Behind the stuffed shirts and the stiff upper lips of the Victorian era, dwelt some admirable spirits, none perhaps more admirable than Albert, Prince of Saxe, Coburg and Gotha, Prince Consort of Queen Victoria. Among this collection of songs by him are some which could take their place worthily in any recital of Lieder of his time, some reminiscent of the writing of Schubert and early Schumann. Most of the songs were written before his marriage, when he was eighteen or nineteen. In their melodic inventiveness and subtlety they are quite astonishing. Many are settings of verses by his brother. Prince Albert regarded himself as essentially an amateur musician, knowing that the duties of his station could never allow him the time and education to become the complete master of any art. Yet he achieved skill as a performer that Mendelssohn regarded as worthy of a professional.
This Argo LP receives its first – and timely – release on CD. Full texts and translations are included.
PRINCE ALBERT
1 Ständchen
2 Trauerlied
3 Gruss aus der Ferne
4 Klage der Liebe
5 Der Ungeliebte
6 Nichts Schöneres
7 Lebewohl
8 Reiterlied
9 Liebe hat uns nun verient
10 Die Winterreise
11 Einsamkeit
12 Die letzen Worte eines Barden
13 Schmerz der Liebe
14 Abendruhe
15 Vereinigung
16 Invocazione all’Armonia
Purcell Consort of Voices
Susan Longfield, soprano
Pauline Stevens, mezzo-soprano
Ian Partridge, tenor
Geoffrey Shaw, baritone
Christopher Keyte, bass
Grayston Burgess, director
with Jennifer Partridge, piano
FIRST INTERNATIONAL RELEASE ON CD
Recording Producer: Michael Bremner
Balance Engineer: Stanley Goodall
Recording Location: Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, UK, September 1968 & January 1969
‘You would not be surprised if I were to adopt a kindly but patronising attitude towards the Prince Consort’s songs. “Really quite good for Royalty” would be the line. The astonishing thing is that the best of them would be very good for almost anyone … I strongly recommend this record, and not only for Musical Quizzes’ Gramophone