Antony Beerov

Orfeo is the often counted as the first true opera, though there were a number before this. Monteverdi chose a fitting subject for his masterwork, and it's a subject very dear to opera composer's hearts. From the glorious Toccata beginning the work to the tour-de-force that is the centrepiece of the work - Orfeo's Possente Spirto - this is a magical and awe-inspiring work.

Antony And The Johnsons - The Crying Light (2009) {Secretly Canadian SC194}
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© 2009 Secretly Canadian | SC194
Rock / Chamber Pop / Alternative Pop / Art Rock

The black-and-white image of legendary Butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno that adorns the cover of The Crying Light, the third full-length by Antony and the Johnsons, seems to offer a view of a being enveloped in both ecstasy and agony – or does it? The songs contained here offer something else: a glimpse of a universe beyond the pale of vision, seen only by the individual experiencing it. Antony Hegarty recorded and considered 25 songs for inclusion on The Crying Light, before settling on ten. The Johnsons are the inimitable cellist Julia Kent, Thomas Bartlett, Maxim Moston, Rob Moose, Jeff Langston, Parker Kindred, Doug Wieselman, and Will Holshouser. The additional orchestra includes Greg Cohen, Suzy Perelman, Tim Albright, and Lisa Albrecht, to name a few.

Semele was first presented in London in 1744; it was billed as an oratorio for murky reasons, but indeed it is operatic. I believe that this is the third recording of the work: John Eliot Gardiner’s (on Erato) is severely cut, and although much of the singing is good, it can’t compare with John Nelson’s complete, gorgeous performance (on DG) played on modern instruments. This latter is a lithe, brilliant show with Kathleen Battle in her greatest recording as the vain, self-destructive Semele and Marilyn Horne and Samuel Ramey close to magnificent, with tenor John Aler an elegant if slightly underpowered Jupiter.

Antony Kalugin is a prolific musician and composer from Ukraine. His bands Karfagen, Sunchild and Hoggwash plus his solo albums has gained him many fans.