The Essential Delius

Label: CHANDOS
Catalog: CHAN241-37
Format: CD

Ulster Orchestra; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Vernon Handley; Bournemouth Symfonietta; Norman Del Mar; Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; Richard Hickox

Frederick Delius (1862-1934) Florida Suite; North Country Sketches; Air and Dance; On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring; Summer Night on the River; A Song before Sunrise; Two Aquarelles; Intermezzo and Serenade from 'Hassan'; Prelude from 'Irmelin'; Late Swallows; Intermezzo from 'Fennimore and Gerda'; The Walk to the Paradise Garden; In a Summer Garden

A comprehensive and richly varied Delius programme has been put together form this new two-CD collection. Vernon Handley's splendid Ulster performance of the comparatively rarely heard 'Florida Suite' is complemented with, among others, 'North Country Sketches', a work which reveals a Debussyan influence.

Richard Hickox is a sensitive and flexible Delian and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra plays passionately for him, especially in 'The Walk to the Paradise Garden'. The collection demonstrates the glittering qualities of Delius's enchanting music which evokes an atmosphere of serene pleasure in nature.

These are conductors and orchestras performing at the top of their form, and the anthology will serve collectors as the perfect introduction to this marvellous composer.

Price: $25.98