Berkeley, M: For You

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...it bristles with wit and lyricism, while giving other composers and librettists a lesson in how to drape operatic tradition in modern clothes....Alan Opie’s Charles makes a strong centrepiece,... — Financial Times, 17th September 2010, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 23rd Aug 2010
Catalogue No: SIGCD208
Label: Signum
Length: 2 hours 1 minute

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Berkeley, M: For You

Work length2:01:42

Album only

Music Theatre Wales
Michael Rafferty

Scene 1: The Rehearsal Room

Track length9:58

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Scene 2: The Frieths' London house

Track length10:54

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Scene 3: The Frieths' London house

Track length7:48

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Scene 4: The Frieths' London house

Track length4:40

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Scene 5: Charles's Study

Track length10:31

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Scene 6: Charles's Study

Track length12:27

$2.00

$2.80

$3.50

Scene 1: The Hospital

Track length14:35

$2.00

$2.80

$3.50

Scene 2: Charles's study

Track length16:18

Album only

Scene 3: The Hospital

Track length15:28

Album only

Secne 4: The Rehearsal Room

Track length19:03

Album only

About
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For You is a new opera that brings together the music of composer and BBC Radio 3 presenter Michael Berkeley and Booker-prize winning author Ian McEwan. This gripping tale of love, lust and obsession centers on the composer and prodigious womaniser Charles Frieth (Alan Opie), and the tragic consequences that his selfish actions cause him and those around. Although essentially dark, there are moments of irony, wit and humour throughout the opera. Soaring vocal lines, intricate ensemble piece, and imaginative instrumental writing make this an electrifying work.

Live Reviews:

“For You is a dark opera worth waiting for” Evening Standard

“… a dazzling and taut chamber piece which gives passionate way to Bergian lyricism while referencing both Britten and Richard Strauss in its airy, word-driven vocal lines.” The Independent

“This is pithy, witty stuff: McEwan skewers these characters to his blackly comic canvas in typically concise fashion. ... Berkeley’s palette—all fevered chromaticism, suspenseful ostinatos and fierce but eminently singable vocal lines—is a heady concoction.” The Times

“an absorbing and effective black comedy of rare narrative clarity, accompanied by some skilfully wrought music ... Berkeley’s score is confident, lively, and clever” Daily Telegraph

Reviews

17th September 2010

...it bristles with wit and lyricism, while giving other composers and librettists a lesson in how to drape operatic tradition in modern clothes....Alan Opie’s Charles makes a strong centrepiece, and the Music Theatre Wales Ensemble responds vividly to Michael Rafferty’s baton.

December 2010

it gains in consderable range and depth as it goes, tapping into the libretto's edgy humour and finding a bittersweet lyricism that gets below the skin of these troubled characters...the 14-strong Music Theatre Wales Ensemble plays with virtuoso skill under conductor Michael Rafferty

January 2011

Opie [captures] the complexity of Freith's character through nuanced phrasing and a broad tonal palette...[Rafferty] tackles Berkeley's highly organic yet tightly structured score with precision and gusto...For You is a welcome addition to the operatic repertoire and deserves repeated performances. This superb recording should go some way to ensuring that happens.

3rd October 2010

Berkeley’s third opera (2008) is a brilliant, dark psycho-comedy...The music, conducted here by Michael Rafferty, is energetic, deftly coloured and carefully balanced, allowing the excellent voices, including Alan Opie’s Frieth, to make their due mark.

3rd September 2010

Michael Berkeley and Ian McEwan's new opera deals frankly with themes of age and ego, obsession and suspicion...It's a tangled web worthy of Pinter, and Berkeley's palette switches smoothly between the first scene's knotted "lust for newness" to the vibes, harp, strings and horns which evoke the wife's frailty.

3rd October 2010

...the skilful MTW ensemble honour[s] Berkeley's rich orchestral invention and Alan Opie, as the monstrous Charles, lead[s] the six singers who relish every syllable of McEwan's dark, pithy text.

5th October 2010

Berkeley’s score is lively, abrasive and strongly crafted...the performance (recorded live) is focused, with excellent orchestral playing and a strong central performance by Alan Opie.

24th September 2010

Rafferty’s cast make great efforts to cut through the clamour and make the drama clear. The composer character, one Charles Frieth, may be odious times ten, but Opie invests him with such personality that you can see why the man holds such sway...Rachel Nicholls and Helen Williams are equally vivid as Frieth’s latest flame and his hospitalised wife. If you like your operas dark and prickly, For You may just be for you.

Offer,Berkeley, M: For You

2 CDs

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