The Mayfair gallery was hosting a champagne reception to launch a new CD recording of Façade.
This famous and unusual ‘Entertainment’ in which Edith Sitwell recited her distinctive poetry to an orchestral accompaniment composed by William Walton, was first publicly performed back in the early 1920s.
In this latest recording, the ensemble is directed by John Wilson and Sitwell’s eccentric, sometimes tongue-twisting poetry is narrated by two well-known voices from Radio 4: the actor and presenter Zeb Soanes and Carole Boyd who is best known these days as the character Lynda Snell in the long-running radio soap opera The Archers.
Both narrators were at the Wartski party on April 10 where the art and entertainment world rubbed shoulders.
After an introduction from Wartski’s managing director Geoffrey Munn, there were short speeches on the creation of the new recording from Zeb Soanes and producer Andrew Keener.
Geoffrey Munn, Wartski’s managing director, welcomes guests to the launch party for ‘Façade’ with Zeb Soanes and producer Andrew Keener. Photo credit Christophe Donot.
The CD is on the Orchid Classics label, and can be had through all the usual channels or online from Orchid Classics itself.
