Credits:

Bostridge, Ian / Pappano, Antonio

Description:

November 11, 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. For this occasion, leading Warner Classics musicians Bostridge and Pappano have assembled a collection of songs by four composers to be presented to the world under the name "Requiem." The 19 songs in the collection were all composed over a period of almost 50 years, from the end of the 19th century to the 20th century and the start of World War II. All but Mahler, who died before the Great War began, were war survivors; Kurt Weill defected from Germany, and Rudy Stephan and George Butterworth both lost their lives in the war. Bostridge, however, points out that "these songs are not directly influenced by the world wars," and he sings all of them with his own interpretation. In the songs of Butterworth and Stefan, Bostridge is less expressive than usual, expressing the flavor of the songs in an unaffected manner, sometimes with a touch of sweetness and bewitchment. In Weill's work, which is based on Whitman's text, he sings with a sweetness and calmness reminiscent of a Broadway musical, but in a more flamboyant manner. In the Mahler piece, however, Bostridge's expressive power, which is her own medicine cage, exploded. In "Revelge" (meaning "rising trumpet"), the boy's life is described as if he were witnessing it before his eyes as he rushes toward death over the rhythm of a gruesome march.Pappano's piano accompaniment was also superbly played. Pappano, who normally has a great command of orchestral music, again spins out profound and varied sounds from the piano, sometimes with an eloquence that surpasses Bostridge's, showing a thoughtful approach to the work. Here is a fascinating album that sheds light not only on the universal sadness and horror of war, but also on the hidden, sweet longing for death. Warner Music Japan

Tracklisting:

1.A Shropshire Lad: I. Loveliest of trees
2.A Shropshire Lad: II. When I was one-and-twenty
3.A Shropshire Lad: III. Look not in my eyes
4.A Shropshire Lad: IV. Think no more, lad
5.A Shropshire Lad: V. The lads in their hundreds
6.A Shropshire Lad: VI. Is my team ploughing?
7.Ich will dir singen ein Hohelied: I. Kythere
8.Ich will dir singen ein Hohelied: II. Pantherlied
9.Ich will dir singen ein Hohelied: III. Abendfrieden
10.Ich will dir singen ein Hohelied: IV. In Nachbars Garten
11.Ich will dir singen ein Hohelied: V. Gluck zu Zweien
12.Ich will dir singen ein Hohelied: VI. Das Hohelied der Nacht
13.Four Walt Whitman Songs: I. Beat! beat! drums!
14.Four Walt Whitman Songs: II. Oh Captain! my Captain!
15.Four Walt Whitman Songs: III. Come up from the fields father
16.Four Walt Whitman Songs: IV. Dirge for Two Veterans
17.Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn: IX. Revelge
18.Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn: XI(a). Wo die schonen Trompeten blasen
19.Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn: XII(a). Der Tamboursg'sell