A Musical Zoo
Ashley Riches (bass-baritone), Joseph Middleton (piano)
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, February 2021
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BBC Music Magazine, May 2021, Choral & Song Choice
Riches has the versatility to sound at home in any language or musical idiom. He possesses a natural authority that never has to strive for effect, and his warm, supple bass-baritone is eminently...
A Musical Zoo
Ashley Riches (bass-baritone), Joseph Middleton (piano)
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, February 2021
-
BBC Music Magazine, May 2021, Choral & Song Choice
Riches has the versatility to sound at home in any language or musical idiom. He possesses a natural authority that never has to strive for effect, and his warm, supple bass-baritone is eminently...
About
A Musical Zoo with Ashley Riches and Joseph Middleton is a veritable tour de force, featuring compositions spanning nearly 160 years, from Schuberts The Trout to Shostakovichs Once there lived a cockroach, and four languages (German, French, Russian, and English). A strong representation of the German Lieder tradition (Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, Brahms, and Richard Strauss) is balanced by the French mélodie (Fauré, Ravel) and English lyricism (Ireland, Howells). We humans seem to have an endless fascination with the animal kingdom, and animals have proved an inspiration for artists, composers and writers alike. This recital demonstrates what a rich seam this has proved for a diverse range of composers. Ashley Riches comments: The text [of a song] may outline to us what we see. But the flutterings of Schuberts Birds, the flicking antennae of Shostakovichs Cockroach, the rush of notes with which Ravels Peacock spreads its tail these are movements and energies accessible to music alone.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
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Presto Editor's ChoiceFebruary 2021
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BBC Music MagazineMay 2021Choral & Song Choice
May 2021
Riches has the versatility to sound at home in any language or musical idiom. He possesses a natural authority that never has to strive for effect, and his warm, supple bass-baritone is eminently ‘grounded’...In all, imaginatively plotted and beautifully recorded.
April 2021
Both [Riches] and pianist Joseph Middleton take a robust approach to the animal world, even with Fauré’s butterflies and flowers. But he also effectively floats upper-range notes in Ravel’s more delicate moments.
February 2021
Riches summons a wide range of colours and character for this hugely appealing musical menagerie: Strauss’s Thrush and Fauré’s Butterfly are brought to life with an airy charm, Ravel’s guinea-fowl is properly pugnacious, and there’s plenty of sardonic bite (as well as real Slavic darkness) for Mussorgsky’s Flea and Cockroach; he and Middleton have a ball with Vernon Duke’s Musical Zoo, a series of tiny vignettes delivered with cabaret-esque flair and a pitch-perfect American accent.
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