Hyperion Records | Boughton: The Immortal Hour

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CDD22040
(Originally issued on CDA66101/2)
2CDs Dyad (2 CDs for the price of 1)

Recording details: June 1983
All Saints, Tooting, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Tony Faulkner
Release date: October 1998
Total duration: 124 minutes 2 seconds

'This delightful opera is not to be missed' (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

'Vividly atmospheric. Quite exceptional on all counts' (Gramophone)

'This superb complete recording was a salutary shock: the opera is a kind of masterpiece, bleak, passionate and inspired ... Enthusiastically recommended' (BBC Music Magazine Top 1000 CDs Guide)

'I was quite bowled over [by] this delightful opera' (Gramophone)

'Not to be missed' (Classic CD)

Rutland Boughton (1878-1960)

The Immortal Hour

A complete recording of the record-breaking opera (1922/3)

The Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, English Chamber Orchestra, Alan G Melville (conductor)

LISTEN TO ALL EXTRACTS

		The Immortal Hour
CD1	1	Act 1 Scene 1. No 01: Prelude [2'05]
	2	Act 1 Scene 1. No 02: By dim moon-glimmering coasts and sad sea wastes (Dalua) [1'30] Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	3	Act 1 Scene 1. No 03: Though you have travelled from one darkness to another (Voices in the Wood) [2'40] Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	4	Act 1 Scene 1. No 04: Ye know not who I am, sombre and ancient voices (Dalua) [1'24] Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	5	Act 1 Scene 1. No 05: I have come hither, led by dreams and visions (Dalua) [1'49] Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	6	Act 1 Scene 1. No 06: Hail, brother of the strong, immortal gods (Spirit Voice) [2'14] Patricia Taylor (contralto)
	7	Act 1 Scene 1. No 07: I am old; more old, more ancient than the gods (Dalua) [1'17] Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	8	Act 1 Scene 1. No 08: Brother and kin to all the twilit gods (Spirit Voice) [2'17] Patricia Taylor (contralto)
	9	Act 1 Scene 1. No 09: [The sound of mocking laughter is heard from the wood] [1'27]
	10	Act 1 Scene 1. No 10: Laugh not, ye outcasts of the invisible world (Dalua) [2'57] Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	11	Act 1 Scene 1. No 11: Fair is the moonlight (Etain) [3'31] Anne Dawson (soprano)
	12	Act 1 Scene 1. No 12: Hail, daughter of kings (Dalua) [1'36] Roderick Kennedy (bass), Anne Dawson (soprano)
	13	Act 1 Scene 1. No 13: Have you forgot the delicate smiling land (Dalua) [0'51] Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	14	Act 1 Scene 1. No 14: I have forgotton all (Etain) [3'33] Anne Dawson (soprano), Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	15	Act 1 Scene 1. No 15: A king of men has wooed the Immortal Hour (Dalua) [3'26] Roderick Kennedy (bass), Anne Dawson (soprano)
	16	Act 1 Scene 1. No 16: Led here by dreams (Dalua) [3'44] Roderick Kennedy (bass), Anne Dawson (soprano)
	17	Act 1 Scene 1. No 17: I will go back to the country of the young (Etain) [0'39] Anne Dawson (soprano)
	18	Act 1 Scene 1. No 18: Sir, I am glad. I had not thought to see one here (Eochaidh) [2'50] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	19	Act 1 Scene 1. No 19: I have come to this lone wood (Dalua) [1'26] Roderick Kennedy (bass), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	20	Act 1 Scene 1. No 20: Look, O king … I see a fountain (Dalua/Eochaidh) [2'42] Roderick Kennedy (bass), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Valery Hill (soprano)
	21	Act 1 Scene 1. No 21: There is no backward way for such as I (Eochaidh) [2'50] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	22	Act 1 Scene 1. No 22: I have heard you calling, Dalua (Eochaidh) [1'59] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Roderick Kennedy (bass)
	23	Act 1 Scene 2. No 01: I've seen that man before who came tonight (Manus) [2'16] Roger Bryson (bass-baritone), Patricia Taylor (contralto)
	24	Act 1 Scene 2. No 02: Yes woman, yes, I know (Manus) [3'06] Roger Bryson (bass-baritone), Anne Dawson (soprano), Patricia Taylor (contralto)
	25	Act 1 Scene 2. No 03: But sometimes. Tell me, have you heard (Etain) [1'22] Anne Dawson (soprano), Roger Bryson (bass-baritone), Patricia Taylor (contralto), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	26	Act 1 Scene 2. No 04: Good folk, I give you greeting (Eochaidh) [1'38] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Anne Dawson (soprano), Roger Bryson (bass-baritone), Patricia Taylor (contralto)
	27	Act 1 Scene 2. No 05: Good sir, you are most welcome (Manus) [3'19] Roger Bryson (bass-baritone), Patricia Taylor (contralto), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Anne Dawson (soprano)
	28	Act 1 Scene 2. No 06: At last I know why dreams have led me hither (Eochaidh) [1'44] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	29	Act 1 Scene 2. No 07: And your name, fair lord? (Etain) [1'54] Anne Dawson (soprano), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	30	Act 1 Scene 2. No 08: Truly, I now know full well (Eochaidh) [2'28] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	31	Act 1 Scene 2. No 09: I, too, am lifted with the breath (Etain) [1'15] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Anne Dawson (soprano)
	32	Act 1 Scene 2. No 10: Who laughed? (Eochaidh) [0'39] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Roger Bryson (bass-baritone), Patricia Taylor (contralto), Anne Dawson (soprano)
	33	Act 1 Scene 2. No 11: Dear lord, sit here (Etain) [1'35] Anne Dawson (soprano), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	34	Act 1 Scene 2. No 12: How beautiful they are (Spirit Voices) [1'13]
CD2	1	Act 2. No 01: By the voice in the corries (Druids) [4'02]
	2	Act 2. No 02: The bells of youth are ringing (Maidens) [1'32]
	3	Act 2. No 03: But this was in the old, far-off days (Warriors) [1'55]
	4	Act 2. No 04: Hail, Eochaidh, high king of Eiré, hail! (Bards/Maidens/Warriors) [1'54] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	5	Act 2. No 05: Green fire of joy, green fire of life [1'46]
	6	Act 2. No 06: Etain, speak, my queen (Eochaidh) [1'51] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Anne Dawson (soprano)
	7	Act 2. No 07: No, no my queen (Eochaidh) [2'33] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	8	Act 2. No 08: I, too, have heard strange delicate music (Etain) [1'15] Anne Dawson (soprano)
	9	Act 2. No 09: The queen! (Warriors/Maidens/Druids) [3'04] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	10	Act 2. No 10: Hail, Eochaidh, King of Eiré! (Midir) [1'52] Maldwyn Davies (tenor), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	11	Act 2. No 11: I am a king's first son (Midir) [1'50] Maldwyn Davies (tenor)
	12	Act 2. No 12: Dagda, lord of thunder and silence (Druids) [0'42]
	13	Act 2. No 13: Fair lord, my thanks I give (Eochaidh) [1'27] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Maldwyn Davies (tenor)
	14	Act 2. No 14: Have not great poets sung (Midir) [1'13] Maldwyn Davies (tenor), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	15	Act 2. No 15: In the days of the Great Fires (Midir) [3'09] Maldwyn Davies (tenor)
	16	Act 2. No 16: Hear us, OEngus, beautiful, terrible, sun-lord (Eochaidh) [1'03] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	17	Act 2. No 17: But now, fair lord, tell me the boon you crave (Eochaidh) [2'06] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Maldwyn Davies (tenor)
	18	Act 2. No 18: I have seen all things pass and all things go (Old Bard) [2'25] Roger Bryson (bass-baritone)
	19	Act 2. No 19: Welcome my queen (Eochaidh) [1'46] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Anne Dawson (soprano)
	20	Act 2. No 20: This nameless lord (Eochaidh) [2'31] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Anne Dawson (soprano)
	21	Act 2. No 21: How beautiful they are (Midir) [1'25] Maldwyn Davies (tenor)
	22	Act 2. No 22: I have heard, I have dreamed that song (Etain) [1'47] Anne Dawson (soprano)
	23	Act 2. No 23: I am a song in the land of the young (Midir) [3'12] Maldwyn Davies (tenor)
	24	Act 2. No 24: I am a small green leaf in a great wood (Etain) [2'15] Anne Dawson (soprano), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Maldwyn Davies (tenor)
	25	Act 2. No 25: O do not leave me, star of my desire (Eochaidh) [0'40] David Wilson-Johnson (baritone), Maldwyn Davies (tenor)
	26	Act 2. No 26: Hasten, lost love, found love! (Midir) [1'08] Maldwyn Davies (tenor), Anne Dawson (soprano)
	27	Act 2. No 27: In the land of youth there are pleasant places (Spirit Voices) [1'12] Maldwyn Davies (tenor), David Wilson-Johnson (baritone)
	28	Act 2. No 28: They play with lances (Spirit Voices) [1'11]