Wagstaff: Breathe Freely

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Release Date: 16th Oct 2015
Catalogue No: CKD535
Label: Linn
Length: 53 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Wagstaff: Breathe Freely, Act I

Work length19:20

$7.00

$10.50

$14.35

Breathe Freely Ensemble, Derek Clark, Phil Gault, Laura Margaret Smith, Paul Curievici
Recorded: 9-12 June 2015
Recording Venue: Scottish Opera, Edington Street, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

I. Hello? Ritchie? Doctor Ritchie, Are You There?

Track length3:21

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II. Kendall, How Do You Do?

Track length1:03

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III. You Know, I Am Certain, How My Mother Country Suffers

Track length1:31

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$2.05

IV. In Scotland There Is Hope

Track length2:31

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V. Cometh the Woman

Track length2:22

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$2.05

VI. Der kleine Hund

Track length2:52

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VII. This Analysis Is Exemplary

Track length5:40

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$2.05

Wagstaff: Breathe Freely, Act II

Work length15:09

$4.00

$6.00

$8.20

Breathe Freely Ensemble, Derek Clark, Laura Margaret Smith, Paul Curievici, Phil Gault
Recorded: 9-12 June 2015
Recording Venue: Scottish Opera, Edington Street, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

I. VIII. The Evening Light

Track length5:00

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$1.50

$2.05

II. IX. To Live Is to Regret

Track length2:52

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$2.05

III. X. Doctor Hempel, What Progress?

Track length2:29

$1.00

$1.50

$2.05

IV. XI. Breathe Freely

Track length4:48

$1.00

$1.50

$2.05

Wagstaff: A Persistent Illusion

Work length19:09

$3.50

$5.30

$7.15

Breathe Freely Ensemble, Derek Clark, Pete Furniss, Mark Bailey, Andrew Johnston
Recorded: 9-12 June 2015
Recording Venue: Scottish Opera, Edington Street, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

I. —

Track length5:39

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$1.50

$2.05

II. —

Track length4:45

$1.00

$1.50

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III. —

Track length8:45

$1.50

$2.30

$3.05

About
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About

Breathe Freely is a new opera by contemporary Scottish composer Julian Wagstaff.

Written for three singers and piano trio, it is a chamber opera in two acts set in 1943 against the backdrop of the Second World War.

At its heart Julian Wagstaff’s opera is a manifold celebration of human endeavour, history, interest, compassion, and, of course, chemistry at the University of Edinburgh.

It recounts the semi-fictional story of several real and extraordinary chemists who helped to make the Chemistry department the extraordinary institution it is today: Romantic pragmatist Stanisław Hempel, endearing perfectionist Chrissie Miller and Professor James Kendall FRS, whose book is the basis for the synopsis.

Breathe Freely was premiered in 2013 to celebrate the tricentenary of the appointment of the first Chair of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh.

Also included on the recording is Wagstaff’s piano trio A Persistent Illusion commissioned to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry, 2011. The title refers to Einstein's observation that the distinction between the past, present and future is merely a ‘stubbornly persistent illusion’.

Julian Wagstaff first came to public attention in 2001 with the musical John Paul Jones, based on the life of the Scots-born sailor and hero of the American Revolution. The musical was revived in 2010 in association with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

A specific interest in German history is reflected in Treptow for string orchestra (2005), Wagstaff’s most performed work.

Wagstaff enjoyed a sell-out success on the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with his opera The Turing Test, about the quest to build a truly intelligent machine.

The Breathe Freely Ensemble is Paul Curievici (tenor), Phil Gault (baritone) and Laura Margaret Smith (mezzo-soprano) with Pete Furniss (clarinet), Mark Bailey (cello) and Andrew Johnston (piano).

Derek Clark’s career spans forty years and includes conducting engagements with Welsh National Opera and Scottish Opera ranging from Monteverdi to Maxwell Davies.

Wagstaff: Breathe Freely

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