Bernard Herrmann: Suite from Wuthering Heights; Echoes for Strings

by Roderick Williams, Keri Fuge, Mario Venzago, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Joshua Tan

Overview

Many film composers wrote classical works in an idiom sharply different from that of their film scores, but with Bernard Herrmann, the difference is much smaller. Then again, his film music itself was more "classical" to begin with. His scores are largely devoid of the big themes and jazz and popular influences that marked the work of many of his contemporaries, especially later in his career. Instead, he built his scores out of obsessive gestures that were a perfect match for the films of Alfred Hitchcock, his most frequent collaborator. He wrote one opera, Wuthering Heights, that was completed in 1951 and, indeed, quoted some of his earlier scores and spawned passages in later ones. It is a gigantic work, filling four LPs when Herrmann recorded it in 1965, and this condensation and arrangement by Hans Sorensen is welcome. He strips the cast down to just Cathy and Heathcliff, with newcomer Keri Fuge and veteran Roderick Williams holding up well through overheated music that evokes Emily Bronte's novel nicely. There is also an orchestral version, again arranged by Sorensen, of Herrmann's 1965 string quartet Echoes; the arrangement works fine inasmuch as his writing was quite orchestral-sounding in the original quartet. The Singapore Symphony, under conductor Mario Venzago in Wuthering Heights and Joshua Tan in Echoes, sounds fabulous, and Venzago was an inspired choice here, with a sure touch for dramatic music. Herrmann fans will be delighted with this, and listeners looking for a chance to sample his opera will find the album ideal. It landed on classical best-seller lists in the summer of 2023, testifying to growing interest in Herrmann's music. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	07/07/2023
Label:	CHANDOS
UPC:	0095115533727

Tracks

1. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~I. Prologue. The Snow and Wind. Allegro tumultuoso - Lento. Molto sostenuto e tempestoso: Oh, Cathy! Come in. Oh, come in -
2. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~II. Act I. Scene 1. Allegretto pastorale (molto tranquillo): I have been wandering through the green woods -
3. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~III. Act I. Scene 1. Sunset. Moderato: Do you remember the day you first came to Wuthering Heights!
4. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~III. Act 1. Scene 1. Andante con moto (molto moderato): On the moors, on the moors -
5. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~IV. Act I. Scene 1. Lento tranquillo: Look, the moon -
6. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~V. Interlude (Nocturne). Lento assai
7. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~VI. Act I. Scene 2. Adagio, molto espressivo e triste: I am the only being, whose doom no tongue would ask -
8. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~VII. Act II. Adagio tranquillo: I have dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me for ever -
9. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~VIII. Act IV. Meditation. Andante con malinconia -
10. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~VIII. Act IV. Molto lento: Heathcliff. Heathcliff -
11. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~VIII. Act IV. Allegro molto moderato (agitato e appassionato): Will you say so, Heathclif! -
12. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~VIII. Act IV. Molto moderato ma liberamente: Open the window. Let me breathe the wind -
13. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~IX. Act IV. Death of Cathy. Molto moderato e molto tranquillo: I shall not leave you, you are my soul -
14. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~IX. Act IV. Largo assai (tenebroso) -
15. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~X. Act IV. Allegro feroce: May she wake in torment! -
16. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~XI. Act IV. Lento, molto sostenuto e tempestoso -
17. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~XII. Act IV. Adagio (tenebroso): Heathcliff! Heathcliff! Let me in -
18. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~XIII. Act IV. Lento, molto sostenuto e tempestoso - Molto appassionato: Oh, Cathy! Come in, oh come in! -
19. Suite from 'Wuthering Heights' for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra~XIV. Act IV. Adagio tenebroso
20. Echoes for String Quartet

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Roderick Williams   Primary Artist,Baritone (Vocal)
Keri Fuge   Primary Artist,Soprano (Vocal)
Mario Venzago   Primary Artist,Conductor
Joshua Tan   Primary Artist,Conductor
Singapore Symphony Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra

Technical Credits

Cass Cassidy   Design,Typesetting
Ephraim Hahn   Editing,Engineer
Stanislav Pronin   Leader
Dominik Streicher   Recording Producer
Hans Sorensen   Adaptation
Chan Yoong Han   Leader
Alexander James   Mastering
Helen Mildmay   Photography
Bernard Herrmann   Composer
Benjamin Ealovega   Photography
David Benedict   Liner Notes
Finn S. Gundersen   Booklet Editor
Andreas Klatt   Liner Note Translation
Ralph Couzens   Executive Producer
Marie-Francoise de Meeus   Liner Note Translation
Sue Shortridge   A&R
Lucille Fletcher   Librettist