MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS
Sound Samples & Downloads

Robert ALDRIDGE (b.1954)
Elmer Gantry - Opera in two Acts [2:21:38]
Elmer Gantry - Keith Phares (baritone); Sharon Falconer - Patricia Risley (mezzo); Frank Shallard - Vale Rideout (tenor); Eddie Fislinger - Frank Kelley (tenor); Lulu Baines - Heather Buck (soprano)
Florentine Opera Chorus; Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra/William Boggs
rec. live, 19-21 March 2010, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Uihlein Hall, Miwaukee, Wisconsin.
Full libretto included.
NAXOS 8.669032-33 [69:24 + 72:14]

Experience Classicsonline


I have never read the Sinclair Lewis novel Elmer Gantry, and am unable to comment on the skill with which the librettist, Herschel Garfein, has adapted it for this opera. What is obvious from the result, however, is that both composer and librettist are very much men of the theatre, knowing how to use words and music to create dramatic structures. This may be due in part to the long genesis of the opera. It was first conceived in 1990, drafted for piano-accompanied workshop performances in 1992 and 1994, and finally achieved full stage performance in 2007 in Nashville. The present recording derives from the third set of performances, clearly much enjoyed by an audience whose applause and occasional laughter is apparent but not distracting.
 
Elmer Gantry is set in the world of revival evangelism in early twentieth-century America, where the gap between the message being preached and the reality of the preachers was notably wide. All of the leading characters are in some way crooked or inadequate but all are intent on making a success of their particular brand of religion, mainly for reasons of greed. Aldridge has made very good use of the musical idioms of that time, admittedly a real gift to the composer but used here with great success both in set pieces and as a general stylistic background. The plot is involved and concerns the devious rise of the central character in various evangelical groups, and his relationships with other evangelists. It is divided into no less than fourteen scenes and has parts for numerous minor characters. There is no time for the audience to get bored as the potent mixture of religion and sex passes quickly by. I would love to see it on stage, with an imaginative producer and designer and with really theatrical singers in the main parts.
 
What we have here, however, is simply the music. Naxos are to be congratulated on a splendid presentation with the full text in the booklet as well as articles about the opera and the original novel, a synopsis of the former, and photographs of the production on which the recording is based. However, whilst I can admire the skill of composer and librettist I find it hard to discover much that is especially imaginative or memorable in the opera. It is never less than professionally written or performed but neither does it seem to rise far above that basic level of competence. - not that this is something that can by any means be taken for granted with new operas. As it has already had three sets of performances it clearly works in the theatre, which must be the true test of opera. I look forward to hearing it live, but in the meantime I am glad to have had the opportunity to get to know it through these discs. There is much to enjoy here even if I suspect that this is not a work I will wish to return to often.
 
John Sheppard 

 

 

 

 

 


 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


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.