Various Composers - The World Feels Dusty (Sarah Connolly; Joseph Middleton)

Information

• Ernest Chausson - Poème de l’amour et de la mer, Op. 19
• Samuel Barber - Three Songs, Op. 10
• Claude Debussy - Trois Chansons de Bilitis
• Aaron Copland - Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson: Nos. 4 & 10
• Errollyn Wallen - Night Thoughts

Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano

Joseph Middleton, piano

Date: 2025

Label: Chandos

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Sarah Connolly and pianist Joseph Middleton present a diverse art song recital spanning late Romanticism to contemporary works. The programme begins with Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer, steeped in Wagnerian influence, followed by Barber’s Joyce-inspired Three Songs from 1935. Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Bilitis capture Parisian fin-de-siècle sensuality, while Copland’s settings of Emily Dickinson include “I’ve heard an organ talk sometimes” and “The world feels dusty,” which lends the album its title. The recital closes with the première recording of Errollyn Wallen’s Night Thoughts, a Leeds Lieder commission dedicated to Connolly and Middleton, inspired by Hodgkin’s painting.

Sarah Connolly (b. 1963, County Durham) is a distinguished English mezzo-soprano. Trained in piano and voice at the Royal College of Music, she continues studies with Gerald Martin Moore. Her concert work includes Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Philippe Herreweghe, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius in Sydney, and Turnage’s Twice through the Heart across Europe. Operatic highlights span Handel’s Solomon and Ariodante, Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust, and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, with frequent appearances for English National Opera. Connolly has recorded Rameau, Vivaldi, and Bach, performed widely on radio, and is an active teacher, mentoring young mezzo-sopranos including Rosina Fabius and Beth Taylor.

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