Catalogue

Summary:

Pizzicato Supersonic “Tenor Nicholas Phan shows once again what a fabulous Britten interpreter he is… Singer and instrumentalists both drive the rhetoric of these songs to the hilt, one with virtually unlimited artistic means, the other with a fantasy of sound that underscores Phan’s excellent sensitivity to text and nuance with similarly well-nuanced color and expression. The inspired phrasing is not the only thing we admire in Phan’s singing: there’s also his pleasant, clear and never-sour timbre, his excellent clarity of diction and profound musicality, which contribute significantly to the impression we have of this CD.” – Pizzicato

ARIAMA’S ACCLAIMED – BEST ALBUMS OF 2012
“The performance of Phan, Montone and Huang is stunning. It’s impossible to be unmoved by the clarity and emotional intensity of Phan’s singing. That hair-raising moment when he declaims “O ile leape up to my God: who pulles me doune” is devastating… Phan’s singing is electrifying, a wonderful marriage of drama and musicianship, and it’s impossible to resist the sheer beauty of his voice. – Ariama

“Phan’s voice has an ideal timbre for Britten, without any idiosyncrasies” – International Record Review

“an American Britten recital that really deserves it’s place among the best of the Brits in this anniversary year” – BBC Radio 3

“…Phan has no need to mimic the tics of others because he has so many strengths of his own: a dapper, cultivated timbre, splendid enunciation, and keen intelligence and musicianship…Eloquently accompanied by the horn player Jennifer Montone and the pianist Myra Huang, Phan gives a performance fully worthy of the austere dignity of Britten’s music and Sitwell’s verse. Heavenly grace seems to infuse his tone in the Canticle’s closing phrases, sung in the redeemer’s voice: “Still do I love, still shed my innocent light, my Blood for thee.” – WQXR

YOUNG ARTIST TO WATCH – “This is a fine album, containing a song cycle, extended pieces and some charming folk song arrangements. Nicholas Phan sounds lovely on this recording and I’d love to hear him do more Britten.” – Classic FM

TOP 20 CLASSICAL ALBUMS OF 2012 – “Once again, Phan’s earnest voice makes the case.” – Rhapsody

Best Classical Albums of 2012 – “A powerful show of Benjamin Britten’s genius from a wonderful young tenor.” – John Terauds, Musical Toronto

Best Classical Albums of 2012 – “The young tenor Nicholas Phan again proves himself an affecting interpreter of Britten’s music.” – The New York Times

“Phan’s first, swelling note immediately establishes his refinement and steel, rare among Britten’s recent tenors … Phan’s sophistication is easily matched by harpist Sivan Magen … The tenor turns in a first-class performance, and pianist Myra Huang lends the songs personality throughout. More please!” ★★★★ – BBC Music Magazine

“Phan sings with a fine mixture of poetry and strength … In Canticle V, The Death of Saint Narcissus, Phan and Sivan Magen, the harpist, give themselves time to create a nicely wonderous atmosphere and this well-sung performance compares well with the market leaders … an attractive Britten release from across the Atlantic.” – Gramophone

“Cumming’s readings are effective, only suffering slightly from having been recorded in an audibly different acoustic … Phan’s expressive voice is a draw, as is Myra Huang’s pianism in the main work. Nice horn and harp too.” – The Arts Desk

Winter Words, last year’s solo debut album by American tenor Nicholas Phan, was one of the most lauded releases of the year. Phan (pronounced pahn) follows up with Still Falls the Rain, another intelligently devised album of Britten’s songs, this time focusing on works inspired by the composer’s key collaborators including horn player Dennis Brain, harpist Osian Ellis and poet Edith Sitwell. As with Winter Words (AV 2238), Phan successfully intersperses great song cycles with popular folk song arrangements. The rarely recorded The Heart of the Matter includes the narration of Sitwell’s poems by Scottish actor Alan Cumming.

Tracklist:

BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913–1976)

The Heart of the Matter
1. Prologue – Fanfare: Where are the seeds of the Universal Fire (2:57)
2. Reading: The earth of my heart was broken and gaped low… (0:42)
3. Fanfare (0:28)
4. Reading: In the hour when the sapphire of the bone… (0:45)
5. Song: We are the darkness in the heat of the day (1:36)
6. Reading: In such a heat of the earth (2:35)
7. Canticle III – Still falls the Rain, Op. 55 (11:10)
8. Reading: I see Christs wounds weep in the Rose on the wall (1:57)
9. Epilogue – Fanfare: So, out of the dark… (2:55)

10. A Birthday Hansel, Op. 92 (16:20)

11. Canticle V – The Death of Saint Narcissus, Op. 89 (7:55)

Folksong Arrangements for Voice and Harp
12. Lord! I married me a wife (1:18)
13. Shes like the swallow (2:29)
14. Lemady (1:32)
15. Bonny at morn (3:07)
16. Bugeilio r Gwenith Gwyn (2:54)
17. Dafydd y Garreg Wen (3:24)
18. The False Knight upon the Road (3:20)
19. Bird Scarer s Song (0:51)

Folksong Arrangements for Voice and Piano
20. Greensleeves (2:18)
21. The Holly and the Ivy (2:20)

Total duration: 64:38

Myra Huang, Sivan Magen, Jennifer Montone and Nicholas Phan recorded 6 & 14 January 2012 in the recital hall of the Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, Purchase, NY, USA
Alan Cumming recorded 29 June 2012 at CaVa Sound Studios in Glasgow, Scotland
Producer, engineer and editing: Marlan Barry
CaVa Sound Studios engineer: Geoff Allan
Dubway Studios ISDN engineer: Brandon Hollely