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Gloriana
Though Joan Cross created the role of Elizabeth I in Gloriana, it was Sylvia Fisher who truly made it her own. With regal bearing and vocal power drawn from her Wagnerian background, Fisher inhabits the queen with aristocratic authority and emotional complexity. Her performance brings both grandeur and vulnerability to Britten's portrait of a conflicted monarch.
The supporting cast is equally strong. Don Garrard is a commanding Sir Walter Raleigh, Derek Hammond-Stroud delivers a sharply defined Cecil, and Milla Andrew lends grace and warmth to the role of Frances. Together, they bring Britten's courtly world to vivid life.
Track List
Act I
1. What champion rides?
2. Green leaves are we
3. Heav'n what have we here?
4. Both lords are younglings
5. My lords, your quarrel's reconciled
6. Too touchy and too hot
7. The art of government is in procrastination
8. Cousin, I greet you
9. Happy, happy were he
10. Then rejoice with me!
2. Green leaves are we
3. Heav'n what have we here?
4. Both lords are younglings
5. My lords, your quarrel's reconciled
6. Too touchy and too hot
7. The art of government is in procrastination
8. Cousin, I greet you
9. Happy, happy were he
10. Then rejoice with me!
Act II
11. ...and therefore, most gracious Empress
12. Yes, he is Time, Lusty and blithe
13. Norwich, we can never forget
14. A garden by a river at a tryst ing
15. Whatever step I take The Queen will bar my way
12. Yes, he is Time, Lusty and blithe
13. Norwich, we can never forget
14. A garden by a river at a tryst ing
15. Whatever step I take The Queen will bar my way
Act III
16. Pavanes so grave and dignified
17. On hot nights and for stately moods
18. Frances, so plain now? So late and so breathless?
19. My lord of Essex, I am commanded by the Queen
20. Tomorrow to your charge: Tonight we dance
21. What news from Ireland?
22. My lord of Essex!... Robin!
23. My lord was early and abrupt
24. Your presence is welcome, good elf
25. News! Give us the news!
26. Oyez! Oyez! In the name of the Queen!
27. The trial now being over
28. Great Queen, your champion in a prison
29. I have now obtained the victory
17. On hot nights and for stately moods
18. Frances, so plain now? So late and so breathless?
19. My lord of Essex, I am commanded by the Queen
20. Tomorrow to your charge: Tonight we dance
21. What news from Ireland?
22. My lord of Essex!... Robin!
23. My lord was early and abrupt
24. Your presence is welcome, good elf
25. News! Give us the news!
26. Oyez! Oyez! In the name of the Queen!
27. The trial now being over
28. Great Queen, your champion in a prison
29. I have now obtained the victory
Customer Reviews
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4.7
Based on 3 reviews
✓ Top Reviewer
United States
Splendid "Gloriana"
While nearly all interpreters of the title role in Britten's "Gloriana" pale next to Martha Modl (OD 10966-2), Sylvia Fisher's prickly Elizabeth I convinces us that she's the Virgin Queen herself. Aside from Derek Hammond-Stroud (Cecil) and Don Garrard (Raleigh), the supporting cast boasts no outstanding voices but neither do any of the myriad principals (or comprimarios) let the side down in Mario Bernardi's expansive reading of the score. The stereo BBC sound is excellent and the lone drawback is digital clicking toward the end of Act III. Recommended.
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✓ Verified Buyer
Belgium
✓ Top Reviewer
United States
GLORIANA! A TOUR DE FORCE!
I intentionally sat to listen to this performance without benefit of vocal score or libretto. Mario Bernardi’s conducting is so expert as to make Britten’s Elizabethan Court the central character, encompassing court dances, a full masque, chamber intimacy and symphonic pageantry. Sylvia Fisher is at her summit histrionically and vocally as QEI. David Hillman’s Essex couldn’t sound more the romantic hero, all grace, charm, virility and vanity. Milla Andrew’s crystalline soprano soars as Penelope. Gerwyn Morgan (Mountjoy), Shirley Chapman (Frances), Derek Hammond-Stroud (Cecil) and Don Garrard (Raleigh) are all superb. Choral work is stunning. Sound is pristine; voices are only occasionally distant. Diction ranges from excellent to “AH-peratic”.
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