Search - M Tippett :: Child of Our Ti

Decent performance, let down by poorly balanced sound

G.D. | Norway | 03/07/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I admit to sometimes having doubts as to whether Child of Our Time is the masterpiece some peoples seem to think it is. And this performance here surely hasn't settled the question in my mind. The soloists are very fine, Palmer and Langridge sing with power and involvement and Shirley-Quirk is magnificently dark. Sheila Armstrong is, perhaps, a tad unsteady at times, but not so much or so often that it becomes a serious detraction. My questions concern rather Previn and chorus and orchestra, for Previn's direction seems dull and meandering at times, and the orchestral response seems somewhat murky. The chorus doesn't exhibit much by way of power, either. Now this might be due, at least to some extent, to the recording, which is dull and lifeless and seriously misbalanced - in particular, the soloists are far too forwardly placed, drowning out both chorus and orchestra. It isn't, in the end, a bad recording, but not one to live with either."