Jonathan Dove: In Exile and Night Song for cello & piano

“In Exile is an arresting, important work. I’m glad it has achieved a recording so soon after its premiere. Both music and performance can be recommended without reservation. As a bonus we hear ‘Night Song’ from In Exile. Jonathan Dove has derived this from the music for the final section of the main work and made it into a poignant song for cello and piano. The composer himself partners Raphael Wallfisch.” John Quinn musicweb-international.com [read complete review]

"Inspired by Raphael Wallfisch's family history, this remarkable work for solo baritone, solo cello and orchestra proves to be quite remarkable - dark, complex and profound" Robert Hugill, Planet Hugill [read complete review]

“Wallfisch embodies the anguish of the soul in exile with depth and profundity, and with the stirring baritone Sir Simon Keenlyside, the soloists render the text and the insightful music effortlessly. The result is an intoxicating blend of emotion… The final track on the album selection 12 is Night Song, a short piece for cello and piano, with the composer at the piano. This last segment continues in the same questioning and dark vein as the opening to In Exile, but it soon evolves into a tender, romantic and lyrical elegy, the artists playing beautifully. The song fades out and into the spheres, as does In Exile. After all, as a society we have not yet come to terms with expulsion, nor have we solved the refugee crisis.”  Janet Horvath, interlude.hk [read complete review]

Wallfisch have been talking about Dove writing a cello concerto for Wallfisch for over ten years and this finally came to fruition with the premiere of In Exile at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in December 2021. These performances, recorded live, are the basis for this new disc from Lyrita, in which Gergely Madaras conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in Dove's In Exile with baritone Simon Keenlyside and cellist Raphael Wallfisch…This is a terrific piece, in a powerful and moving performance from all concerned….We are treated to a short extra at the end. Dove accompanies Wallfisch on the piano in Night Song, a darkly intense piece that derives from the final section of In Exile. - Planet Hugil Continue Reading

“… a word about the nature of the two solo roles. The baritone represents the Exile himself. The cello represents the Exile’s alter ego, commenting on, accompanying and enriching the vocal line...I think it was a very sensible decision by Jonathan Dove to include three short episodes in which the baritone leaves the musical argument to his fellow protagonist… it gives the singer a rest, which is much-needed, both vocally and emotionally. Furthermore, though the two soloists are of equal importance and prominence, the listener’s ear is often drawn to the singer simply because he is enunciating words; thus, it’s good to bring the cello centre stage at times...The music is powerful; time and again we are reminded that it is the product of a composer highly experienced in writing operas…In Exile is an extremely impressive work. The concept is an important one; Alasdair Middleton’s libretto and Jonathan Dove’s music address it head-on. As ever, Jonathan Dove’s music is accessible and also direct in expression…The orchestral writing is full of imaginative descriptive touches which the CBSO and Gergely Madaras realise expertly. The recording, expertly balanced by engineer Stephen Rinker, enables us to hear all the strands, soloists and orchestra, very clearly...As a bonus we hear ‘Night Song’ from In Exile. Jonathan Dove has derived this from the music for the final section of the main work and made it into a poignant song for cello and piano. The composer himself partners Raphael Wallfisch...In Exile is an arresting, important work. I’m glad it has achieved a recording so soon after its premiere. Both music and performance can be recommended without reservation." - John Quin

Full review here

"... Given the composer's extensive experience of writing for the voice, it was decided that the score would be written for baritone singer and solo cello with texts taken form poems be various writers. The subject matter was suggested by the Wallfisch family history. Raphael's father fled, together with his mother, and brother, to Palestine from Breslau in 1937, and his mother Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, is a concentration camp survivor. She has written of the persecution of her Jewish family during the Second World War and her own incarceration in Auschwitz and Belsen, where her skill as a cellist saved her life. Knowing of these events, Jonathan Dove was inspired to base the work's theme on this universal experience..." - Paul Conway , Naxos Direct Full review here