Previn: Brief Encounter

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both appealing and frequently impressive...Somewhere between Puccini and Britten at their most intimate, it isn't wildly original, but it's entirely listenable...Elizabeth Futral's clear but... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2011, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 25th Apr 2011
Catalogue No: 4779351
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Series: 20/21
Length: 2 hours 2 minutes

Previn: Brief Encounter / Act 1

Work length1:18:45

$17.00

$23.00

Robert Orth (bass (vocal)), Kim Josephson (baritone), Meredith Arwady (contralto), Adam Cioffari (baritone), Alicia Gianni (soprano), James J. Kee (baritone), Rebekah Camm (soprano), Nathan Gunn (baritone), Elizabeth Futral (soprano), Nathan Gunn (bass (vocal))
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra
Patrick Summers
Recorded: 2009-05
Recording Venue: Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center, Houston

Andantino amabile

Track length2:10

$0.85

$1.15

"Hullo - Hullo - Hullo!" ... "Quite the stranger"

Track length8:49

$0.85

$1.15

"He was very nice-looking" ... "This pain can't last"

Track length5:06

$0.85

$1.15

"Seven across"

Track length4:07

$0.85

$1.15

"Fred, Fred - dear Fred" ... "Never forget"

Track length3:45

$0.85

$1.15

Interlude ... "Please a glass of water" ..."Little bit of coal dust"

Track length3:13

$0.85

$1.15

"It was a Thursday" ... "All my Thursdays were the same"

Track length3:51

$0.85

$1.15

"Good Morning" ... "Are you alone?"

Track length5:17

$0.85

$1.15

Interlude ... "We walked together up the river"

Track length2:27

$0.85

$1.15

"We walked back to the station" ... "This marriage lark"

Track length3:43

$0.85

$1.15

"Doctors have dreams"

Track length4:07

$0.85

$1.15

"I watched his train" ... "Imagine"

Track length3:04

$0.85

$1.15

"Is that you Laura?" ... "A warning"

Track length8:41

$0.85

$1.15

"Albert Godby, how dare you?" ... "The liberty"

Track length1:22

$0.85

$1.15

"I sat in the café, waiting"

Track length1:11

$0.85

$1.15

"My dear, my dear, I'm sorry" ... "Next Thursday?"

Track length2:21

$0.85

$1.15

"The British have always been nice to mad people"

Track length1:35

$0.85

$1.15

"When I was a child"

Track length7:37

$0.85

$1.15

"Good evening, Mrs Jesson"

Track length2:16

$0.85

$1.15

"This is the face of a woman who lies"

Track length4:03

$0.85

$1.15

Previn: Brief Encounter / Act 2

Work length44:00

$8.50

$11.50

Kim Josephson (baritone), Adam Cioffari (baritone), Robert Orth (bass (vocal)), Nathan Gunn (baritone), Alicia Gianni (soprano), Meredith Arwady (contralto), Elizabeth Futral (soprano), Jamie Barton (soprano), Rebekah Camm (soprano), Faith Sherman (soprano)
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra
Patrick Summers
Recorded: 2009-05
Recording Venue: Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center, Houston

Entr'acte ... "Five minutes"

Track length3:31

$0.85

$1.15

"He took me to lunch"

Track length4:43

$0.85

$1.15

"We stood on the bridge at Eden Lock"

Track length1:35

$0.85

$1.15

"That's your train" ... "Come with me"

Track length3:01

$0.85

$1.15

"14 down, 6 letters" ... "Without you there's nothing"

Track length3:02

$0.85

$1.15

"Hallo!" "This is the face of the woman I love"

Track length7:09

$0.85

$1.15

"Promise me, however unhappy your are"

Track length5:17

$0.85

$1.15

"A woman is sitting in a quiet room"

Track length3:45

$0.85

$1.15

"Aren't you going to offer me another cup of tea?" ... "Time and tide"

Track length6:17

$0.85

$1.15

"Fred, Fred, oh, Fred" ... "To the end of my days"

Track length5:40

$0.85

$1.15

About
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About

The lengthy list of André Previn’s talents includes composition. Brief Encounter, his second opera, is a compassionate, exquisitely touching study of emotional infidelity. This release was recorded live at the opera’s world premiere in 2009.

Based on the screenplay by Noël Coward (that became a memorable film directed by David Lean and starring Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson), Brief Encounter stars Elizabeth Futral and Nathan Gunn as lovers whose innate morality makes their rapturous gratitude for one another excruciating, since they are already wed to others. Kim Josephson is moving as Laura’s bewildered husband; Patrick Summers conducts with his customary intelligence.

The Wall Street Journal wrote: “Mr. Previn’s lush, tonal score supplies a new dimension to this tale, giving a voice to the yearnings of Laura, the ordinary woman who is suddenly catapulted into extraordinary feelings”.

Previn turns 82 on April 6, 2011. Brief Encounter’s release on Deutsche Grammophon’s iconic 20/21 series is the label’s birthday salute to this uncommon musician.

Reviews

July 2011

both appealing and frequently impressive...Somewhere between Puccini and Britten at their most intimate, it isn't wildly original, but it's entirely listenable...Elizabeth Futral's clear but well-shaded soprano suits Laura's quietly anguished lyricism, while baritone Nathan Gunn, a younger, less world-weary Alec than Trevor Howard, projects sturdy charm throughout an almost tenorial range.

August 2011

The opera's grand dimensions and intimate manner are a challenge for anyone playing the lead characters...Futral achieves a degree of emotional specificity that makes her one of the best singing actresses around. Nathan Gunn matches her with a baritone that scales down to practically nothing - important in a love story in which the man is the needier of the two.

July 2011

[Previn] deploys his orchestral forces with considerable tact. The music is lyrical, romantically bittersweet and often luxurious, but it's rarely overpowering...Still, Previn's Laura and Alec are more able to express their emotions than Coward's originals were...Futral is a virtuoso singer with a gorgeous tone...but she never shows off, maintaining a strong sense of Laura's repressed and self-critical character...warmly recommended to those interested in contemporary but accessible opera.

12th May 2011

here are plenty of echoes of Samuel Barber – both Knoxville and Vanessa come to mind. He mercifully avoids referring to Rachmaninov, though the melodic contours of the principal love theme are reminiscent of its counterpart in Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet...The performance...is conducted with considerable flair by Patrick Summers, while Nathan Gunn and Elizabeth Futral are superb as the sorrowing lovers.

5th May 2011

Elizabeth Futral and Nathan Gunn sing lustily in Celia Johnson’s and Trevor Howard’s roles.

22nd April 2011

Previn doesn’t achieve pastiche Rachmaninov, but the older composer’s ghost is audible in the opera, along with little twists of Bernstein and Hollywood scores of the 1940s. The score is neither showy nor outstandingly imaginative; but then, the same is true of Coward’s characters. Captured on CD, this intimate piece proves fascinating, largely enjoyable, and eventually touching.

26th June 2011

This is a commendably sober, faithful retelling. Previn’s defiantly tonal score sounds exactly as you’d imagine it would – an amalgam of all the composers who he’s remembered for conducting well...Previn’s vocal writing is gracious, the orchestra is handled brilliantly, and Caird’s text is unfussy and elegant. This is an opera which it’s very hard to dislike, and it’s easy to imagine a good production packing a powerful emotional punch.

Previn: Brief Encounter

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