Sheila Armstrong sings Rachmaninoff 'The Mellow Wedding Bells' - André Previn conducts

Rachmaninoff's "The Bells" is a four-movement choral symphony which sets a version of Edgar Allan Poe's poem. This had been translated into Russian for the first performance in St. Petersburg in 1913 and freely translated back into English for non-Russian performances. One of these was the Proms Premiere of the work given in London's Royal Albert Hall in 1973. It featured the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under its then Principal Conductor, André Previn.

The work requires three vocal soloists and the second 'Lento' movement uploaded here features the distinguished English soprano Sheila Armstrong. The 'ICA Classics' DVD from which this excerpt comes does not feature captions of the English text. These have been added for those YouTube viewers unfamiliar with the poem or with Rachmaninoff's composition. The titles of the four movements are "The Silver Sleigh Bells"; "The Mellow Wedding Bells"; "The Loud Alarm Bells"; and "The Mournful Iron Bells." (Catalogue no. ICAD 5038.)

The complete performance can be heard via this link ...

In this excerpt from another Proms performance, she sings a Johann Strauss "Csárdás" ...

[allison]

Rachmaninoff and Poe, beautiful together. Thank you for adding subtitles to this performance.

[saltburner]

Thanks for rescuing this gem. I well remember Sheila Armstrong in her prime - lovely voice. I imagine JSQ was the bass soloist - another fine singer whose career I followed from the beginning.