05. - 12. Aaron Copland - Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson* [21'37]
Marni Nixon*- soprano, Pacific Symphony Orchestra conducted by Keith Clark
Varese Sarabande VCD47245 (recorded March 1981 & February 1985*; CD issued 1986)
(flacs and scans - cover inlay and booklet)
Recording venue: Not stated - but possibly Santa Ana High School Auditorium, California (if Reference Recordings are to be believed).
Recording engineer: Bruce Leek; Producers: Keith Clark & George Korngold*
Back in July 2016, just after Marni Nixon's death, I intended to post her definitive recording of Copland's superb settings of poems by Emily Dickinson in their orchestral versions. At the time, I couldn't locate the recording on my shelves although I was sure that I had it. I assumed that it was one of a number of CDs that went missing after a major house move.
Then in April 2017, Cunctator posted what I thought was the same recording here on MIMIC. This was a Reference Recordings CD and coupled the work with Appalachian Spring and An Outdoor Overture.
Having recently watched Terence Davies' excellent biopic of Emily Dickinson, 'A Quiet Passion', starring Cynthia Nixon (no relation, as far as I know) as the poet, I made a further search for the CD on my shelves. I found that my cataloguing system had let me down and there it was all the time, filed under H for Harris.
Now this may, or may not, actually be the same recording of the Dickinson Poems. The Reference Recordings issue gives the recording date as 24 February 1985 whereas Varese has 23 February 1985; Reference Recordings has the recording engineer as Keith O Johnson and Varese has Bruce Leek. Both have the producer as George Korngold. Of course, both engineers are considered among America's finest - and I can't hear any obvious difference. (Varese also issued An Outdoor Overture on ACD85705; coupled with other works of Copland and Samuel Barber and that can also be found here on MIMIC. That issue gives the same recording date as Reference Recordings - 21 February 1982 - but credits the recording engineer as Bruce Leek and not Keith O Johnson.) I wonder if anybody knows the true story? The recording venue in Santa Ana appears quite possible as the Pacific Symphony is the orchestra of Orange County.
Copland composed 12 settings of Dickinson poems with piano accompaniment in 1949 and 1950 and started arranging them with orchestral accompaniment in 1958 but only completed eight of the settings. Their first complete performance was given in 1970 and this Marni Nixon performance is claimed as their first recording. They are probably one of Copland's very finest achievements.
Roy Harris' Sixth Symphony is rarely performed and, to me, it is no match for his Third Symphony. Like most of his symphonies, other than the concise Third, it tends to ramble but at least it is full of distinctive themes. This recording, the only one as far as I know, will give great pleasure to aficionados of the low percussion.
Download from MEGA.