For those who like hearing English songs by early 20th century composers Like Quilter, Finzi and Butterworth this CD is a real treat!
Given that the City of London symphony orchestra under the able direction of Richard Hickox looks after the orchestral side of the recording then listening to the rich voice of Stephen Varcoe is the icing on the cake. I used to hate works like this - 'it wasn't an orchestra' and now I've come to love them.
I first heard about Stephen Varcoe when the Choral Society my mother in law belonged to had him as a soloist ant that was all for more than 30 years. Then I found a wonderful way to find out about music, called the internet, and one particular sight: You tube, where one can usually fine some recordings of what you want to hear, Then it's off to Amazon to find the disc, and that was how I found this record.
The voice of Mr Varcoe, is rich and mellow and very easy one the ear. I can't tell you whether anyone else can sing these songs better, and in truth the only ones I really know are the Butterworth songs and these were sung very well - joyful; where they should be and hauntingly sad where it was appropriate. Plus there is a richness in his bass notes that others may struggle to reproduce.
All in all the record is a thoroughly enjoyable experience for me, and I'm sure many others as well. Listen to the samples of this disc on Amazon
and I'm sure you'll see what I mean. Thoroughly recommended