2020 54,928 reviews and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here You can also use this FreeFind              International mailing

Searching Musicweb Monthly index Recordings of the Year Label index Masterwork index Series index Search engines Review Archive Classical Downloads Jazz Concerts Nostalgia Books Film music Resources Composer pages Tony Duggan's Mahler survey National Discographies Mark Morris's Guide to Twentieth Century Composers Ralph Moore's Surveys Online books Piano Trio Survey Cello Concerto Project Pot Pourri - Early MusicWeb Gerard Hoffnung Arthur Butterworth's columns Philip Scowcroft's British light music collection Interviews Programme notes MusicWeb Listening Studio Other material Articles Seen & Heard Jazz reviews Message Board Announcements About Musicweb About Musicweb Contact Musicweb Contributors What they say about us Visitor stats Site Map

Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn

AVAILABILITY www.rodepomp.be e-mail: rodepomp@pandora.be

Gerald FINZI (1901-1956) Earth and Air and Rain (Thomas Hardy) (Summer Schemes [2:27]; When I set out for Lyonesse [2:17]; Waiting Both [3:43]; The Phantom [3:40]; So I Have Feared [2:39]; Rollicum Rorum [1:46]; To Lizbie Brown [4:23]; The Clock of the Years [4:54]; In A Churchyard [4:06]; Proud Songsters [3:06]) To A Poet (various) (To A Poet A Thousand Years Hence [5:21]; On Parent Knees [1:15]; Intrada [1:26]; Birthnight [1:49]; June on castle Hill [2:07]; Ode on the Rejection of St. Cecilia [5:57]) I Said To Love (Thomas Hardy) (I Need Not Go [1:39]; At Middle Field Gate in February [4:15]; Two Lips [0:53]; In Five Score Summers [1:47]; For Life I Had Never Cared Greatly [2:13]; I said to Love [3:16]) Howard Wong (baritone), Hein Boterberg (piano) rec. 21-23 January 2006, De Rode Pomp, Ghent, Belgium DE RODE POMP GENTS MUZIKAAL ARCHIEF Vol. 26 DDD RP/GMA 061 [64:59]

Wong has long been a champion of the great English songwriter Gerald Finzi, and is one of his best exponents. Having been deeply impressed by his live performances on a number of occasions, I was delighted to encounter his disc containing Finzi’s Earth and Air and Rain, To a Poet and I Said to Love. Wong knows these songs inside out and it is obvious that he has invested a tremendous amount of emotional energy in them. He has a rich, deep, velvety voice that suits these songs well, an intuitive understanding and excellent communication of the words. Wong brings the songs brilliantly to life – listen to his amazing characterisation - in When I set out for Lyonnesse, for example. We can hear in songs such as Waiting Both (the emphasis on the "you" in "what do you mean to do?") how Wong doesn’t just sing the notes, but absorbs the words and meanings and then pours forth the music as the song’s persona himself – again, hear the grief welling up in his heart-breaking performance of To Lizbie Brown. The whispered introduction to Clock of the Years is dramatic and effective, and this passionate and deeply chilling song is almost overwhelmingly intense - if Wong wasn’t so totally sincere, it would be over the top. Similarly, listen to the power Wong invests in Ode on the Rejection of St. Cecilia. This is singing with heart and soul. Just to prove that he is not a total drama queen, Wong is also excellent in the livelier numbers - Rollicum Rorum, for example, where he scintillates. Hein Boterberg’s accompaniment is brilliant - listen to him in In A Churchyard and Rollicum Rorum – extremely accomplished playing despite the difficulty of the piano line. The disc is nicely presented overall, and contains good sleeve notes from Finzi expert Diana McVeagh. Wong’s enunciation is excellent throughout – listen to the start of Ode on the Rejection of St. Cecilia - each word beautifully pronounced. He has a distinctive and sophisticated voice, and works well with the sympathetic and extremely proficient Boterberg. With singing that is confident, assured and mature, he really gets under the skin of these amazing songs, reaching an intensity that many singers can’t, or would be too embarrassed to achieve. Gripping stuff. Em Marshall   Advertising on Musicweb Donate and keep us afloat     Recordings of the Month March piano music Vol 4 Charpentier Songs of Love and Sorrow Thomas Agerfeldt OLESEN Cello Concerto The female in Music   February January Linda BUCKLEY From Ocean’s Floor

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.