Villiers

Sleep is a common enough subject in art song, and Come to Me in My Dreams, a recital by mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly and pianist Joseph Middleton, isn't the only one. It may well, however, be the best. There are numerous attractions, starting with Connolly's voice, seeming to catch the mixture of clarity and seductiveness in the sleep phenomenon. Connolly touches on some little-known numbers, including a gem by the still rarely heard Muriel Herbert right at the beginning (sample the unaccompanied opening, and you'll be hooked for the duration). The music is all British, mostly from between the world wars, and all more or less similar in tone, although there's some splendid poetry involved.

Parry was indebted to the grand Romantic tradition of the late nineteenth century, and his colourful and exuberant concerto probably lays claim to be the first British piece written in such a style worthy of comparison with contemporary continental models. It is a virtuoso work, extrovertly conceived for piano and undoubtedly written for the technical proficiency of Edward Dannreuther, one of the most important exponents of the grand concerto style in London during the 1870s and 1880s.