David Lloyd-Jones & English Northern Philharmonia - Delius: Florida Suite (1996/2014) [Official Digital Download]

„This interesting Delius disc contains one of his first major works, the Florida Suite. It was while working on an orange plantation in Solano Grove, Florida, that Delius first captured that sense of nature's intoxication that permeates all of his best music. It was also there that he caught the syphilis that would eventually blind him, and later cause his death. Aren't you glad you knew that? Anyway, the other major work is the haunting tone poem Over the Hills and Far Away. The other pieces are short, entertaining, and ephemeral, but they're all performed with great skill and expertise.“ (David Hurwitz)

“David Lloyd-Jones and his Leeds-based band prove more-than-able protagonists….Lloyd-Jones conducts with marvellous understanding.” (Gramophone)

„Several of the works here are new to disc, including the Idylle de printemps, fresh and charming, leading to an ecstatic climax. La Quadroone and Scherzo were originally planned as movements in a suite. Lloyd-Jones has clearly learnt from Beecham’s example in his glowing and intense readings of the other three works, with the orchestra’s woodwind soloists excelling themselves in delicate pointing, not last in the haunting La Calinda, included in the Florida Suite. Over the Hills and Far Away, raptly done, is richly evocative too, and the epilogue to the opera, Koanga, rounds off a generously filled disc with music both sensuous and passionate, featuring six female vocal soloists from Opera North, three sopranos and three mezzos.“ (Penguin Guide)

Tracklist:
1. Florida Suite: I. Daybreak - Dance 11:43
2. Florida Suite: II. By the River 07:07
3. Florida Suite: III. Sunset - Near the Plantation 10:11
4. Florida Suite: IV. At Night 08:05
5. Over the Hills and Far Away 13:32
6. Idylle Printemps 08:00
7. La Quadroone 04:05
8. Scherzo 05:50
9. Koanga, Act II: Closing Scene 10:32

Personnel:
English Northern Philharmonia,
David Lloyd-Jones, conductor

Recorded at the Leeds Town Hall, England, on 22nd and 23rd August, 1995
Produced by Paul Myers
Engineered by Dave Harries
Remastered by René Laflamme, 2xHD Mastering