City of Night

Felix Mendelssohn did visit the city of Birmingham several times, but the Chandos label's Mendelssohn in Birmingham series refers for the most part to these contemporary performances by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Edward Gardner. If you've been interested in trying out an item from the series, this one can be recommended strongly. The low-key, lyrical approach of conductor Gardner works beautifully in these two pieces. Especially effective is the Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, in the hands of violinist Jennifer Pike: she catches the novel role of the soloist in this concerto in a way that bigger performances do not.

William Alwyn valued his Lyra Angelica concerto for harp above all his other music, and it is indeed very beautiful. It was premiered at the first night of the 1954 Proms and, not surprisingly, made an immediate impression. The work is inspired by stanzas written in the seventeenth century by the English metaphysical poet, Giles Fletcher, and Alwyn prefaces each of the movements with a line from his poem, ''Christ's Victorie and Triumph''. The music opens mistily and then a wondrous tune appears, like a carol, and it almost fits the words of the first quotation, ''I looke for angels' songs, and hear Him crie''.

Oldie Night Series is a great one to have in a collection, full of great artists and great songs. I would recommend this CDs to others. If you enjoyed the 60"s-80"s music, you will surely like this CDs!