Delius’ Idyll is one of the late works the composer
created with Eric Fenby. The original material came from the
unperformed 1902 opera Margot le Rouge. Delius and Fenby
substantially reworked the Margot music and set it for
soprano, baritone and orchestra to Whitman’s poem Once
I passed through a populous city. Later Delius agreed to
the performance of the original Margot prelude with the
Idyll, although the verismo qualities of the former
do not accord well with late Delius. I have always found the
Idyll among the most stirring of the late works, although
it can break down in the middle - cf. Meredith Davies’
1968 EMI
recording. David Hill here avoids this problem and his pacing
combined with Janice Watson’s rapt interpretation of the
soprano part make for something very compelling. [Felicity Lott
and Thomas Allen on Heritage also offer a most satisfying alternative
(review).
Ed.]
Delius always admired Nietzsche and this shows most strongly
in A Mass of Life, the largest of his non-operatic works.
It was mostly written in 1904-05, but much of the last section
dates from a separate work first performed in 1899. Although
scored for oratorio-like forces the work is actually a well-organized
series of scenes from Nietzsche’s long poem Also Sprach
Zarathustra, with the baritone soloist taking the role of
Zarathustra and the chorus and other soloists sometimes portraying
characters from the poem and sometimes commenting on the action.
Some of these same words were set by Mahler in his Third Symphony.
The opening chorus of A Mass of Life has to be one of
the thrilling moments in all Delius. The middle sections of
Part 1 (tracks 3 and 4 of CD 1) with their dialogues between
baritone and chorus are deeply moving in their emotional variety.
Delius is even more inspired in the music that follows, leading
to the shattering finale to Part 1. In Part 2 there is much
beautiful writing for the orchestra, but perhaps the highpoint
is the ensemble writing for soloists and chorus in Track 7 of
CD 1 Herauf nun herauf and the solos in the Noon day
section (Track 2 of CD 2).
Alan Opie is somewhat variable in terms of vocal strength and
expressiveness, but frequently is very impressive, especially
in O Meine neuen Freunde (Part 1, Track 3), the soliloquy
Susse Leier! in Part 2 (Track 8 of CD 1) and in O
Mensch Gib Acht and the last part of the work. Janice Watson
is the most convincing of the soloists. Her voice is well-suited
to Delius and she shows the same aptitude for his music that
she did in the Idyll. Catherine Wyn-Jones was not in
her best voice when making this recording, but this does not
stop her from being very moving in O Zarathustra in track
four of Part 1. Andrew Kennedy is especially good in blending
with the other soloists. David Hill is the director of the Bach
Choir and gets wonderful results from them in the several wordless
choruses, although they are occasionally shrill in other parts.
As well as the Bach Choir, David Hill also has a long history
with the Bournemouth Symphony their connection is quite palpable
in this recording. This, combined with Hill’s excellent
“Delius phrasing” would guarantee a fine performance,
but it is Hill’s overall conception, obviously much thought
over, that is most impressive. When combined with the excellent
acoustics of The Lighthouse and engineering to match from Mike
Clements we have a splendid rendition of A Mass of Life.
The standard for recorded performance of this work remains the
Beecham version (review
review
review)
but in terms of more recent recordings, the soloists in Richard
Hickox’s 1996 version (Chandos CHAN9515) may be somewhat
finer and Charles Groves may have more warmth in his 1972 EMI
performance (review
review),
but Hill’s new recording is in no way inferior to these
others and benefits from the fine sound.
William Kreindler
see also reviews by Rob
Barnett and Simon
Thompson
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Janice Watson (soprano); Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo)*; Andrew Kennedy
(tenor)*; Alan Opie (baritone) 