Gordon Getty

| Match Girl, Prayer, Poor Peter, Joan | PentaTone MC SACD PTC 5186 480

The composer, Gordon Getty, was the fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty and studied with Louise Caselotti, who had been Maria Callas’ voice teacher. This SACD of his works features magnificent soloists including Nikolai Schukoff, Melody Moore and Lester Lynch plus the talented Münchner Rundfunkorchester and Chor des Bayerischen. It’s a wonderful disc, with the chorus and orchestra performing Getty’s compositions and text from works by Hans Christian Andersen, William Butler Yeats, and a Cantata with words by Getty. This is one of the most dramatic and involving recordings I have heard in a long time. The orchestra, chorus and soloists are precise and appropriately dramatic and the recording is amazing in its emotional wallop and dynamic range. One of the finest recordings I’ve heard this year. Recommended!