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Louis Karchin: Jane Eyre

Jennifer Zetlan (Jane Eyre), Ryan MacPherson (Mr Rochester), Tom Meglioranza (Roderick Ingram / St. John Rivers), Katrina Thurman (Blanche Ingram), Jessica Thompson (Diana / Mrs. Ingram), Adam Cannedy (Mr. Mason / Mr. Briggs), David Salsbery Fry (Mr. Wood)

Orchestra of the League of Composers,...

The score is extremely well-crafted, with intense and detailed orchestral writing that owes much to the Strauss of Rosenkavalier and, less obviously, Salome. It’s vigorously performed by the... — BBC Music Magazine, December 2019, 3 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 9th Aug 2019
Catalogue No: 8669042-43
Label: Naxos
Series: American Classics
Length: 2 hours 9 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Karchin: Jane Eyre

Work length2:09:42

Album only

David Salsbery Fry (bass-baritone), Jennifer Zetlan (soprano), Ryan MacPherson (tenor), Thomas Meglioranza (baritone), Jessica Thompson (soprano), Katrina Thurman (soprano), Kimberly Giordano (soprano), Adam Cannedy (baritone), Jessica Ann Best (mezzo-soprano)
League of Composers
Louis Karchin

Act I Scene 1: Mr. Rochester!

Track length15:23

$4.00

$5.15

$7.00

Act I Scene 2: I'm Duly Impressed, Rochester!

Track length19:27

$4.00

$5.15

$7.00

Act I Scene 3: Come, Man, Buck Up!

Track length11:09

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

Act II Scene 1: No! It Can't Be So!

Track length9:55

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Act II Scene 2: Despite Your Scorched Bark and Scarred Limbs

Track length13:53

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

Act II Scene 3: And Thus, As I Hope I Have Demonstrated Clearly

Track length12:13

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

Act III Scene 1: Oh, Where Is Jane, When We Want Her?

Track length24:20

Album only

Act III Scene 2: I Beg of You, Jane

Track length10:06

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

Act III Scene 3: Thirty-Six Hours in a Coach

Track length13:16

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

About
Reviews
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About

Over four decades the American composer Louis Karchin has produced a much-admired portfolio of compositions. His one-act opera Romulus (8669030) won numerous accolades. Jane Eyre is his largest project to date, in which he and librettist Diane Osen fashion Charlotte Brontë’s beloved novel into a vivid and moving opera cast as a fluid and continuous entity. Karchin’s wide-ranging harmonic language and his flair for contrast ensure that the novel’s drama, its pastoral elements, and most importantly its characterization are fully developed via arias, monologues, ariosi and a quartet, to create a boldly engaging new work.

Louis Karchin has produced over 90 compositions, and co-founded new music groups including the Orchestra of the League of Composers, the Chamber Players of the League/ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music), the Washington Square Ensemble and the Harvard Group for New Music. The debut album of his first opera, Romulus (8669030), was hailed as one of the best recordings of 2011 by Fanfare magazine, and a choice of the month in BBC Music Magazine.

This recording features the original cast of the world premiere production in 2016. The title role was sung by soprano Jennifer Zetlan, in which Opera News described her performance as ‘nothing short of heroic’. Zetlan was also featured in a recent release of Falla’s El amor brujo and El retablo de Maese Pedro with the Perspectives Ensemble and conductor Angel Gil-Ordóñez (8573890).

Artists

Orchestra of the League of Composers, Louis Karchin

Reviews

December 2019

The score is extremely well-crafted, with intense and detailed orchestral writing that owes much to the Strauss of Rosenkavalier and, less obviously, Salome. It’s vigorously performed by the Orchestra of the League of Composers in support of impressive principals, Jennifer Zetlan and Ryan MacPherson, under Karchin’s baton.

January/February 2020

Soprano Jennifer Zetlan displays Nilsson-like stamina through long arias and an almost constant stage presence. Tenor Ryan McPherson sounds comfortable with his line and is a convincing Rochester. Minor roles (some of them doubled) are all satisfactory. The recording balances voices and orchestra well, keeping Zetlan audible throughout the continuous orchestral deluge. Eagerly recommended to all.

February 2020

Musically it’s rather all-purpose, containing an eclectic mix of various styles from the last 80 years or so— though none of the modernist ones… but it’s capably and even skilfully done; the piece’s stormy emotions are well handled and the composer rarely overplays his hand. The performers are capable too, with Ryan MacPherson a determined Rochester and Jennifer Zetlan a resilient Jane.

Louis Karchin: Jane Eyre

2 CDs

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