Vaughan Williams Overture to The Wasps & A Sea Symphony Susan Gritton, Gerald Finley, London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra & Richard Hickox

• Ralph Vaughan Williams (): The Wasps:
• 1 Williams: The Wasps: Aristophanic Suite. Overture 09:58
• Symphony No. 1, "A Sea Symphony":
• 2 Williams: Symphony No. 1, "A Sea Symphony": I. A Song for all Seas, all Ships 19:06
• 3 Williams: Symphony No. 1, "A Sea Symphony": II. On the Beach at Night, alone 10:56
• 4 Williams: Symphony No. 1, "A Sea Symphony": III. Scherzo. The Waves 07:54
• 5 Williams: Symphony No. 1, "A Sea Symphony": IV. The Explorers 28:23
• Total Runtime 01:16:17

Info for Vaughan Williams Overture to The Wasps & A Sea Symphony

Sea Symphony is Vaughan Williams’s response to Walt Whitman’s inspirational, visionary verse. It is recorded here from the June 2006 highly-praised performance by London Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Chorus with soloists Gerald Finley and Susan Gritton, and Richard Hickox at the helm. The symphony is coupled with his much-loved overture to The Wasps and the dynamism of the concert performance is preserved in high-resolution audio.

In the early years of the 20th century, the sea was a popular subject among composers, for along with the poetry of Walt Whitman. Settings by Stanford, Charles Wood and others paved the way for Vaughan Williams, who brought these inspirations together in A Sea Symphony, a full-scale choral symphony for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra. Much of the music is descriptive of the sea, particularly ‘The Waves’, but in the other movements the sea becomes a metaphor for a voyage into eternity. In this performance, its arresting opening, the choral exhortation ‘Behold the Sea’, is dispatched in style by the London Symphony Chorus. Hickox brings out the optimistic tone, and Whitman’s emphasis on the unity of being and the brotherhood of man comes through strongly; there is no mistaking the physical exhilaration or the visionary rapture.

This is fundamental Vaughan Williams, conducted by the best British music interpreter of our generation and the only available live recording. If you have loved the Hickox, LSO and Chandos combination previously – this is an essential addition to the collection.

"…the account of “A Sea Symphony” was little short of a triumph." (Richard Whitehouse)

"Richard Hickox has a better grasp than most of this symphony as a whole statement – or, rather, a journey… The choral singing is as alert and secure as one would expect from Hickox, and the balance with the orchestra is well-judged too, with some fine detail emerging more clearly than on any recording I’ve heard before." (BBC Music Magazine)

"His {Hickox’s] tempos are conventional, much like those of Boult, but slower than the more active Haitink. The soloists are very good, and the 170-member LSO chorus is really smashing – indeed, overpowering sometimes. The LSO itself, about the best UK orchestra currently, is also at the top of its form… This Chandos offering is distinguishes by the sheer presence, accuracy, solidity, and stability of its distortionless sonic image and its wide range of dynamics. It is truly sound of demonstration quality." (American Record Guide)

"Hickox, I think, is always at his best when there’s a chorus involved, so it’s no surprise that his traversal of the symphony is so effective. The outer movements have plenty of sweep, the slow movement is atmospheric, and the Scherzo is good and tight…The choral work, as you’d expect from Hickox, is first-rate…The soloists are both quite fine…" (Fanfare)

Susan Gritton, soprano
Gerald Finley, baritone
London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Richard Hickox, conductor

Susan Gritton
Winner of the 1994 Kathleen Ferrier Award, Susan Gritton is one of the most accomplished lyric sopranos of her generation, acclaimed for her versatility in roles ranging from Handel and Mozart to Britten, Janacek and Strauss.

After studying botany at Oxford and London Universities she moved her avocational voice training up to a professional level, then took up singing as a career. She joined Graham Johnson in the International Songmakers’ series, and made extensive appearances in recital throughout England, especially in summer festivals, appearing at the Lichfield, Arundel, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Harrowgate, and City of London Festivals, as well as in the Salzburg Mozartwoche. In 1996 she was invited to appear three times in the BBC Henry Wood Promenade Concerts. One of her early festival appearances was at the Istanbul Festival where she sang the part of Blondchen in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail in the city where the story is set.

The first few years in her operatic career were in smaller and character parts, such as the First Niece in Britten’s Peter Grimes, Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen, Clarine and Thalie in Rameau’s Platée, Xenia in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Sister Constance in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites, the Mermaid in Weber’s Oberon, and Tiny in Britten’s Paul Bunyan. She sang Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Berlin Staatsoper, the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and Lucia in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia in the Aldeburgh Festival under Steuart Bedford’s direction, Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Zerlina in Don Giovanni for the Glyndebourne Festival and Touring Operas.

Gritton became known as a reliable recording artist early in her career. On the Tring label she sang the soprano part in Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs), the part of Miss Wordsworth in the Collins Classics recording under Steuart Bedford of Britten’s Albert Herring, a set of Holst songs for the same label, Vivaldi’s Ottone in Villa on Chandos with Hickox conducting, several Purcell discs, sacred music of Handel and Handel’s Deborah and Occasional Oratorio with the King’s Consort on Hyperion, and, on Deutsche Grammophon, Handel’s Solomon (as the Queen of Sheba) and Messiah as well as Beethoven’s little-known Vesta’s Feuer.

Gerald Finley
Acclaimed Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley is a Grammy Award-winning singer and dramatic interpreter of our time, with celebrated performances at the world’s major opera and concert venues and recordings on CD and DVD with major labels in a wide variety of repertoire. Mr Finley’s extensive career is devoted to the complete spectrum of vocal art, encompassing operatic, orchestral and song repertoire, collaborating with the greatest composers, orchestras and conductors.

His career initially focussed on the music of Mozart; his Don Giovanni and Count in Le nozze di Figaro have been heard live and broadcast throughout the world. His expanding repertoire soon encompassed what are now signature roles including Bluebeard, Guillaume Tell, J. Robert Oppenheimer in John Adam’s Dr. Atomic, and Jaufré Rudel in Saariaho’s L’amour de loin. He created Harry Heegan in Mark Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie.

In recent years, critical successes have been in the Wagner and Verdi repertoire: as Hans Sachs at the Glyndebourne Festival and l’Opéra de Paris, Amfortas in Parsifal at Royal Opera Covent Garden, Wolfram at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Verdi’s Falstaff at the Canadian Opera (for which he won a DORA Award), as a “peerless” Iago in Otello with Sir Colin Davis and the LSO (LSO Live), Royal Opera in Japan, and Bavarian State Opera, and Canadian opera and in the title role in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell with Accademia di Santa Cecilia and Sir Antonio Pappano (EMI) and at the Royal Opera Covent Garden. His other important roles include Scarpia, Golaud, Eugene Onegin and Nick Shadow. In contemporary opera, Mr Finley has excelled in creating leading roles, most notably J. Robert Oppenheimer in John Adams’ Doctor Atomic (New York Met, ENO London, San Francisco, Chicago and Amsterdam), as Harry Heegan in Turnage’s The Silver Tassie at ENO, Howard K. Stern in Turnage’s Anna Nicole at Covent Garden and Jaufré Rudel in Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin. He created the role of Mr Fox in Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr Fox at L.A. Opera. Concert appearances include the title role in Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero (New York Phil with Alan Gilbert and the BRSO) and Chou en Lai in Adams’ Nixon in China with the BBC Symphony at the BBC Proms conducted by the composer. His Arias in English CD on the Chandos label received the Canadian Juno Award for Best Album in Vocal Performance. In 2012, the DVD release of Doctor Atomic in which Gerald Finley appeared as J. Robert Oppenheimer was awarded the Grammy for ‘Best Opera Recording’.

Mr Finley’s concert work is a vital part of his flourishing career with recent appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic the London Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. A rediscovered version of Shostakovich’s “English Poets” along with that composer’s orchestral cycle, Michelangelo Sonnets, was recorded by Mr Finley and the Helsinki Philharmonic on the Ondine label and received international critical acclaim. Modern day composers have written extensively for Mr. Finley and include Peter Lieberson (“Songs of Love and Sorrow” with the Boston Symphony and recorded by Ondine with the Helsinki Radio Orchestra), Mark Anthony Turnage (“When I woke” with the LPO and Vladimir Jurowski), Huw Watkins, Julian Philips, Kaija Saariaho (“True Fire” with the L.A. Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel), and Einojuhani Rautavaara (“Rubáiyát” with the Helsinki Philharmonic).

As a celebrated song recitalist, he works regularly with pianist Julius Drake. Their many appearances throughout the world include the Schubertiade, a residency at the Wigmore Hall, New York’s Carnegie-Zankel Hall and lauded appearances at the festivals of Salzburg, Edinburgh, and Tanglewood. He has also performed with Sir Antonio Pappano, Malcolm Martineau, Simon Lepper and Michael McMahon.

Mr Finley’s many solo recital CD releases have been devoted to complete songs of Barber, Britten, Duparc, Ives, Liszt, Ravel and Schumann’s song cycles “Dichterliebe” and “Liederkreis Op. 24 & 39”. With a continuing partnership with Julius Drake on the Hyperion label, all have been critically acclaimed, including an unprecedented three Gramophone Awards in the Solo Vocal category. Their release of Schubert’s Winterreise won a Canadian Juno Award in 2015. This season sees the completion of their Hyperion Schubert trilogy with the release of Die schöne Müllerin. Highlights of recent appearances include the 2018 BBC Last Night of the Proms where he performed a range of songs including Stanford’s Songs of the Sea and ‘Soliloquy’ from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, Iago in a new production of Otello at the Bayerische Staatsoper and the Canadian Opera Company, the title role in Bluebeard’s Castle at the Metropolitan Opera, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony conducted by Bernard Haitink in Munich, and at the Salzburg Festival with Riccardo Muti. His recital work took him to the Wigmore Hall, Middle Temple Hall, and the NDR Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

His current season has him returning to the title role in Le nozze di Figaro at the Berlin State Opera with Daniel Barenboim, the opening gala concert at the Paris Opera with Gustavo Dudamel, Bluebeard with l’Orchestre de Paris and Esa-Pekka Salonen and also the Vienna Symphony with Marin Alsop, the title role in Falstaff at the Vienna State Opera, recitals in Vienna, Prague, London and Canada and the USA with a world premiere of a new work by Mark Anthony Turnage Without Ceremony.

As part of his dedication to preserving and enhancing the singing tradition, he gives masterclasses throughout the world most recently at the Juilliard School of Music, and continues to work with the Jette Parker Young Artists’ Program at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, the National Opera Studio, and the Lindemann Program at the Met. He was born in Montreal, began singing as a chorister in Ottawa, Canada, and completed his musical studies in the UK at the Royal College of Music, King’s College, Cambridge, and the National Opera Studio. He is a Fellow and Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music. In 2014 he climbed Kilimanjaro for the charity Help Musicians UK. In 2017 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire and had previously been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. Mr Finley also features on a Canadian stamp celebrating Canadians in opera.

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