NIELS W. GADE (1817-1890): Comala for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra, Op. 12.

Description: This “Dramatic Poem” from 1845-46 with a German text based on Macpherson’s Ossian poems (Comala was Ossian’s beloved) was possibly Gade’s most-performed work. Mendelssohn was tepid but Schumann thought it was fantastic and conducted it a few times himself. Performed at Gade’s memorial service, it wsa revived for his 200th anniversary in this live recording from February last year. The only previous recording seems to be the 1994 Kontrapunkt. A fine example of early German Romanticism. German-English texts. Marie-Adeline Henry (soprano), Rachel Kelly (mezzo), Elenor Wiman (alto), Markus Eiche (baritone), Danish National Concert Choir, Danish National Symphony Orchestra; Laurence Equilbey.