped It Might Be
King Priam: Second Interlude - Nurse, Young Guard, Old Man: Ah, But Life, Life Is A Bitter Charade
King Priam: Helen, Paris: Ah, Ah ...
King Priam: Hermes: Divine Go-between, That's Who I Am
King Priam: Paris: Lady Athene, If I Honor You ...
King Priam: Paris: Lady Hera, If I Honor You ...
King Priam: Paris: Aphrodite, If I Honor You ...
King Priam: Hector: So You've Given Up Fighting!
King Priam: Priam: So Trojans Honor Menelaus ...
King Priam: First Interlude - Old Man: Hermes, Hermes, With The Winged Feet Come Quick!
King Priam: Achilles: O Rich-soiled Land
King Priam: Achilles: Why Are You Weeping, Patroclus?
King Priam: Second Interlude - Old Man: O, O, What A Threat To Troy
King Priam: Hermes: A Hero In Achilles Armour ...
King Priam: Hector: All Trojans, All Fought Bravely

Tracks:

King Priam: Serving Woman: Lady Andromache, Should We Not Light The Fire?
King Priam: Hecuba: Daughter Andromache, You Must Go Out ...
King Priam: Andromache: Did You Hear?
King Priam: Helen: Let Her Rave
King Priam: Hecuba: O That My Ears Should Hear Impiety So Gross!
King Priam: Andromache: Now You Shall Go
King Priam: First Interlude - Serving Women: No ... No ... No ... We Have It From The Runner
King Priam: Priam: What Is Happening?
King Priam: Young Guard: A Crime
King Priam: Nurse: The Soul Will Answer From Where The Pain Is Quickest
King Priam: Second Interlude
King Priam: Achilles: Priam! Here! What Is This?
King Priam: Priam: I Clasp Your Knees, Achilles
King Priam: Achilles: Old Man, I Am Touched
King Priam: Third Interlude -
King Priam: Paris: Where Is My Father, Where Is Priam?
King Priam: Chorus: Ah, Ah! Ah, Ah!
King Priam: Chorus: Ah, Ha, Ha, Ha
King Priam: Chorus: Ah, Ah!

Customer Reviews:

An AntiWar Masterpiece.......2002-08-26

Tippett and Britten were composers who, though very different in temperment and style, had many interests in common. One of the overiding concerns with both composers was the moral response to war and it's horrors. For Britten, the War Requiem and Owen Wingrave are his very clear moral response to war. Tippet, in his fashion is much more psychological in this work, which must rank as one of Tippett's best and most powerful operatic statements.

King Priam is a dramatic tour de force. Based on the Illiad as seen through the eyes of the Trojans, the work is a meditation on the inevitability of fate in mass movements like war. Priam, though illdisposed to the war, is unable to stop or control it as it takes both of his sons, his kingdom and then finally his own life. He emerges as a figure of moral power and grandeur, but ultimately as impotent and tragic. This libretto is one of Tippett's best and most clear statements.

Musically, Priam is a powerhouse, inaugurating Tippett's second major style. Priam is constructed in a mosaic style. Small chamber groups of instruments with defined musical content are assigned to characters. As the work develops, these small groups combine and recombine in a shifting maze of patterns that seems to endlessly reinvent itself. The music starts out as largely tonal, but the tonality breaks down as Fate takes over and dooms the Trojans. The work is never serial, but it takes an almost Bergian view of tonality, sometimes more and sometimes less tonal as the dramatic situation warrants. The vocal lines are mostly declaimed, but with moments of lyricism that are unfogettable, such as Priam's first aria, A Father and a King, or the beautiful scene between Priam and Achilles in the third act. And Achilles war cry at the end of act two is bone chilling!

This is a great performance of this piece. Many of the singers originated the roles and sing them with power and authority. Phillip Langridge is terrific as Paris. Robert Tear is a marvelous Achilles. David Aetherton conducts this difficult score with precision and a fine ear for balances.

This is a profound opera by a major 20th century composer. If you like Britten, you should own this as well. It is increasingly looking like Tippett's masterpiece.

Visceral power & beauty coupled with stunning performances!!.......2001-06-13

I bought this on a whim, having heard only the slightest bit of Tippett's orchestral music and none of his operas. I expected the music to be "difficult," and the performances stilted, but I was oh so wrong! Yes, this is definitely late 20th century music -- often dissonant and atonal, but it is utterly beautiful, emotionally moving music. I'm a huge fan of Britten's operas, and judge all modern opera composers by his standards, and (pardon my gushing) Sir Michael is more than up to the challenge. First of all, he takes on the daunting task of adapting the Iliad into a opera libretto and manages to compress the drama beautifully into 3 acts that tell the story imaginatively, comprehensively and in a wholly theatrical manner. Second, he uses the music to heighten the sense of character by giving each persona a unique style of vocal line and orchestration (yes, this is what all composers do, or try to do, but Tippett succeeds in a way few others do). Several of the characters are accompanied by solo instruments (bravura parts of concerto-like difficulty performed brilliantly) -- Achilles by solo guitar, Helen by solo cello, King Priam by violin, etc. Three characters form a sort of Greek chorus who comment on the action and bring a sense of questioning morality to the whole.

All of the solo singers are astutely cast and sing with amazing power. Standouts (difficult to single out any of them, they're all so brilliant): Phillip Langridge is first-rate as Paris, Priam's second son -- he sings with enormous power and pathos at the same time. Felicity Palmer is velvety sex personified as Helen. Norman Bailey as Priam has a raw edginess to his sound, which lends such a sense of reality to a man pushed to the edge by fate and his warring sons. The London Philharmonia gives a virtuoso performance, led sensitively and intelligently by David Atherton. The digital sound is crystal clear and beautifully engineered: the sound couldn't be better live at the Met! Take a chance on this one, and enter into an operatic world you will never forget.

One of the best and most easily grasped of modern operas.......1999-02-27

Contemporary opera was never the same after King Priam, a suitable irony given that the Opera is perhaps the most easily grasped by the listening public of the 5 Tippett Operas. Even so, the "crisis of King Prian" stylistically and emotionally is the germ-seed for the eccentrism yet to come in "The Knot Garden", "The Ice Break", and "New Year". Tippett's theme is the futility of choice and the nature of the impact of choice on humanity in the micro-sphere of the individual and the macro-sphere of the community and history. Tippett's unusual yet perfectly conceived recasting of the Iliad from the Trojan persepctive does more than summarize plot, but pauses to comment on the universal human potential implicit therein. A must-buy for Tippett fans and for anyone who likes opera, Greek Mythology, classical music, or a good story.

Tracks:

This Way! This Way!
What's That? Surely Music?
(Leading To:)
Stop! Stop! Stop!
O, Mark, Who Are They/Jenifer, Jenifer My Darling
What Steps Are Those?/Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho...
What Sort Of Place Is This D'you Think?
So You, So You Are Marke's Fine Brood Of Friends
So You, So You, So You're The Company My Daughter Keeps!
Here I Am, Sir, What CAn I Do?/Jenifer! Jenifer! My Daughter Jenifer!
Returning To The Earth Is Cruel
Come Now With Me And Drop This Childish Masquerade
Is It So Strange...
You, You Who Were With Me When She Left Me
See By A Heavenly Magic In This Glass
Call-Crying As They're Flying.../Jack, Don't Let's Go With All The Others
What Day Is It?
I'll Lay The Baby To My Breast/(Strephon Enters From Behind The Temple)
(Some Of The Trees Appear To Move)

Tracks:

1st Dance: The Earth In Autumn
2nd Dance: The Waters In Winter
3rd Dance: The Air In Spring
(Leading To:)/Ah! They'll Kill Him!
(Neat And Ready To Rejoin) King Fisher/Sun Shines On A Midsummer Day
Evening And Night/Ohay! Ohay!
No! King Fisher Summons You.../Keep The Holster Close By You
Now, Bella, Call The Ancients
Do You Accept My Challenge?/See, Where We Carry On Our Mighty Shoulder
I Needn't Tell Madame Sosostris
Who Hopes To Conjure With The World Of Dreams
I Alone Cannot Consult Myself
You Who Consult Me
I See A Meadow
She Saw What Happens In The Soul
Pride Is Virtue In A Man Of Power
(For A Moment The Stage Is Quite Still)/King Fisher's Dead
(After The She Ancient Returns Up Stage)/4th Dance: Fire In Summer
Was It A Vision?
O Summer Sun
(The Moonlight Has Faded Out)

Album Description

"A masterpiece, in short, and one that can be listened to again and again without exhausting its exuberant generosity." -- Gramophone

Tracks:

Fanfare For Brass
Suite In D For The Birthday Of Prince Charles
Fantasia Concertante On A Theme Of Corelli
Little Music For String Orchestra
Concerto For Double String Orchestra

Album Details

Tippett Never Hesitated to Go his Own Way. He was Expelled from Grammar School for Attempting to Convert his Friends to Atheism, Espoused Trotskyism, And, in 1943, was Jailed for Three Months as a Conscientious Objector. Tippett's Time Would Come, However, and by the 1960s and 70s, Thanks to Younger Interpreters Such as Colin Davis, who were Unfazed by the Supposed Technical and Stylistic 'difficulty' of his Music. He was Knighted in 1966. This Collection Includes the Much Requested First Release on CD of Davis' Charming and Beautifully Realised Philips Recording of the Suite in D for the Birthday of Prince Charles as Well as Three Virtuoso Performances of Music for Strings with Marriner and the Academy.

Customer Reviews:

The best version of the Suite.......2007-03-30

This is the best version of the Suite for the Birth of Prince Charles on record, which is one of the most accessible of Tippett's compositions. The sound is marvelous, and this CD is a great introduction, at a good price, to Tippett's work.

Themes and Variations: Variations by Nineteen British Composers

Average customer rating:

Themes and Variations: Variations by Nineteen British Composers

Manufacturer: Nmc Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005LZSS
Release Date: 2001-06-26

Bliss: Checkmate Op57; Rubbra: Symphony No5; Tippett: Little Music for String Orchestra

Average customer rating:

Bliss: Checkmate Op57; Rubbra: Symphony No5; Tippett: Little Music for String Orchestra

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000000A9P
Release Date: 1992-10-28

Tracks: