Delos Diary

Coming up with an interesting addition to this on-again, off-again column in the middle of August is not the easiest thing to do.
Fortunately, the Wednesday August 11 issue of the Wall Street Journal included a review which sparked a thought about Delos repertoire I'd like to share with you.
It seems that the Glimmerglass Opera of Cooperstown, NY unearthed what the reviews called a "forgotten gem" of an opera — The Mines of Sulphur (1965), a taut theatrical drama by Richard Rodney Bennett, a British composer best known for a string of distinguished film scores. The very favorable reviews characterize the music as "serial … with an astringent tang … a brooding gothic atmosphere, vivid orchestration and stark vocal writing."
All this is a world apart from the Richard Rodney Bennett music you can sample on Delos. It seems that Mr. Bennett, as well as being a highly regarded "serious" composer of film scores, operas and symphonies, is also an authority and ardent fan of American popular music and has loved it since childhood. Gershwin, Porter, Kern, Berlin and Arlen hold no mysteries for him. Since he also happens to be a first-rate pianist and has the vocal ability to sing as if born in a nightclub, the happy result can be heard on Delos' DE 5001, I Never Went Away. Richard Rodney Bennett plays the piano and sings fifteen great songs by Arlen, Porter, Mercer, Kern, Duke, Berlin, and others, plus his own title tune. It's a truly delectable feast of cabaret singing at its best.
There are even more surprises. Delos' DE 6002 My Keyboard Friends features Richard Rodney Bennett and Carol Rosenberger in four-hand piano renditions of music by both Bennett and William Walton specifically composed for young people. The results are irresistible.
Finally on Delos' DE 3172 Singing on the Water — Carol Rosenberger plays Piano Barcarolles — there is one special treat: track three features an exquisite Richard Rodney Bennett barcarolle composed for and dedicated to Carol Rosenberger. The composer describes it as "feverishly romantic." Others have called it "smoky and sensuous." Listen to it, make up your own mind and apply your own adjectives.
The chameleon-like character of Richard Rodney Bennett's music seems to call for a whole dictionary to describe it adequately.