MacFarren, G: Robin Hood

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Though intensely conservative [Macfarren] was nevertheless more than a mere pedant. His music recalls Mendlessohn and Weber, but with a four-square Englishness very like his younger contemporary... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2011, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 26th Sep 2011
Catalogue No: 8660306-07
Label: Naxos
Length: 2 hours 38 minutes

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George Macfarren: Robin Hood

Work length2:38:09

$39.00

$50.70

Nicky Spence (tenor), George Hulbert (baritone), Louis Hurst (bass), Andrew Mackenzie-Wicks (tenor), John Molloy (bass), Alex Knox (baritone), Kay Jordan (soprano), Magdalen Ashman (mezzo-soprano)
Victorian Opera Chorus, Victorian Opera Orchestra, John Powell Singers
Ronald Corp
Recorded: 6-7 March 2010
Recording Venue: Urmston Grammar School, Manchester, England

Overture

Track length5:36

$1.00

$1.30

Act I: Introduction: Clang! Clang! It is a merry (Chorus)

Track length6:58

$1.00

$1.30

Act I: Ballad: The hunters wake (Alice, Chorus)

Track length2:26

$1.00

$1.30

Act I: Duet: When lovers are parted (Robin, Marian)

Track length2:55

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$1.30

Act I: Trio: A dark and troublous time (Robin, Marian, Sheriff)

Track length3:07

$1.00

$1.30

Act I: Ballad: True love (Marian)

Track length2:07

$1.00

$1.30

Act I: Scena and Song: The monk within his cell (Sompnour)

Track length5:30

$1.00

$1.30

Act I: Scena and Song: Be not severe (Allan, Robin, Chorus)

Track length2:23

$1.00

$1.30

Act I: Ballad: Englishmen by birth (Robin)

Track length2:30

$1.00

$1.30

Act I: Finale: May the saints protect

Track length6:10

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Act II Scene 1: Entr'acte

Track length1:24

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$1.30

Act II Scene 1: Part Song: The wood, the wood (Outlaws)

Track length2:02

$1.00

$1.30

Act II Scene 1: Robbery Scene: A good fat deer (Robin, Much, John, Sompnour)

Track length9:06

$2.00

$2.60

Act II Scene 1: Ballad: The grasping Normans (Robin, Greenwood men)

Track length7:32

$2.00

$2.60

Act II Scene 2: Scena: Hail happy morn (Marian)

Track length9:07

$2.00

$2.60

Act II Scene 2: Ballad: From childhood's dawn (Sheriff)

Track length3:09

$1.00

$1.30

Act II Scene 2: Duet: To the fair (Marian, Alice)

Track length2:37

$1.00

$1.30

Act II Scene 3: Chorus: How bright is the day (Allan, Alice, Robin, Marian)

Track length3:43

$1.00

$1.30

Act II Scene 3: Dances: Round dance and Tilting at the Quintain

Track length4:55

$1.00

$1.30

Act II Scece 3: Scena: Hoodman blind (Villagers)

Track length9:51

$2.00

$2.60

Act II Scene 3: Song: My own, my guiding star (Robin)

Track length2:41

$1.00

$1.30

Act II Scene 3: Ensemble: Merry laughter (Sheriff, Marian, Alice, Allan, Company)

Track length6:23

$1.00

$1.30

Act II Scene 3: Quintet: My heart from its terror (Marian, Alice, Robin, Allan, Sheriff)

Track length2:23

$1.00

$1.30

Act II Scene 3: Finale: My children thus your lives (Sheriff, Company)

Track length6:27

$1.00

$1.30

Act III Scene 1: Entr'acte

Track length3:17

$1.00

$1.30

Act III Scene 1: Duet: Greatest plague on earth (Allan, Alice)

Track length3:04

$1.00

$1.30

Act III Scene 1: Scena: My child has fled (Sheriff)

Track length6:08

$1.00

$1.30

Act III Scene 1: Duet: To King Richard at once (Sheriff, Sompnour)

Track length4:03

$1.00

$1.30

Act III Scene 2: Part Song: Now the sun has mounted (Citizens)

Track length6:20

$1.00

$1.30

Act III Scene 2: Song: Sons of the greenwood (Marian, Greenwood men)

Track length2:44

$1.00

$1.30

Act III Scene 3: Scena: Vain was the proud ambition (Robin, Marian, Chorus)

Track length8:54

$2.00

$2.60

Act III Scene 4: Finale: Hark, to that doleful bell (Full company)

Track length7:50

$2.00

$2.60

Act III Scene 4: Finale ultimo: We've made a slight mistake (Full company)

Track length4:47

$1.00

$1.30

About
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About

George Macfarren was considered by many of his contemporaries as the greatest British dramatic opera composer since Purcell. Described by Edward J Dent as ‘very full of good fun and on the way to Sullivan’, Robin Hood is Macfarren’s masterpiece, one of an impressive roster of now neglected mid-nineteenth century British operas, notable for its fine ensemble scenes, witty motifs, and deft, imaginative orchestration. Victorian Opera’s recording of Wallace’s Lurline (8660293-94) was widely admired: ‘the opera and the performance are both a delight.’ (American Record Guide)

Reviews

December 2011

Though intensely conservative [Macfarren] was nevertheless more than a mere pedant. His music recalls Mendlessohn and Weber, but with a four-square Englishness very like his younger contemporary Arthur Sullivan...[Robin's] swashbuckling is mostly vocal; Nicky Spence carries it off with cheerful style, if not quite enough heft...Under Ronald Corp, the orchestra reveals a bright, attractive piece.

January 2012

Nicky Spence is splendid as Robin Hood: vigorous in the ballad 'Englishmen by birth', he is eloquent in the beautiful 'My own, my guiding star', his manner recalling Richard Lewis...Ronald Corp clearly loves this music; and if there's a touch of am-dram about the chorus, well, it's all part of the fun.

November 2011

Hulbert is a firm-voiced Sheriff of Nottingham, covering the vocal range successfully as a character less wicked than the one usually seen in films or in television productions of the story...This is a case of the whole being better than the parts, with that greatly owing to Macfarren's music...I am glad that I have heard it.

22nd October 2011

Macfarren’s Romantic English opera Robin Hood has waited 150 years for a first recording, and though Ronald Corp’s Victorian Opera forces sometimes sound stretched, they capture its genial Merrie England swashbuckle...Connoisseurs of ripe Victoriana will adore it.

Offer,MacFarren, G: Robin Hood

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