‘Death at La Fenice’
A Big Fish Radio Production of Donna Leon’s book ‘Death at La Fenice’, directed by Eoin O’Callaghan for BBC Radio 4, scored by Julie Cooper.
Signum Classics SIGCD364
“The simple beauty of Cooper’s writing shines through”
“So many musicians and composers have grappled with the strangeness of lockdown: our loss of freedom, the mourning of our loved ones, and the shattering of our personal and professional lives. Julie Cooper’s breathtaking album – beautifully orchestrated and performed, and intimately recorded – brings so many of these feelings to the surface.”
“a powerful monologue about the pandemic by actress Adjoa Andoh…a life-affirming poem…heard alongside looping musical lines and folding figures, quickening its rhythms to the pulse and nuance of the actress’s animated voice”
“‘Contemplation Suite’ takes the listener from dawn to dusk and into sleep, soprano Grace Davidson’s golden voice gilding Cooper’s cinematic music.”
“Life in Stillness” and “Galilean Moons”- composed for left-hand alone pianist Nicholas McCarthy – encapsulate the unnerving calm that many of us experienced, while “The Cold Earth Slept Below,” setting a poem by Shelley, is a stunning lament on the barrenness of winter.
“Highlights include Darkness and Light, full of shifting Philip Glass–like harmonies and oscillations, supported once more by Davidson’s ethereal voice… and the intense lyricism of Gould’s violin”.
“Dusk contains impassioned interjections on solo violin by Elena Urioste alongside luminously floating lines from soprano Grace Davidson… one is constantly reminded in Cooper’s expressively honed music of its power to comfort and inspire in difficult times”.
“Reflective, cinematic, poignant”
Julie Cooper is an experienced award-winning British composer whose music is broadcast extensively on screen for Film, Television, Radio, Video Game, Advertising and all visual media worldwide. She has scored multiple cinematic orchestral and chamber albums for Television Drama, Wildlife and Natural History documentaries, along with numerous drama commissions for Theatre, BBC Radio Drama and the Concert platform.
A Big Fish Radio Production of Donna Leon’s book ‘Death at La Fenice’, directed by Eoin O’Callaghan for BBC Radio 4, scored by Julie Cooper.
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A Big Fish Radio Production of Donna Leon’s book ‘Death at La Fenice’, directed by Eoin O’Callaghan for BBC Radio 4, scored by Julie Cooper.