Sinfonia Cymru Archive

JENKINS: Cantata Memoria – For the Children – Bryn Terfel, bass-bar./ Elin Manahan Thomas, sop./ Cywair and CF1 Chorus/ Sinfonia Cymru/ Karl Jenkins – DGG

by Audiophile Audition | Nov 14, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

JENKINS: Cantata Memoria – For the Children (In Memory of Aberfan 1966) Bryn Terfel, bass-bar./ Elin Manahan Thomas, sop./ Cywair and CF1 Chorus/ Sinfonia Cymru/ Karl Jenkins – DGG 4796486, 56:00 (10/7/16) ****: A magnificent cantata that will leave the listener moved. This piece was written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the disaster on October  21,1966 when a coal spoil tip enveloped a school and houses in the South Wales village of Aberfan, killing 116 children and 28 adults. Cantata Memoria bears the subtitle For the Children and, as well as remembering the tragic Welsh catastrophe and its aftermath, mourns the loss of children in universal terms, as witnessed in the Dunblane shooting (1996), the Beslan school siege (2004), the Korean ferry disaster (2014) and the Peshawar School massacre (2014). Cantata Memoria is scored for chorus – both mixed and young voices,  baritone and soprano vocalists, orchestra with prominent solos for violin, euphonium and harp, and sets a libretto by poet Mererid Hopwood. The work is sung in English, Welsh and Latin. This is a magnificent and moving work. Beautiful, yet horrific in its rendering of this tragedy. The soloists, orchestra, and the conducting by Jenkins are all first rate. If you […]