Parry: Judith, or The Regeneration of Manasseh (complete oratorio recorded in 2019)
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SIR CHARLES HUBERT H. PARRY
Parry: Judith, or The Regeneration of Manasseh (complete oratorio recorded in 2019)
Toby Spence, Kathryn Rudge, Sarah Fox, Henry Waddington / London Mozart Players, William Vann
[ Chandos SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD ]
Release Date: Friday 20 March 2020
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Recorded after the first London performance for over 130 years, Parry's neglected oratorio here appears on disc for the very first time. Having been commissioned by the Birmingham Festival, Parry decided to combine the Old Testament stories of Manasseh and Judith. A good deal of the libretto was provided by Parry himself, who took other texts from the biblical books of Isaiah, Psalms, and Judith. Having originally conceived the work in four acts, Parry condensed it into two. Judith was premiered by Richter in Birmingham in August 1888, and it consolidated Parry's reputation as a choral composer, numerous performances following in Edinburgh and in London. Although popular in his lifetime, Judith fell into obscurity after Parry's death. It has been recorded in SURROUND SOUND.
"Every aspect of this performance sounds like a labour of love. Rudge's soaring, expressive singing as Meshullemeth gives the piece its real heart, and she's accompanied with intense sympathy by the conductor William Vann, who avoids any suggestion of bombast or sentimentality, and builds Parry's great paragraphs so eloquently and with such assurance that you'd think he'd been conducting this music all his life." Gramophone Awards 2020 Short List - Choral
"It's all you might imagine a grand piece by Parry to be: resolute, bold, melodic - and surprising: the tune for the hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind was lifted directly from this piece. Vann and his excellent forces make a convincing case for more performances" The Observer
