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Track(s) taken from CDA67290

Drink to me only with thine eyes

composer
traditional air
arranger
Old English Popular Songs, pub. 1921
author of text
The Forest

Sir Thomas Allen (baritone), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
Recording details: January 2001
Champs Hill, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: February 2002
Total duration: 2 minutes 19 seconds

Cover artwork: Psyche Entering Cupid’s Garden (1903). John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)
Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, Lancashire / Bridgeman Images
 

Other recordings available for download

Robert White (tenor), Stephen Hough (piano)
John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Malcolm Martineau (piano)

Reviews

‘A persuasive case for the often sublime artistry of the humble parlour song … I found no trouble at all in listening to in continuously from start to finish. That no doubt has also much to do with the great gifts and skills of both artists’ (Gramophone)

‘Thomas Allen recalls happy evenings round the family piano and offers this well sung collection, which will strike a lost chord with many’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Done stylishly … by a great singer with a gorgeous voice’ (American Record Guide)

‘I was amazed, listening to the rich warmth of Thomas Allen's voice, just how many of these songs I knew … Popular, enduring tunes encapsulating a golden era, honestly performed by one of the great baritones of our age’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Recording and presentation are first rate … strongly recommended’ (MusicWeb International)

‘There is a warm and intimate feeling about Allen’s treatment of these songs … Malcolm Martineau’s accompaniments are exemplary’ (Opera News)

‘Our focus is on Allen’s strong, full-voiced renditions that rarely fail to ingratiate and impress … this is music for everyone’ (Classics Today)
The song ‘Drink to me only’ goes back long before Victorian balladry and must be one of the most famous of all British songs. The words appeared in 1716 in a collection of Ben Jonson’s poems called ‘The Forest’, and its musical setting to an old English air can be traced back at least to around 1780. The present arrangement of that traditional air is by Roger Quilter.

from notes by Andrew Lamb © 2002

Other albums featuring this work

Bird Songs at Eventide
CDH55156
Quilter: Songs
CDA66878
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