Notes and Editorial Reviews
Kate Royal’s second solo album interprets arias from 20th-century operas, each sung by a heroine describing an aspect of nature, a dream, a bird, a moment of pain. Invariably the scoring and atmosphere call to mind an internal longing.
It’s a delight to hear the program’s better-known works—“Song to the Moon” from
Rusalka, “Marietta’s Lied” from
Die tote Stadt, Léhar’s “Vilja Lied”—sung so directly, honestly and without affectation. Royal’s lovely, full lyric soprano blossoms as it rises and has great dynamic range from pianissimo to forte, all easily and naturally used. How brave and intelligent of her to have “discovered” arias that fit the “midsummer night” mood: One from William Alwyn’s
Miss
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Julie, with its opening flute curlicues, is so evocative that we can almost smell the flowers, and Susannah’s aria (from Carlisle Floyd’s opera) “The Trees are on the Mountain,” with its folk imagery and melody, is heartrendingly sad in its directness. Cathy’s melodious aria of longing from Bernard Herrmann’s
Wuthering Heights is a real find; Ellen’s “Embroidery aria” from
Peter Grimes is the picture of regret and loss. The six other selections are equally affecting and artfully sung.
Robert Levine, Listen [July 2009]
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Works on This Recording
1.
Miss Julie: Midsummer night by William Alwyn
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
2.
Le rossignol: Ah, joie, emplis mon coeur [Nightingale's Aria] by Igor Stravinsky
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1908-1914; Russia
3.
Troilus and Cressida: At the haunted end of day by Sir William Walton
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1954/1976; England
4.
Susannah: Trees on the Mountain by Carlisle Floyd
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1954; USA
5.
Rusalka, Op. 114/B 203: O moon high up "Song to the moon" by Antonín Dvorák
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1900; Bohemia
6.
Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Embroidery in childhood by Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
Notes: Composition written: England (1944 - 1945).
7.
Die lustige Witwe: Es lebt eine Vilja...Vilja, o Vilja by Franz Lehár
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1905; Vienna, Austria
8.
Vanessa, Op. 32: Do not utter a word by Samuel Barber
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957; USA
9.
Paul Bunyan, Op. 17: Ah!... Whether the sun shines upon children playing [Tiny's Song] by Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1941; USA
10.
Monsieur Beaucaire: Philomel by André Messager
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1918; France
11.
Turn of the Screw, Op. 54: How beautiful it is... No! Who is it? [Tower Scene] by Benjamin Britten
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1954; England
12.
Wuthering Heights: I have dreamt by Bernard Herrmann
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1940-1952; USA
13.
Die tote Stadt, Op. 12: O Tanz! O Rausch! "Marietta's Lute Song" by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Performer:
Kate Royal (Soprano)
Conductor:
Edward Gardner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
English National Opera Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Featured Sound Samples
Rusalka (Dvorák): Song to the Moon
Wuthering Heights (Herrmann): "I have dreamt"
Die tote Stadt (Korngold): Marietta's Lute Song
Sound Samples
Miss Julie: Midsummer Night
Le Rossignol: Nightingale Aria
Troilus and Cressida: At the haunted end of the day
Susannah: The trees on the Mountains
Rusalka: Song to the Moon
Peter Grimes: Embroidery Aria
Vanessa: Do not utter a word
Monsieur Beaucaire: Philomel
Turn of the Screw: The Tower Scene
Wuthering heights: I have dreamt
Die Tote Stadt: Marietta's Lied
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