Composer: Debbie Wiseman
Performer: Stephen Fry, Debbie Wiseman
Orchestra: The National Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Debbie Wiseman
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Release: 2020
Size: 740 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. The Story Of Chaos
02. Tempest (The Music Of Chaos)
03. The Story Of Rhea
04. Hidden Danger (The Music Of Rhea)
05. The Story Of Persephone
06. Demeter (The Music Of Persephone)
07. The Story Of Apollo & Marsyas
08. Aegeon Sea (The Music Of Apollo & Marsyas)
09. The Story Of Sisyphus
10. Voyage Of Scyrus (The Music Of Sisyphus)
The success of this release is doubtless due to the presence of popular actor, comedian, writer and (importantly) voice-over artist, Stephen Fry, a figure of catholic (although not Catholic) interests who can inspire interest in almost any topic from football (soccer) to Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat. That explanation should not, however, blind listeners unfamiliar with the Fry magic to the album’s virtues. He tells five Greek myths, and it is likely true that if those myths had been taught this way in schools, they would be more familiar than they are now, but there’s more to it: Fry’s tales are accompanied by little soundtracks by composer Debbie Wiseman, generally in a film soundtrack style, and divided by Wiseman’s short interludes on the same mythic theme as the preceding tale. These were composed earlier, inspired by a Fry book on myths, but they seem entirely unified with the tale accompaniments, and it is this, even as the music and text have been sliced and diced in various ways, that gives the whole its power. This is a release that will be welcomed not only by Fry fans, not even only by lovers of myth, but by anyone interested in innovative ways of joining music to nonmusical arts.