FULL JUDITH (Parry) Toronto 2015 Shannon Mercer, Jillian Yemen, David Menzies, Michael York
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Judith, or The Regeneration of Manasseh
- Composer: Parry Hubert
- Libretto: Hubert Parry
- Venue & Opera Company: Koerner Hall, Telus Centre for Performance and Learning, Toronto, Canada
- Recorded: May 3, 2015
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Shannon Mercer, Jillian Yemen, David Menzies, Michael York
- Conductor: Stephanie Martin
- Orchestra: Pax Christi Orchestra
- Chorus: Pax Christi Chorale
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918), was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry’s first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song “Jerusalem”, his 1902 setting for the coronation anthem “I was glad”, the choral and orchestral ode Blest Pair of Sirens, and the hymn tune “Repton”, which sets the words “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind”. His orchestral works include five symphonies and a set of Symphonic Variations. He also composed the music for Ode to Newfoundland, the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial anthem (and former national anthem).
After early attempts to work in insurance at his father’s behest, Parry was taken up by George Grove, first as a contributor to Grove’s massive Dictionary of Music and Musicians in the 1870s and ’80s, and then in 1883 as professor of composition and musical history at the Royal College of Music, of which Grove was the first head. In 1895 Parry succeeded Grove as head of the college, remaining in the post for the rest of his life. He was concurrently Heather Professor of Music at the University of Oxford from 1900 to 1908. He wrote several books about music and music history, the best-known of which is probably his 1909 study of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Both in his lifetime and afterwards, Parry’s reputation and critical standing have varied. His academic duties were considerable and prevented him from devoting all his energies to composition, but some contemporaries such as Charles Villiers Stanford rated him as the finest English composer since Henry Purcell; others, such as Frederick Delius, did not. Parry’s influence on later composers, by contrast, is widely recognized. Edward Elgar learned much of his craft from Parry’s articles in Grove’s Dictionary, and among those who studied under Parry at the Royal College were Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Frank Bridge and John Ireland.
Overture – 2:44
Act I scene 1 – 7:50
King Manasseh worships the fiery god Moloch
Act I scene 2 – 22:43
The Queen comforts her doomed children
Act I scene 3 – 41:16
Judith intervenes to halt the sacrifice
Act I Finale – 52:34
Holoferne’s army attacks
Act II Intermezzo – 1:05:54
In captivity Manasseh repents
Act II scene 1 – 1:10:47
The return of the King
Act II scene 2 – 1:27:47
Holoferne’s messenger threatens annihilation
Act II scene 3 – 1:43:08
Judith resolves to kill Holofernes
Act II Finale – 2:02:55
The people rejoice in Judith’s triumph