A Village Romeo and Juliet the Song of the High Hills Irmelin Prelude

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Also available on Naxos Great Conductors • Beecham ADD 8.110982-83 DELIUS A Village Romeo and Juliet The Song of the High Hills Irmelin Prelude

Frederick Delius (1862-1934) 5 Koanga: Final Scene 9:07 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra • Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961) (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus) Recorded on 26th January, 1951 Delians and Beecham enthusiasts will probably annotation, frequently content with just the notes. A Matrix Nos. CAX 11022-3, 11023-2B continue for ever to debate the relative merits of the score of a work by Delius marked by Beecham, First issued on Columbia LX 1502 earlier recordings made by the conductor in the 1930s, however, tells a different story, instantly revealing a mostly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, in most sympathetically engaged music editor at work. comparison with those of the 1940s and 1950s Pulse, dynamics, phrasing, expressive nuance and All recordings made in Studio 1, Abbey Road, London recorded with handpicked players of the Royal articulation, together with an acute sensitivity to Transfers & Production: David Lennick Philharmonic Orchestra. Following these two major constantly changing orchestral balance, are annotated Digital Noise Reduction: K&A Productions Ltd. periods of activity, the famous EMI stereo remakes with painstaking practical detail to compliment what Original recordings from the collections of David Lennick, Douglas Lloyd and Claude G. Arnold made even later in his career allowed a third bite of the can seem a surprisingly naked, almost template, cherry, which at last allowed Beecham’s subtle original score. The end result in performance requires balance of dynamics and layered textures to be levels of intensive rehearsal to test any orchestra’s CAST: A Village Romeo and Juliet: appreciated with something approaching sonic powers of patience and concentration. There are no Manz ...... Dennis Dowling, Baritone authenticity and truth. At the height of his powers in quick short cuts to success. his first trail-blazing recordings, the younger Beecham A Village Romeo and Juliet is Delius’s fourth and Marti ...... Frederick Sharp, Baritone strove for a livelier and fresher response that the most successful opera. Work started in 1897 in a Sali as a child ...... Margaret Ritchie, Soprano orchestra was not always able to match. The special decade that saw the stage as a prime focus for his Sali (Son of Manz) ...... René Soames, Tenor relationship with the Royal Philharmonic, very much compositional activity. The previous seven years had Vreli as a child ...... Dorothy Bond, Soprano Beecham’s own orchestra immediately after the seen the completion of Irmelin, The Magic Fountain Vreli (Daughter of Marti) ...... Lorely Dyer Second World War, brings an even subtler, more and Koanga, all large-scale works much influenced by The Dark Fiddler (Rightful Heir to the Wildland) ...... Gordon Clinton, Baritone flexible response, occasionally compromised by less Wagnerian music drama. The new opera was to be the First Peasant ...... Donald Munro, Baritone than ideal recording quality. Most listeners however final instalment of what started out as an operatic Second Peasant ...... Dennis Dowling, Baritone remain grateful that such a close match between trilogy highlighting different ethnic cultures, Native composer and interpreter is documented so Americans, Negroes, and Gypsies or Vagabonds. First Woman ...... Marjorie Avis, Soprano extensively and with such consistently magical Although both the two preceding operas basically Second Woman, Third Woman ...... Gwladys Garside, Mezzo-Soprano inspiration. fulfilled their objectives on a local colouristic level, Gingerbread Woman ...... Dorothy Bond, Soprano Unlike some received opinions, this special, the choice of Gottfried Keller’s immensely popular Wheel-of-Fortune Woman ...... Marjorie Avis, Soprano almost unique, partnership continues to survive the and well-established story from Die Leute von Cheap Jewellery Woman ...... Gwladys Garside, Mezzo Soprano critical re-evaluation of succeeding generations, Seldwyla radically altered the trajectory and dramatic Showman ...... Lloyd Strauss-Smith, Tenor frustratingly perhaps when subsequent conductors potential of the new work. His transference of Merry-Go-Round Man ...... Donald Munro, Baritone have been so reluctant even to begin to try to foster a Shakespeare’s timeless and cautionary tale of continuing performing tradition for the composer. outlawed young love to an unforgiving everyday The Slim Gir ...... Marion Davies, Soprano Detractors have suggested that the music of Delius is provincial environment offered far deeper exploration The Wild Girl ...... Gwladys Garside, Mezzo-Soprano all effect with little substance, and the nagging fact of fundamental aspects of the human condition than The Poor Horn-Player ...... Lloyd Strauss-Smith, Tenor remains that few composers are so inescapably anything Delius had touched upon so far. Although The Hunch-backed Bass Fiddler ...... Philip Hattey, Bass-Baritone dependent upon the creation of atmosphere. Unlike so vagabonds do feature prominently in the scenario, it is many contemporaries, both then and more especially the study of individual freedoms, both physical and (With Chorus and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) now, he was remarkably sparing with expressive spiritual, that transforms the psychological reach of

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Frederick Delius (1862-1934) the piece, allowing the composer to combine leitmotiv complete recording from 1948, the first of any Delius technique and tone-painting with potent resonances of opera, took place immediately after another BBC CD 1 71:57 Tristan und Isolde. broadcast with essentially the same forces, apart from 1 The Song of the High Hills 24:46 Originally entitled Le Jardin du Paradis (the the notable exception of Lorely Dyer, who replaced Freda Hart, soprano; Leslie Jones, tenor; Luton Choral Society French possibly due to the fact that one of the earliest Vera Terry as Vreli. It has remained a landmark Recorded on 22nd November, 1946 sources was the first vocal score prepared by the performance ever since, with Beecham’s evangelising Matrix No. 2EA 11429/34, all take 2. First issued on HMV DB 9151/3 composer Florent Schmitt), the opera was planned as a conviction, passion and experience shining from every prologue and three acts. Having commissioned drafts bar. 2 Prelude to Irmelin 4:36 from two different librettists, Delius eventually The closing scene of Koanga was not included in Recorded on 21st December 1946. Matrix No. 2EA 11530-1. First issued on HMV DB 6371 abandoned both and wrote his own in English, not the 1899 London concert of excerpts conducted by completing a definitive text until 1899. By this time he Alfred Hertz, but this was the first of Delius’s operas had the considerable advantage of having heard to be staged complete in 1904 at Elberfeld under the Hassan: Intermezzo and Serenade 4:05 concert excerpts from Koanga in London, the first direction of Fritz Cassirer, who also conducted the 3 Intermezzo 1:57 time he had been able to assess his mature operatic première of A Village Romeo and Juliet. Beecham 4 Serenade 2:08 style and orchestration in live performance. The result eventually gave the British première of this opera as Recorded on 29th October 1952. Matrix No. 2EA 16983-2A. First issued on HMV DB 9785 was a surge of confidence and inspiration that well, but not until 1935 at Covent Garden with John prompted completion of the music in early 1901, the Brownlee and Oda Slobodskaya in the principal rôles. A Village Romeo and Juliet change of title and a transformation into an extended The production was immediately taken on tour to through-composed lyric drama in six scenes. Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Bradford and (Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra listed on the following page) Paradoxically the work’s most famous passage, The Leeds, and Beecham regularly performed his own 5 Scene 1 16:19 Walk to the Paradise Garden, was composed much compilation of the closing scene as a concert item. 6 Scene 2 9:44 later in 1906 to replace a considerably shorter 45-bar Hills and mountains were abiding places of 7 Scene 3 12:28 interlude that would not have been long enough to fascination for Delius. As part of his Pantheist ethic, accommodate a substantial scene-change for the their changing climate, isolation and awesome CD 2 71:47 première of the opera in Berlin in February 1907. grandeur were perfect sounding-boards for pondering A Village Romeo and Juliet (continued) Beecham met Delius for the first time later the the advantages of non-human presence. No other same year. Although he had not attended the première, composer has captured their silent wonder and 1 Scene 4 24:40 he was eager to stage the work for the first time in imposing endurance in quite the same way. The early 2 Scene 5a 8:14 England, an event that duly took place at Covent and amazingly assured orchestral work On the 3 Scene 5b: The Walk to The Paradise Garden 8:36 Garden three years later on 22nd February 1910 with Mountains, the Ibsen melodrama Paa Vidderne, Over 4 Scene 6 21:10 Walter Hyde, Ruth Vincent and Robert Maitland in the Hills and Far Away, On Craig Ddu, Appalachia Matrix Nos. 2EA 12990-2, 12991-2, 12992-1 recorded on 1st May, 1948 the leading rôles. It was this work more than any other and In den Bergen, the second part of A Mass of Life, Matrix Nos. 2EA 12993-3, 12998-2, 12999-2, 13000-2 recorded on 3rd May 1948 that cemented their friendship and Beecham always had all previously visited the upper regions, but Delius Matrix Nos. 2EA 13009-2, 13011-2, 13012-1 recorded on 4th May, 1948 retained a special affection for it. He revived the work reserved his most significant and accomplished Matrix Nos. 2EA 13015-2, 13017-2, 13021-1, 13023-2 recorded on 6th May, 1948 for three performances at Covent Garden in 1920, exposé of their qualities for The Song of the High gave an early BBC broadcast performance in 1932 Hills, composed in 1911. He encapsulated the spirit of Matrix Nos. 2EA 13024-2, 13025-2, 13026-1 recorded on 7th May, 1948 with Dora Labette, Jan van der Gucht and Dennis the work in a letter to Norman O’Neill written in Matrix Nos. 2EA 12994-1 recorded on 21st May, 1948 Noble, and also conducted a series of three more 1920: ‘I have tried to express the joy and exhilaration Matrix Nos. 2EA 13007-3, 13010-4, 13027-3 recorded on 3rd July, 1948 performances on consecutive nights at the Royal one feels in the Mountains and also the loneliness and Matrix Nos. 2EA 13016-4, 13022-4, 13059-3 recorded on 20th July, 1948 College of Music in London in June 1934. This melancholy of the high Solitudes and the grandeur of First issued on HMV DB 6751/62 8.110982-83 6 3 8.110982-83 110982-83bk Delius 14/6/04 11:00 am Page 4

the wide far distances. The human voices represent of the touching little Irmelin Prelude or the CD 2 man in Nature; an episode, which becomes fainter and deceptively simple pleasures of the Intermezzo and 1 Scene 4 then disappears altogether’. Note that for Delius, Serenade from Hassan, composed in 1920 as part of In Marti’s house there is ruin and desolation. He has gone out of his mind, and the house must be sold. Sali ‘man’ does not warrant the capitalisation of exotic incidental music for James Elroy Flecker’s appears and the young people both dream of marriage at the old church in Seldwyla. The sound of peasants ‘Mountains’, ‘Solitudes’ or ‘Nature’ and that his Arabian play, demonstrate Beecham’s complete yodelling reminds them that the new day is the day of the Berghald Fair. chorus remains wordless and mostly remote mastery of what became affectionately known as throughout. The innovative spatial qualities of the ‘lollipops’. Whatever happened to them? Have we 2 Scene 5 music are without parallel in his output. Beecham lost our taste or do they still have ‘The Personal The fair is in full swing. Sali and Vreli are delighted with what they see, but have no money to buy anything. literally rises to the challenge to go several steps Property of Sir Thomas Beecham’ too resolutely Sali manages to buy a cheap ring for Vreli, but they decide to leave the fair and walk to the Paradise Garden, beyond with compelling authority. stamped upon them? where people do not know them. When it comes to the orchestral miniature, whether by Delius or anyone else, Beecham remains 3 Scene 6 unrivalled. The endearing sentiment and sheer beauty Ian Julier At the Paradise Garden, an old house converted into an inn, the Dark Fiddler stands, looking towards the distant snow-covered mountains. He turns to the vagabonds, his drinking-companions, and tells them of land lost, parents hating and children loving. When Sali and Vreli appear, he reminds them of the advantages of a wandering life. They realise that this is not for them, and, hearing the distant song of a barge-man, decide on their fate. The Dark Fiddler plays, the lovers embark on a hay barge, and as it drifts away, they sink the boat, dying together. A Village Romeo and Juliet: Synopsis

CD 1 5 Scene 1 Two farmers, Manz and Marti, are ploughing on each side of a stretch of waste land. Marti takes in an extra furrow of the disused land, thinking that Manz will do the same. Their children Sali and Vreli bring food for their fathers, but hear the voice of a lame man, the Dark Fiddler, the owner of the waste land, prevented from his claim of ownership by his lack of legitimate parentage. The children are afraid, but are told that they can play on his land, as long as it is not ploughed, threatening danger if it is tilled. When the land is to be sold, a dispute arises between the two farmers, Manz and Marti, and the children are parted, forbidden to play together.

6 Scene 2 Six years later the two families have been ruined by their attempts to sue each other over the ploughed land. Sali and Vreli meet, regretting the hatred between their fathers. They are in love and agree to meet on the waste land that evening.

7 Scene 3 The two young lovers meet, happy to be together. They are joined by the Dark Fiddler, who suggests that they should follow him. He leaves and the young people play together in innocence. They are interrupted by Vreli’s angry father Marti. In an altercation Sali hits him and Marti falls, seemingly dead.

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Also available on Naxos Great Conductors • Beecham ADD 8.110982-83 DELIUS A Village Romeo and Juliet The Song of the High Hills Irmelin Prelude

Dowling • Sharp • Ritchie Soames • Bond • Dyer Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Sir Thomas Beecham Naxos Radio (Recorded 1946–1952) Over 50 Channels of Classical Music • Jazz, Folk/World, Nostalgia Accessible Anywhere, Anytime • Near-CD Quality www.naxosradio.com 2 CDs 8.110982-83 8 110982-83 Delius inlay USA 10/6/04 8:47 pm Page 1 NAXOS Historical 8.110982-83 Frederick Playing ADD DELIUS Time Made in Canada h BROADCASTING AND COPYING OF THIS COMPACT DISC PROHIBITED. TRANSLATIONS RESERVED. UNAUTHORISED PUBLIC PERFORMANCE, ALL RIGHTS IN THIS SOUND RECORDING, ARTWORK, TEXTS AND Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 143:44 & g 2004 Naxos Rights International Ltd.

8.110982-83 Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961)

CD1 71:57 CD2 71:47 1 The Song of the A Village Romeo and Juliet DELIUS: A Village Romeo and Juliet • Beecham High Hills 24:46 (continued) Recorded 22nd November, 1946 1 Scene 4 24:40 2 2 Scene 5a 8:14 Irmelin Prelude 4:36 3 Scene 5b: The Walk to the Recorded 21st December, 1952 Paradise Garden 8:36 3-4 Intermezzo and 4 Scene 6 21:10 Serenade from Hassan 4:05 Recorded May-July, 1948 Recorded 29th October, 1952 5 Final Scene from Koanga 9:07 A Village Romeo and Juliet Recorded 26th January, 1951 5 Scene 1 16:19 6 Scene 2 9:44 7 Scene 3 12:28

Sir Thomas Beecham was a leading champion of Delius and his recordings of works by the composer, often the first to be made, are of particular interest. Made with handpicked players of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, very much Beecham’s own orchestra after the Second World War, the present release is particularly significant for its inclusion of A Village Romeo and Juliet, Delius’s fourth and most successful opera. Feauring many singers at one time familiar to British audiences, it remains a landmark performance, with Beecham’s DELIUS: A Village Romeo and Juliet • Beecham MADE IN evangelising conviction, passion and experience shining from every bar. THE EU

www.naxos.com 8.110982-83 All recordings made in Studio 1, Abbey Road, London A complete track list can be found on pages 7&8 of the booklet Transferred from 78s by David Lennick Original recordings from the collections of David Lennick, Douglas Lloyd & Claude G. Arnold 6 36943 19822 3

NAXOS Historical Cover Photo: Sir Thomas Beecham, conducting in the 1940s (Lebrecht Collection)