Alexander Gibson - Witches’ Brew (2008)

Issued in the US under the title ‘Witches’ Brew’, Alexander Gibson and the New Symphony Orchestra of London recorded this album in 1959 and the performances remain today as characterful and incisive as they were then. While pieces from this recording have previously appeared on Decca, this is its first complete release on the label. Given that the music is a kind of Halloween concoction, it is now filled out on this reissue for CD with two supernatural pieces by Gounod – his ‘Funeral March of a Marionette’ and the sparkling Ballet Music for ‘Faust’, both recorded in 1964 – and which have come up sizzlingly well on CD.

Tracks:

MALCOM ARNOLD
Tam O’Shanter Overture, Op. 55

MODEST MUSSORSGKY
Gnomus (from Pictures at an Exhibition)
A Night on the Bare Mountain (arr. Rimsky-Korsakov)

CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS
Danse macabre, Op. 40

ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK
Witch’s Ride (from Hänsel und Gretel)

FRANZ LISZT
Mephisto Waltz

CHARLES GOUNOD
Funeral March of a Marionette
Faust: Ballet Music

Personnel:

New Symphony Orchestra of London [1]-[6]
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden [7]-[14]
Alexander Gibson