Land of Hope and Glory (CD)

There’s nothing quite as heady as being at the Last Night of the Proms. Those that have been lucky enough to get a ticket from the ballot allocation, crowd into the Royal Albert Hall. The core of the event is, of course, the second half, with such staples as Parry’s Jerusalem, Arne’s Rule Britannia and, with considerable audience participation (voice, claps, whistling), Land of Hope and Glory and the Fantasia on British Sea Songs. Here, you can enjoy these highlights in studio performances but with a cast of superb soloists under Roger Norrington’s crackerjack direction with all the frisson of the live event itself. This CD returns to the catalogue at super-budget price after a long absence from the Decca catalogue and the original liner notes are expanded to include a description of the making of this recording by its executive producer, Evans Mirageas.

TRACK LIST

THOMAS ARNE (arr. Sargent): Rule Britannia
WILLIAM WALTON: Crown Imperial
CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD: Songs of the Sea
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Serenade to Music
with Felicity Lott ∙ Lisa Milne ∙ Rosa Mannion ∙ Yvonne Kenny
Ann Murray ∙ Diana Montague ∙ Della Jones ∙ Catherine Wyn-Rogers
Anthony Rolfe Johnson ∙ John Mark Ainsley ∙ Toby Spence ∙ Tim Robinson
Stephen Roberts ∙ Christopher Maltman ∙ Michael George ∙ Robert Lloyd

EDWARD ELGAR: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D, Op. 39
with ‘Land of Hope and Glory’*
HUBERT PARRY (orch. Elgar): Jerusalem
HENRY WOOD: Fantasia on British Sea Songs**

Sarah Walker, mezzo-soprano*
Thomas Allen, baritone**
London Philharmonic Choir
Chorus master: Neville Creed
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Roger Norrington