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Robert Saxton: (b1953)
The Wandering Jew

NMC D170 cover The Cast:
Roderick Williams baritone • Tim Mirfin baritone • Teresa Cahill soprano
Hilary Summers mezzo-soprano • Louise Winter mezzo-soprano
Jeffrey Lloyd Roberts tenor • Brindley Sherratt bass • Graeme Danby bass
Jeremy White bass
Actors:
Simon Paisley Day • Jennie Stoller • Lydia Kalian • Rudi Goodman
BBC Symphony Orchestra • BBC Singers • André de Ridder conductor

NMC D170
2 CDs

  • This World Premiere recording was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in July 2010.

  • The libretto for The Wandering Jew was written by Robert Saxton.

  • After receiving composition advice from Benjamin Britten at a young age Saxton then went on to study with Robin Holloway, Elisabeth Lutyens and Luciano Berio.

  • This recording has been made possible thanks to the generous support of …
    PETER MOORES FOUNDATION
    JOHN FELL OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS (OUP) RESEARCH FUND
    Produced in Association with BBC Radio 3

    Robert Saxton’s long-awaited radio opera, commissioned by the BBC, is a modernist take on the tale of the Wandering Jew – the shoe-mender condemned by Jesus to wander the Earth until the Second Coming after he refused to help him on his way to his Crucifixion.   The opera introduces many legendary characters, following medieval and other myths, including Faust, Mephistopheles, Kundry and Wotan.   Underneath its surface lies a structure relating to the annual cycle of Jewish and Christian festivals in eight scenes of sweeping orchestral and choral music, enhanced by studio post-production from Antony Pitts.
    TRACK LISTING

    Disc 1
    01. Scene 1, Part 1: A Nazi death camp during World War II     4.22
    02. Scene 1, Part 2: Flashback to Jerusalem     5.01
    03. Interlude     1.55
    04. Scene 2: The desert at night     5.01
    05. Interlude     0.36
    06. Scene 3, Part 1: The synagogue, Cordoba     6.42
    07. Scene 3, Part 2: The Ballad of the Wandering Jew     4.57
    08. Scene 3, Part 3: An olive grove at night     7.09
    09. Interlude     0.29
    10. Scene 4: Auerbach’s Cellar, Leipzig     7.09
    11. Interlude     2.37
    12. Scene 5, Part 1: Wild terrain – Odin’s rebirth     7.34
    13. Scene 5, Part 2: Odin’s three cries     5.41
    14. Interlude     2.51
    15. Scene 6, Part 1: Venice – Carnival     1.43
    16. Scene 6, Part 2: Venice – the Wandering Jew encounters the Beggar/Jesus     2.52
    17. Scene 6, Part 3: The Wandering Jew’s arioso and encounter with the Fortune Teller     5.29
    18. Scene 6, Part 4: The Wandering Jew passes through the Carnival     2.56

    Disc 2
    01. Scene 6, Part 5: The Mystery Play     6.39
    02. Interlude: Whirling through Time     1.10
    03. Scene 7: The World War II death camp     14.32
    04. Interlude     1.35
    05. Scene 8: The desert in daylight     3.21

          Total Duration     102.35


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