David Curtis conducts Mahler & Berlioz

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with so many full-orchestral recordings of each work available, do we need to hear these reduced ones? Two good reasons are top-flight instrumental playing (you won't hear much better anywhere),... — Classic FM Magazine, June 2011, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 21st Feb 2011
Catalogue No: SOMMCD245
Label: Somm
Length: 79 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Mahler: Symphony No. 4

Work length51:15

$11.00

$14.20

Heather Shipp
Orchestra of the Swan
David Curtis

I. Bedächtig - Nicht eilen (Arr. E. Stein for Chamber Orchestra)

Track length14:39

$3.00

$3.85

II. Im gemächlicher Bewegung - Ohne Hast (Arr. E. Stein for Chamber Orchestra)

Track length8:35

$2.00

$2.60

III. Ruhevoll (Arr. E. Stein for Chamber Orchestra)

Track length18:35

$4.00

$5.15

IV. Sehr behaglich (Arr. E. Stein for Chamber Orchestra)

Track length9:26

$2.00

$2.60

Berlioz: Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7

Work length28:33

$6.00

$7.80

Heather Shipp
Orchestra of the Swan
David Curtis

No. 1, Villanelle (Arr. D. Matthews for Voice and Chamber Orchestra)

Track length2:16

$1.00

$1.30

No. 2, Le spectre de la rose (Arr. D. Matthews for Voice and Chamber Orchestra)

Track length5:48

$1.00

$1.30

No. 3, Sur les lagunes (Arr. D. Matthews for Voice and Chamber Orchestra)

Track length5:36

$1.00

$1.30

No. 4, Absence (Arr. D. Matthews for Voice and Chamber Orchestra)

Track length5:03

$1.00

$1.30

No. 5, Au cimetière (Arr. D. Matthews for Voice and Chamber Orchestra)

Track length5:49

$1.00

$1.30

No. 6, L'Î le inconnue (Arr. D. Matthews for Voice and Chamber Orchestra)

Track length4:01

$1.00

$1.30

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These two live recordings were recorded during the orchestra’s concert season at Birmingham Town Hall and the result is another unusual and innovative recording in SOMM’s catalogue. The orchestra perform with infectious enthusiasm and the Berlioz is a premiere recording of this version.

Reviews

June 2011

with so many full-orchestral recordings of each work available, do we need to hear these reduced ones? Two good reasons are top-flight instrumental playing (you won't hear much better anywhere), and the spelllbinding vividness of Heather Shipp's darkly gorgeous mezzo-soprano voice

Just another Mahler Four? Far from it...Woodwind obbligatos and string glissandos bring out the symphony’s gypsy soul in this spirited performance under David Curtis, but the CD’s value lies just as much in the chance to hear the lovely Heather Shipp singing Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’Eté, in a chamber version by David Matthews.

July 2011

Various members of the Orchestra of the Swan sound like they're having fun - the cellist with some liberal portamento, the clarinettist with a Brahmsian introduction to the finale

April 2011

How ingeniously [Stein] reduced Mahler's Fourth Symphony for chamber forces, and how well he retained essential colours...it is rather pleasing to hear Stein's alternative, especially in a buoyant performance such as this one, which finds the players of Orchestra of the Swan relishing their task and responding bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to David Curtis's quick and effective tempos.

BBC Radio 3

Scaled back to a dozen instruments for one of Arnold Schoenberg’s private concerts, this skeletal version is played with great razzle-dazzle by musicians from the Orchestra of the Swan...A disc almost overstuffed with good things.

Glasgow Herald 13th March 2011

[the Mahler reduction] works stunningly well, as exemplified in this enthralling live performance by David Curtis and his Orchestra Of The Swan, with mezzo Heather Shipp...The detail of Mahler’s already chamber-like orchestration gleams with a pure light, enhanced further by the coupling: David Matthews’s arrangement for small group of Berlioz’s Nuits d’ete.

David Curtis conducts Mahler & Berlioz

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