Milwaukee Archive

*********** MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH ***********

by Audiophile Audition | Aug 2, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

A long overdue issue of an important and wonderfully lyrical operatic experience. * CARLISLE FLOYD: Wuthering Heights (complete opera) – Georgia Jarman (Catherine)/ Kelly Markgraf (Heathcliff)/ Susanne Mentzer (Nelly)/ Vale Rideout (Edgar Linton)/ Heather Buck (Isabela Lint)/ Chad Shelton (Hindley Earnsh)/ Matthew Burns (Mr. Earnshaw)/ Frank Kelley (Joseph)/ Aaron Short (Lockwood)/ Florentine Opera Chorus/ Milwaukee Sym. Orch./ Joseph Mechavich – Reference Recordings multichannel SACD FR-721 (2 discs), 69:51, 69:32 [Distr. by Naxos] *****: Carlisle Floyd, despite being among the foremost opera composers America has ever produced, still doesn’t get the due that a more civilized age might bestow upon him. His work is essential to any overview of American music, and though opera remains a bit of a specialized field for most listeners, there is certainly nothing in his music that would offend even the most generic of modern listeners. Whether caught up in the modern maze of popular music madness or the most devoted Wagnerphile, Floyd will, if you give him a chance, win you over. The Virgin Classics issue of Susannah (with Renee Fleming) some years ago was a smash hit, as well as being a seminal recording of Floyd’s first opera. Wuthering Heights is his second, premiered […]