Registered charity number: 258224

Opera

'...this highly enjoyable disc...displays every aspect of Tomlinson's myriad talents, most notably his ability to make every word tell in creating character and situation.'

BBC Music Magazine


'He is unsurpassed in Wagner, but here he displays his versatility and his exemplary diction in a highly eclectic programme of arias in English.'

Classic FM Magazine

'A must for all Tomlinson fans and for anyone interested in the bass repertory.'

3 December 2008

The Peter Moores Foundation supports projects which come to the attention of its Patron, or Trustees, through their interests and special knowledge. General applications for grants are not encouraged and are unlikely to succeed.

1 Handel's Acis and Galatea Polyphemus' Recitative & Air 'I rage, I rage..' - 'O ruddier than the cherry.'
2 Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio Osmin's Song, Act I 'When a maiden takes your fancy'
3 Osmin & Blonde's Act II Duet 'I am going, but take my advice' with Helen Williams, soprano
4 Pedrillo & Osmin's Duet 'Vivat Bacchus! Long live Bacchus!' with Barry Banks, tenor (PMF Scholar)
5 Handel's Samson Harapha's Air, Act II 'Honour and arms scorn such a foe'
6 Verdi's Simon Boccanegra Prologue: Fiesco's Scena & Aria 'A last farewell I bid you' - 'My soul is torn..' with Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
7 Mussorgsky's setting of Mephistophele's Song of the Flea from Goethe's 'Faust' 'There lived a king of old.'
8 Borodin's Prince Igor Prince Igor's Aria, Act II  'No rest, no slumber'
9 Galitsky's Aria, Act I 'The Prince has drunk his fill?' - 'The sober life..' with Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
10 Khan Konchak's Aria, Act II  'Igor, listen..'
11 Dargomïzhsky's Russalka Miller's Song,  Act I 'Like every maiden in the whole of Russia'
12 Verdi's Ernani Silva's Scena & Cavatina, Act 1 'Can I believe it?' - 'Vain illusion!...' with Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
13 Lehmann's In a Persian Garden 'Myself when young did eagerly frequent..'

 

Great Operatic Arias - Bruce Ford 1

© Peter Moores Foundation 2004

The Guardian

'The versatility of John Tomlinson is breathtaking, tackling as he does here the widest range of bass arias...One may have expected this singing actor, our greatest Wotan, to be attuned to Verdi and the Russians, but he is just as stylish in Handel, both comic and heroic, as well as in Mozart (a characterful Osmin) and full of fun in Offenbach (the Gendarmes' duet with Andrew Shore).'

Registered charity number: 258224

CHAN 3044

Great Operatic Arias - John Tomlinson 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

14 Sullivan's The Mikado The Mikado's Song, Act II  'A more humane Mikado' with Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
15 Offenbach's Geneviève de Brabant Gendarmes' Duet 'We're public guardians bold yet wary' with
Andrew Shore, baritone
16 Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance Policeman's Song, Act II 'When a felon's not engaged in his employment' with Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Bonus track
17 Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Prologue: Boris's prayer 'My soul is sad' with Chorus of Opera North, Choristers of Leeds Parish Church, English Northern Philharmonia conducted by Paul Daniel from CHAN 3007

Philharmonia Orchestra
David Parry - conductor

Recorded in Blackheath Halls, London - 15-19 October 1999
Producer - Brian Couzens, Sound engineer - Ralph Couzens, Assistant engineer - Richard Smoker