In Exile - Concert

Programme

Sibelius Finlandia, 8′

Dove In Exile, 30′ (CBSO Centenary Commission: UK Premiere)

Dvořák Symphony No.9 (New World), 40′

From the CBSO website:

"..Grand passions, glorious tunes: Sibelius’s Finlandia and Dvořák’s New World are two classics that just never get old (even if the Hovis advert was nearly 50 years ago now!). But tonight, we’re creating new memories too, with the UK premiere of In Exile by Jonathan Dove: a heartfelt musical journey for two great British soloists, written specially for us by one of our most communicative – and brilliant – living composers...."

BBC Radio 3 broadcast this concert live on 09 December 2021.

A CD of this concert will be released on 03 March 2023 on the Lyrita label, Catalogue no. SRCD-413

The CD can be pre-ordered via Presto Music  or amazon uk

" ...In Raphael Wallfisch’s words: ‘the cello represents the soul and spirit of the Exile, the baritone is that person and sings the dramatic and often challenging texts...."

Raphael Wallfisch talks about the commission at the end of this interview with The Arts Desk:

https://theartsdesk.com/classical-music/10-questions-cellist-raphael-wallfisch

SOUNDBITES

"....Keenlyside declaimed his lines in heroic tones while Wallfisch provided a keening, sighing counterpoint. Grave, impassioned and masterfully paced, In Exile packs a real emotional punch, and the applause was warm...."

"...The two soloists - a brooding Simon Keenlyside and an eloquent Raphael Wallfisch - reveal different aspects of the narrator: outer and inner voices; thoughts and feelings; intellect and instinct....."

"...Simon Keenlyside gave a powerful rendering of the vocal part in all its burnished rhetoric....."

CD SOUNDBITES

"...Wallfisch embodies the anguish of the soul in exile with depth and profundity, and with the stirring baritone Sir Simon Keenlyside, the soloists render the text and the insightful music effortlessly. The result is an intoxicating blend of emotion....

"...Dove writes for the voice in a sort of declamatory arioso, which enables Simon Keenlyside to bring out the texts brilliantly. . Around the voice, the cello is often more dramatic, more intense, complementing Keenlyside's powerfully expressive bleakness with complexity and vivid emotion. ....Much of the colour and drama of the work comes from the cello and the orchestra, but the sheer strength and expressive power of Keenlyside's responsive and very direct performance brings a central anchor to the work...."

"..Simon Keenlyside sings the musical and emotionally demanding vocal part superbly..."

"...Baritone Simon Keenlyside, as the voice of the refugee, sings texts centred on an anonymous tenth-century English text, The Wayfarer, alternating with writers such as Dante and Kahlil Gibran. Wallfisch’s role is to give voice to the deepest feelings of the exile’s soul, plunging and soaring with powerful eloquence, sometimes commenting after the voice, sometimes moving in duet with it....

In the final section, ‘My grief on the sea’, Wallfisch’s opening motif, heavy with emotion, develops into a duet with the voice in beautiful high, sustained double-stops...."