Search - Bernstein, Mozart, Winchester College Quiristers :: Something's Coming

Let down by poor recording balance

Benjamin | UK | 12/31/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Something Coming provides and interesting and varied collection of songs, some of which are solos, and all of which are accompanied by the piano. The singing is delightful, but unfortunately the balance of the recording does the singers no favours, the piano being far too dominant. The chorus can just about compete, but for example in To Sylvia (Schubert) the soloist Harry Sever whose voice is charming, is at times almost drowned out. However if one is prepared to listen to the CD a few times in succession one becomes attuned to it and can filter out the piano to a certain extent.



This poor recording quality really is a great pity and a disservice to the boys, but on the plus side the selection of songs is quite imaginative, avoiding not only the otherwise ubiquitous choices for boys' choirs, but also including a wide range from Handel and Mozart, to Kurt Weill and Messiaen and even Paul Simon.



5 Stars for the performance; but 2 stars for the recording quality.



Full track list:



1 Something's coming (Bernstein)

2 The Salley Gardens (Britten)

3 Weg der Liebe (Brahms)

4 To Sylvia (Schubert)

5 Ah perdona al primo affetto (Mozart)

6 Vocalise étude (Messiaen)

7 O waly, waly (Britten)

8 The birds (Britten)

9 Fancie (Britten)

10 Willow willow (Grainger)

11 Corpus Christi Carol (Britten)

12 Over the mountains (Quilter)

13 It was a lover and his lass (Rutter)

14 Bridge over troubled water (Simon)

15 La vendetta (Mozart)

16 My ship (Weill)

17 Angels, ever bright and fair (Handel)

18 Linden Lea (Vaughan Williams)

19 Old Sir Faulk (Walton)

20 Somewhere (Bernstein)



Soloists: Nicholas Stenning; Harry Sever; Samuel Wesley

"