Sir Michael Tippett: A Child of Our Time [Hybrid SACD]

Sir Michael Tippett: A Child of Our Time [Hybrid SACD]

Sir Michael Tippett: A Child of Our Time [Hybrid SACD]
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CD Details

Composer: Michael Tippett
Conductor: Colin Davis
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Indra Thomas
Performer: Steve Davislim
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
CD Release Date: 2008-07-08
Music Label: Lso Live UK
Soundtracks:
  1. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 1. No. 1. The World Turns On Its Dark Side
  2. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 1. No. 2. The Argument. Man Has Measured the Heavens
  3. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 1. Interludium
  4. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 1. No. 3. Is Evil Then Good?
  5. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 1. No. 4. Now In Each Nation
  6. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 1. No. 5. Chorus of the Oppressed. When Shall the Userers' City Cease
  7. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 1. No. 6. I Have No Money for My Bread
  8. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 1. No. 7. How Can I Cherish My Man in Such Days
  9. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 1. No. 8. A Spiritual. Steal Away
  10. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 9. A Star Rises in Mid-winter
  11. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 10. And a Time Came
  12. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 11. Chorus of Persecutors and Persecuted. Away With Them!
  13. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 12. When They Could, They Fled
  14. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 13. Chorus of the Self-righteous. We Cannot Have Them In Our Empire
  15. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 14. And the Boy's Mother Wrote a Letter
  16. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 15. Scene. O My Son!
  17. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 16. A Spiritual. Nobody Knows the Trouble I See, Lord
  18. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 17. Scene. The Boy Becomes Desperate In His Agony
  19. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 18. They Took a Terrible Vengeance
  20. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 19. The Terror. Burn Down Their Houses!
  21. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 20. Men Were Ashamed of What Was Done
  22. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 21. A Spiritual of Anger. Go Down, Moses
  23. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 22. The Boy Sings In His Prison. My Dreams Are All Shattered
  24. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 23. What Have I Done to You, My Son?
  25. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 24. The Dark Forces Rise Like a Flood
  26. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 2. No. 25. A Spiritual. O, By and By
  27. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 3. No. 26. The Cold Deepens
  28. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 3. No. 27. The Soul of Man
  29. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 3. No. 28. Scene. The Words of Wisdom Are These
  30. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 3. Praludium
  31. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 3. No. 29. General Ensemble. I Would Know My Shadow and My Light
  32. A Child of Our Time, oratorio: Part 3. No. 30. A Spiritual. Deep River

Music reviews of Sir Michael Tippett: A Child of Our Time [Hybrid SACD]

Music Review: Which Davis "Child of Our Time" to Choose?
Rating: 3 Stars

I'm giving my hand away by awarding Sir Colin Davis's latest recording of Tippett's towering oratorio only three stars. He diectly commpetes with himself twice over: there's already a live 2003 concert from Dresden released by Profil and a classic 1975 studio account on Philips. I imagine that devoted admirers of this music will be curious about how the three versions compare, so here are thumbnail sketches:

Philips 1975 -- Long considered definitive, the earliest version features incomparable solo singing from Janet Baker, who is so committed and moving that she elevates Tippett's woolly but heartfelt text. Two other soloists, bass John Shirley-Quirk and the then-just-emerging Jessye Norman, are scarecely less good, although Norman's huge projection does tend to swallow up the words. The voice of the murdered Jewish boy who is the child of the title belongs to Richard Cassily, and I wish he were more focused vocally at times, but he is powerfully expressive and poignant. The BBC Symphony plays well but is no match for the later London Sym. We get excellent choral work from the combined voices of the BBC Singers and BBC Choral Society --unfortunately, Philips' sonics are resonant to the point of sounding cavernous, clouding the mass singing. As an interpreter, the young Davis is more lively and alert than in later years. All in all, a great recording.

Profil 2003 -- In Dresden, after an absence of 33 years, Davis returns to disc with a broader reading that remains deeply eloquent nevertheless. The solo quartet -- soprano Ute Selbig, mezzo Nora Gubisch, tenor Jerry Hadley & bass Robert Holl -- includes only one native English-speaker, which is a hindrance, but all are vocally superior to the later London quartet. The late, tragic Hadley is passionate although indlging in operatic sobs too often. Selbig's voice soars gorgeously -- she is someone to keep an eye on in the future. The orchestra and chorus of the Dresden State Opera perform well, but the acoustic buries the chorus so far back that all their words are garbled -- the biggest drawback to this otherwise moving reading.

LSO Live 2008 -- Although Davis, at eighty, remains energetic enough to propel the music when needed, there's a marked drop off in intensity. One must settle for eloquence of the more reflective kind. There's no doubt that he's still in command of a beloved score, and the London Sym. and chorus are probably the best musical forces among the three recordings, if not by much. The sound is clear, with good word capture from the vigorous chorus, but I'm not sure that ultra-modern SACD compensates for the solo quartet, all young English professionals but lacking in charisma and emotional impact. Even the non-native singers on the Dresden recording sound more anguished and involved. Strange, given the conductor's total dedication to this work.

It would be a long way around Robin Hood's barn to wind up simply saying that the original 1975 reading is the best, but it is. Now out of print, in the US at least, it can be found in a private release from www.arkivmusic.com. I should also point out that A Child of Our Time enjoys two other outstanding recordings, the composer's on, now on Naxos, and the first one, under John Pritchard, which sells cheaply at Amazon Marketplace. In any event, I've concentrated on various details at the risk of missing the mian point, which is that Tippett created a compassionate, heartbreaking masterpiece that deserves its reputation, along with Britten's War Requiem, as the greatest English chroal work after Handel.
More Sir Michael Tippett: A Child of Our Time [Hybrid SACD] free music reviews:
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Description of Sir Michael Tippett: A Child of Our Time [Hybrid SACD]

Tippett's response to the infamous Krystallnacht pogrom against the Jews in 1938 was his first major statement as an artist. Tippett took the title, A Child of Our Time, from a novel about a Nazi solider who suffers for showing compassion, whilst the intensity of the piece is heightened by his use of spiritual songs at the end of each section.

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