disco : Recent Episodes
None
REBECCA CLARKE – THE COMPLETE SONGSKITTY WHATELY (MEZZO SOPRANO), NICHOLAS PHAN (TENOR), ANNA TILBROOK (PIANO)Rebecca Clarke was a pioneering female composer and performer in the early 20th century. As a composer, she specialized in chamber music, performing much of it herself as a violist.
Available on Spotify.
VERDI REQUIEMRICHARD BLACKFORD’S ORCHESTRATION FOR TWO PIANOS, ORGAN AND PERCUSSIONWith The Bach Choir conducted by David Hill.
Available on Spotify.
MY HEART’S IN THE HIGHLANDSGLEN CUNNINGHAM (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano)Glen Cunningham and Anna Tilbrook celebrate their Scottish heritage in a programme of music connected to Scotland, not only in the folk orientated songs of Robbie Burns, but also in settings of Burns by Schumann, and Robert Louis Stevenson by Liza Lehmann and Reynaldo Hahn. To these are added a completely new song cycle, also to texts by Robert Louis Stevenson, by the Scottish composer, Stuart MacRae.
Glen Cunningham is a graduate of the Royal College of Music’s Opera Studio and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Glen was a Scottish Opera Emerging Artist 2021/2022 and a member of the Opéra Studio at Opéra national du Rhin 2022/24.
Available from Delphian Records and on Spotify.
GO, LOVELY ROSE – SONGS OF ROGER QUILTERJAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano)Born in Sussex in 1877, Roger Quilter was a fellow-student of Percy Grainger, Cyril Scott, and H. Balfour Gardiner at the Hoch Conservatory, in Frankfurt, where he studied for almost five years under the guidance of the German professor of composition Iwan Knorr.He is best known for his contribution to English art song, having composed around 150 songs, many of which remain regular recital favourites.For this album, the tenor James Gilchrist and pianist Anna Tilbrook explore his output from early works such as ‘Now sleeps the crimson petal’ through to late examples such as ‘The Ash Grove’. All of the songs are settings of English texts, with the exception of the Four Songs of Mirza Schaffy, which set German texts by Friedrich von Bodenstedt.The musicians have arranged their selection of twenty-seven songs into thematic groups – Shakespeare songs, songs about flowers, folksongs, songs of love etc. – which makes for a fascinating and rewarding programme.Available from Chandos, Amazon and Spotify.
http://www.annatilbrook.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/clip_go_lovely_rose.mp3
A GARDENER’S WORLDALESSANDRO FISHER (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano)During the period of lockdown in 2020, tenor Alessandro Fisher and his wife spent many hours in their garden. A heightened awareness of the beauty of nature, the flowers in their garden and the changes to the garden as winter moved to spring, and then to summer formed the basis of this beautifully curated recital.
All the songs are about flowers, the language of flowers, and flowers as a tokens of love. Above all, the album is about the way songs of the many composers on this album reference deep human emotions and the role of flowers in these emotions.
Where words fail, the language of flowers and nature take over. Nature regenerates, life continues, though for some composers, the short- lived glory of flowers is also an allegory for loss, or indeed the transience of romantic love.
This live recording was made by BBC Radio 3 at the Wigmore Hall in London. Alessandro was the recipient of a BBT Fellowship in 2022.
Gramophone Magazine review and Editor’s Choice – March 2024
“I’d suggest that not since Martin Isepp accompanied Janet Baker… has a British singer made a more auspicious recital debut on record.”
“..the modulations and rubato acutely judged by Fisher’s pianist, Anna Tilbrook.”
Available on Spotify and Apple Music.
http://www.annatilbrook.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/clip_gardeners_world.mp3
LONGINGLUCY CROWE (SOPRANO), ANNA TILBROOK (piano)Lucy Crowe makes her Linn recital debut with a programme of lieder by Berg, Richard Strauss and Schoenberg, which perfectly highlights why she is known as one of the leading lyric sopranos of her generation.
Lucy is joined by pianist Anna Tilbrook, with whom she has forged a near symbiotic connection over a twenty-year professional partnership, comprising numerous performances at Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, London, and Carnegie Hall, New York.
The programme encompasses both the beginning and end of Strauss’s prodigious songwriting career with five songs from his first published set Acht Gedichte aus Letzte Blätter plus his posthumously published swansong of sublime beauty, Vier letzte Lieder. Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder are landmark compositions which invoke the late Romantic world of Strauss; they sit alongside Vier Lieder by Berg’s mentor Schoenberg, whose post-Wagnerian chromaticism points to the composer’s later style. Following their Wigmore Hall performance in June 2020 The Guardian stated: ‘Berg’s Seven Early Songs suits Crowe uncommonly well, with her exquisite tone, fastidious sense of line, and understated but telling way with words.’
Available from Linn and Spotify.
http://www.annatilbrook.co.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/clip_longing.mp3
SOLITUDE JAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano) James Gilchrist’s theme for this recital, Solitude, is reflected in varied and contrasting ways by the four works. In his booklet note, he describes solitude as ‘A state of being that we … Continue reading →
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS – SONGS OF TRAVEL JAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano), PHILIP DUKES (VIOLA) Having previously recorded British repertoire on Chandos, James Gilchrist joins the pianist Anna Tilbrook nine years after their previous recording, in a lyrical journey … Continue reading →
SCHUMANN- SONG CYCLES JAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano) James Gilchrist’s latest recording for Linn encompasses three of the greatest examples of the song cycle genre. Moving away from English song into the core Germanic Lieder repertoire, James’s expressive … Continue reading →
BRITTEN – MY BELOVED IS MINE JAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano) The charismatic duo of James Gilchrist and Anna Tilbrook continue their exploration of English Song in My Beloved is Mine. This new recording explores the song cycles … Continue reading →
SCHUBERT – WINTERREISE JAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano) Third and final recording in renowned British tenor James Gilchrist’s series of Schubert song recitals for Orchid Classics. Andrew Mellor in BBC Music referred to Gilchrist’s “treasure-trove of a voice”. … Continue reading →
SCHUBERT – SCHWANENGESANG Beethoven – An die ferne Geliebte JAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano) Settings of seven poems by Ludwig Rellstab and six by Heinrich Heine, with Gabriel Seidl’s Die Taubenpost. Available from Linn Records or from Amazon. … Continue reading →
KENNETH LEIGHTON – EARTH, SWEET EARTH Benjamin Britten – Winter Words JAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano) Leighton sets words by Ruskin and Hopkins; Britten sets words by Thomas Hardy. Available from Linn Records or from Amazon.
SCHUBERT – DIE SCHÖNE MÜLLERIN JAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano) Die Schöne Müllerin (‘The Beautiful Maid of the Mill’), Schubert’s classic setting of poems by Wilhelm Müller is generally accepted to be a masterpiece of the song genre. Editor’s … Continue reading →
SONGS OF LENNOX BERKELEY JAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano) with ALLISON NICHOLLS (harp) Settings of both French and English poetry. Includes premiere recordings. Available from CHANDOS or from Amazon.
ON WENLOCK EDGE JAMES GILCHRIST (tenor), ANNA TILBROOK (piano) with the Fitzwilliam String Quartet A selection of early Twentieth Century masterpieces by great English composers. Songs by Vaughan Williams, Warlock, Bliss and Gurney. Finalist Solo Vocal Album of the Year … Continue reading →