Michael Tippett: Symphony No. 4 / Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli / Fantasia on a Theme of Handel - Richard Hickox / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Howard Shelley

Michael Tippett (Artist), Richard Hickox (Artist), Howard Shelley (Artist), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 26, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chandos
• ASIN: B000000ATL
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #393,477 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb performance of 20th Centuty Masterpiece!, April 27, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Richfield, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Michael Tippett: Symphony No. 4 / Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli / Fantasia on a Theme of Handel - Richard Hickox / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Howard Shelley (Audio CD)

Tippett's 4th symphony has remained, in my estimation, the best symphony written in the last 30 years. Tippett takes us from birth till death in a symphony quite like a tone poem. The work has an encapulated symphonic form much like the Sibelius 7th. This is also a product of his 'late style' which was a combination of his thorny style with his lyric style, which are both in evidence. Exemplary performance and sound. The Corelli Fantasia was once controversial, but no more. It is an extremely pleasant piece with the rhtymic buoyancy and glowing harmonies we associate with Tippett. Adding to that is the joyful Handel Fantasia, in which Tippett pays homage to the master by providing an extremely pleasant work. Kudos to all concerned, especially for Chandos for superlative sound.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a symphony, February 25, 2006

By 

Sungu Okan "Can Okan" (Istanbul, Istanbul Turkey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Michael Tippett: Symphony No. 4 / Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli / Fantasia on a Theme of Handel - Richard Hickox / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Howard Shelley (Audio CD)

I think, Michael Tippett's Symphony No. 4 is one of the best symphonies written in 20th century. And this is one of the best compositions of Tippett.

This symphony was written for Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was dedicated to Sir Georg Solti.

This work is one of the very heavy and most close to atonal work. Even so, Tippett was tried 12-ton system in this work, but sometimes written however with tonality. And orchestration is not usual: 2 piccolos, 2 cor anglais, 2 bass-clarinet, 2 contrabassoon, 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas, a large percussion ensemble, strings, piano and a offstage voice (with microphone and amplifier) or type (synthesizer)...

This symphony tells about a Hero's Life (like R. Strauss' great tone poem "Ein Heldenleben"), and is formed in one movement (like Sibelius' 7th Symphony). Duration is about 30 minutes. And Tippett was used breath voices for describe the hero (like the breaths of Darth Wader in Star Wars!). The symphony starts with the Hero's Birth and with new themes (in slow and Scherzo movements) tells his wars and victories. But in Coda (final movement) Hero is living his last moments and his breaths gradually go to slowly.

Highly recommended.