The Parting Tide

Track Listings

1. Bleu

2. Irish Carol

3. Jig of Sorts

4. Through the Castle Garden

5. Island of Hope and Tears

6. Kid in the Cot

7. Tryst

8. Snow Is Lightly Falling

9. Abbot

The Parting Tide,Nightnoise,Windham Hill Records,Adult Alternative,Chamber Jazz,Classical,Contemporary Instrumental,Ethnic Fusion,Neo-Classical,New Age,New Age / Meditation,Pop,Popular Music,World Fusion

The Parting Tide

Tracks:

Bleu
An Irish Carol
Jig Of Sorts
Through The Castle Garden
Island Of Hope And Tears
The Kid In The Cot
The Tryst
Snow Is Lightly Falling
The Abbot

Customer Reviews:

Relaxing, Celtic-inspired music with a style all its own!.......2006-09-30

From jazzy and jaunty to elegantly wistful, Nightnoise lends a unique sound to Celtic music that is different than any I'm familiar with, except perhaps for some songs from the group Relativity (which, of course, includes two of Nightnoise's members). Both groups make liberal use of electronic keyboards from the "early days,"--a little tinny and tinkly, perhaps, but proudly played like pianos and showcased for what they are (rather than trying to emulate every acoustic instrument and movie sound effect under the sun). Add to this ambience some mellow guitar, lilting violin, wistful accordion, and a pleasant array of flutes, pipes and whistles, and you have the recipe for some of the most pleasingly and authentic-sounding New Age / Celtic fusion I've come across. Okay--with all the variations that keep developing within the genre, I'm not sure one can actually define "authentic" New Age, but when I say it, I mean that elusive combination of gently creative compositions with enough of an electronic ambience to qualify as "new," but without overpowering the timeless, relaxing qualities of the acoustic leads. That--at least from producers like Windham Hill and Narada--is New Age to me, and the distinctive, gently rambling music of Nightnoise fits the description perfectly! Full of heart, spark and appeal, yet still mellow enough to relax me, "The Parting Tide" is a favorite album of mine. The group is made up of brother and sister Micheal O Domhnaill (guitar, keyboards and backing vocals) and Triona Ni Dhomhnaill (keyboards, accordion and lead vocals), violinist and keyboardist Billy Oskay, and flutist Brian Dunning. Check out their other albums too, such as "Something of Time" and "Nightnoise: A Windham Hill retrospective."

Beautiful Celtic music.......2001-01-11

If you are looking for simple lyrics and a gentle Celtic sound, you've come to the right CD. The Tryst has a slow and uplifting but slightly melancholy sound, while the piano on Through The Castle Garden builds into the song beautifully. Snow Is Lightly Falling features the singer's lovely voice and longing lyrics that suit the title.

Tracks:

Overture Andante - Larghetito - Allegro
Recitative Habdonah/Haman: " 'Tis greater far to spare"
Aria Haman: " Pluck root and branch from out the land"
Recitative Persian Officer: "Our souls with ardour glow"
Chorus: "Shall we the God of Israel fear?"
Recitative First Israelite: " Now persecution shall lay by her iron rod"
Aria: " Tune your harps to cheerfull strains"
Chorus: " Shall we of servitude complain"
Aria Israelite Woman: " Praise the Lord with cheerful noise"
Recitative Israelite Woman: " 0 God, who from the suckling's mouth"
Aria Second Israelite: " Sing songs of praise, bow down the knee"
Chorus: " Shall we of servitude complain"
Recitative Priest of the Israelites: " How have our sins provoked the Lord!"
Chorus: "Ye sons of Israel mourn"
Aria Priest ofc The Israelites: "0 Jordan, Jordan, sacred tide"
Chorus: "Ye sons of Israel mourn"
Andante
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro

Tracks:

Recitative Esther/Mordecai: " Why sits that sorrow on thy brow?"
Aria Mordecai: " Dread not, righteous Queen, the danger"
Recitative Esther: "I go before the King to stand"
Aria Esther: " Tears assist me, pity moving"
Chorus: " Save us, O Lord"
Recitative Ahasuerus/Esther: "Who dares intrude into our presence"
Duet Esther/Ahasuerus: " Who calls my parting soul from death?"
Aria Ahasuerus: "0 beauteous Queen, unclose those eyes!"
Recitative Esther: " If I find favour in thy sight"
Aria Ahasuerus: " How can I stay when love invites?"
Recitative Third Israelite/Fourth Israelite: " With inward joy his visage glows"
Chorus: " Virtue, truth and innocence"
Arioso Priest of the Israelites: " Jehovah, Crown'd with glory bright"
Chorus: " He comes, he comes to end our woes"
Recitative Ahasuerus/Esther: " Now, a Queen, thy suit declare"
Arioso Haman: " Turn not, a Queen, thy face away"
Aria Esther: " Flatt' ring tongue, no more I hear thee!"
Recitative Ahasuerus: "Guards, seize the traitor, bear him hence!"
Aria Haman: " How art thou fall'n from thy height!"
Chorus: "The Lord Our enemy has slain"

Album Description

Handel's oratorios vary greatly in their presentation. In many ways, Esther is a rarity;it is by far the most intimate, not surprisingly as it was composed for the Duke of Chandos. The Duke's Palladian palace near the village ofEdgware had not been completed in time for the first performance so this may have taken place (as did Acis and Galatea) in the intimate surroundings of a small church, St Lawrence, Whitchurch.

We decided, therefore, that we should attempt to convey that intimacy of performance on disc; so we performed in the round with microphones in the middle, the orchestra in front of me, the choir behind and the soloists alongside. The result is everything that chamber music should be where players and singers can enjoy every aspect of Handel's masterpiece.

"The 'sound' of Esther, superbly communicated in the recorded performance here, is pure enchantment... The choral singing has an exceptional grandure, and the instrumental playing a shimmering beauty. Among the soloists, none of whom is less than accomplished, Nancy Argenta and Michael Chance dominate... Both singers affirm a new golden age of Handel interpretation".

Customer Reviews:

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME.......2007-01-26

Esther is the first of Handel's oratorios by a good many years, written when he was 33 and enjoying the patronage of the Duke of Chandos. When he later became his own impresario and was running into trouble as a composer and producer of Italian operas he turned to oratorio as a strategic alternative, but at this early date his concern was to deliver staged entertainments for the Duke, and Esther, contemporary with the work that later gained the title Acis and Galatea, seems to have been just an unusually serious specimen of its type.

As often with Handel, there is no fully official version of the score, and this particular score may not even be fully complete from any point of view. The libretto seems to have been the work of someone in the frivolously named association of big literary figures called the Scriblerus Club, perhaps Dr John Arbuthnot, dedicatee of Pope's great poetic Epistle, but Pope himself may have had a hand in it too. As we have it here, the work breaks into two very asymmetrical parts. Scenes 1 and 2 start with a recitative lasting only seconds from Habdonah followed by a longer one in which Haman announces his onslaught on the Israelites, and from there on feature only anonymous participants. Esther herself and the other named characters make their appearance first in scene 4, but the change of tone occurs in scene 3. At this point the music gains gravity first in the chorus Ye sons of Israel with its extraordinary modulations and then in the striking aria O Jordan, Jordan. I myself feel that this weightier tone is maintained to the end, whether or not the writer of the liner note is correct in saying that the long final chorus with solos is out of proportion to its context.

Throughout - in the first part as well as in scenes 3-6 - the instrumental writing is vivid and varied, with an extraordinary pizzicato accompaniment to Tune your harps and then an even more extraordinary obbligato from the harp itself at Praise the Lord. The harpist is no less than Jan Walters, but sometime I would like to see the score and check out what seem some odd rhythmic interactions here between her and the soloist Nancy Argenta. There are no fewer than ten vocal soloists in a work lasting a little over an hour and a quarter, and a very distinguished bunch they are. I was particularly pleased to find Michael Chance in the countertenor role of the Priest of the Israelites as I admire the strength of his tone, but there is no real weakness among them, unless Lynda Russell as Esther has a couple of very slightly awkward high notes in Flatt'ring tongue, which must be a little nerve-wracking to sing as she has to find her note for herself unaccompanied at the start and later at the reprise. You will see some big names among the instrumentalists too, with Crispian Steele-Perkins on the trumpet making a predictably fine contribution towards the end, and of course with Jan Walters in that marvellous harp part early on. The chorus gets some wonderful work to do, and rises to it fully. I really am unable to worry about the proportionateness of the final chorus when I hear that incomparable Handelian build of tone, sung by 18 singers and sounding as if there were 100.

There is a good liner note by Graydon Beeks Jr, not perhaps the last word in lucidity (neither is the plot of the libretto come to that) but worth re-reading. Harry Christophers himself contributes a short foreword largely concerned with the recording process and highlighting the contributions of Mark Brown and Mike Hatch, his long-time technical collaborators. I was interested to see also the name of Geoff Miles in a role described as `editor'. What responsibilities this involved is not stated and perhaps I ought to know without being told, but I know the work of Geoff Miles as recording engineer from elsewhere and it gave me confidence just to see that he is involved in the proceedings, and the technical work is predictably excellent.

My collection of Handel oratorios is now almost complete, and what a wonderful musical experience they are. Each is unique in its own way, but Esther is unique in some very special ways, and I suggest that you do not wait until you are my age to get to know it.

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2006-04-04

Handel began composing the oratorio 'Esther' in 1718. There is some confusion as to who actually worte the libretto for it, but the story follows very closely the biblical story of Esther in the Book of Esther in the old testament. The story tells of a plot of Haman, the Agagite (Michael George-bass) jealous and powerful vizier of King Xerses (Ahasuerus-Tom Randle-tenor) of Persia(485-464), to destroy in a single day all the Jews living in the Roman Empire. He is moved to this out of hatred for the Jewish servant Mordecai (Mark Padmore-tenor),who for religious motives refuses to render him homage. The day of the proposed massacre is determined by lot. Meanwhile, Esther,niece and adopted daughter of Mordecai, is chosen Queen by King Xerses. She averts the pogrom planned against her people and has the royal decree of extermination reversed against Haman and the enemies of the Jews. Mordecai replaces Haman, and together with Esther, works for the welfare of their people. As you can see this makes for an interesting Oratorio, which it truly is!
This is a "small" contribution compared to many of Handel's other works. However, it is not "small" in a musical sense. There is much creativity on the part of Handel as to orchestral scoring; he exploits his small orchestra and chorus in surprising ways, introducing new vocal and instrumental colours throughout the score, adding and subtracting instruments and voices in many and varied ways. This is a listening surprise as it moves along. And what a great performance on the part of the Christophers as well as some outstanding vocal soloists. Mark Padmore's (Mordecai) aria "Tune Your Harps to Cheerful Strains" was superb as was the Duet between Lynda Russell (Esther) and Tom Randle (Ahasuerus).But the aria that really drew me into the entire drama was sung by Michael Chance (Priest) "O Jordan, Jordan, sacred Tide." It was perfection itself!!!!The Chorus was extremely good and dictionally perfect. It is a great listening experience.

Average customer rating:

One of opera's legendary figures sings lieder.

Kirsten Flagstad, Volume 4

Manufacturer: Simax
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Customer Reviews:

One of opera's legendary figures sings lieder........2001-08-17

The Norwegian Kirsten Flagstad was the pre-eminent Wagnerian soprano of the 20th century, but she also gave hundreds of lieder and song recitals, the pick of which bejewel this ravishing double CD. the first offers three complete song-cycles, Grieg's rippling 'Haugtussa', all pastoral maidens and brooks, Flagstad singing as light as a breeze; Wagner's 'Wesendonck-Lieder', that ghost of his masterpiece 'Tristan and Isolde', my favourite lieder cycle - this is the best interpretation I have ever heard, passionate, yearning and, in 'Im Treibhaus' and 'Traume', genuinely spine-tingling. Sibelius' enchanting songs complete the CD, with 'The Maiden's Tryst' unexpectedly lush and romantic.

The second disc of Anglo-American songs may be less demanding, but are no less delightful. Highlights include Landan Ronald's operettish 'O Lovely Night', Frank Bridge's rollicking 'Love Went A-Riding', Bax's hushed 'The White Peace', Elgar's hymn-like tribute to his vocation 'Speak Music', Delius' rapturous 'Love's Philosophy', as well as a tantalisingly muffled 1937 recording of Stephen Foster's 'Old Folks at Home'. There are also no less than four lullabies, which attests to the Victorian hangover on bourgeois tastes in the middle of the last century.

Most of these recordings date from the 1950s, so the sound is relatively clear, and if Flagstad is past her operatic prime, her ability to express intense passion with an imperiously cool technique would put most modern singers to shame. her regular accompanist, Edwin McArthur, is a model of self-effacement, quietly playful and inventive in the background. My only complaint is that, at this price, surely a lyric sheet could have been provided. There is, however, a fascinating biographical piece, detailing, amongst other things, the soprano's dubious wartime conduct.

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