Feel the Spirit - 5197

Product Description Strong, stirring spirituals and tuneful, jazz-flavored settings of Shakespeare’s timeless lyrics are the mouth-watering ingredients of the Cambridge Singers’ eagerly-awaited new album Feel the Spirit. John Rutter has written vivid new arrangements of seven well-loved American spirituals for choir, with soloist Melanie Marshall and the BBC Concert Orchestra joining with the Cambridge Singers for this world premiere recording. Another notable ‘first’ is jazz legend George Shearing’s captivating new cycle of Shakespeare settings, Songs and Sonnets. Those who associate George Shearing with instrumental jazz (and of course with his immortal Lullaby of Birdland) will be astonished and delighted at the youthful charm and skillful word-setting of this 81-year old master’s choral writing. The final touch of sparkle is added by Proms favorite Wayne Marshall’s piano, with Malcolm Creese on bass. To complete the album, John Rutter’s own Birthday Madrigals – written in 1995 to celebrate George Shearing’s 75th birthday – also receives their premiere recording. “…You’d have to be a real killjoy to be able to resist this disc. FIVE STARS!”- BBC Music Magazine “These luscious arrangements bear repeated listening: orchestrally colorful and playfully witty… a delightful disc. Strongly recommended!” - Gramophone Amazon.com John Rutter's Feel the Spirit, for mezzo-soprano, choir, and orchestra, was premiered in June 2001 in Carnegie Hall. Made up of appealing arrangements of familiar spirituals ("Deep River," "When the Saints Go Marchin' In," etc.) in a range of styles (from big-band and the blues to Caribbean and close harmony), it was conceived as a showcase for Melanie Marshall. Her warm, creamy sound is certainly captivating, while the Cambridge Singers are fresh-voiced, flexible, and alert. Of equal interest are the smaller-scale Songs and Sonnets from Shakespeare from George Shearing and Rutter's Birthday Madrigals, written by Rutter for Shearing's 75th birthday. Both works feature Shakespearean texts, while Rutter also sets other poets of the same period. Plenty to catch the ear here--try Shearing's wistful "Who Is Silvia?" with its naughty take on Schubert, and the delightfully snappy "Fie on sinful fantasy." Rutter's madrigals are just as beguiling, and there in the middle is an example of the kind of introspective number that displays the intriguing other side to his musical personality--a setting of "Draw On Sweet Night" as searching in its own way as John Wilbye's original madrigal. Rutter's direction is exemplary throughout. --Andrew Green
ASIN: B00005NUOD
VSKU: GGV.B00005NUOD.LN
Condition: Like New
Author/Artist:RUTTER,JOHN
Binding: Audio cd