Presto Editor's Choice
November 2021

Claudia Boyle, Gavan Ring, Peter Tantsits, Stephen Richardson (bass), Clare Presland, Alan Ewing, Hilary Summers (contralto)

Irish Chamber Orchestra, André de Ridder

Signum Classics are proud to announce a new label partnership and recording debut with Irish National Opera, presenting the world premiere recording of Gerald Barry’s opera, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, based on the famous book by Lewis Carroll.

Irish National Opera is Ireland’s newest and most enterprising opera company. It champions Irish creativity in its casting, its choice of creative teams and in its commitment to the presentation of new operas.

André de Ridder’s stylistic versatility, projects and collaborations make him much in demand by the BBC Proms, the Holland, Sydney and Manchester International Festivals, and orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others.

“Barry’s artistic voice is shocking, enchanting and often downright weird. He revels in contrasting the hilariously absurd with the heart-wrenchingly beautiful to create a surreal musical language that is perfectly suited to the fantasy world of Lewis Carroll.” - Toby Young, composer

"The Irish composer's Lewis Carroll-inspired one-act opera packs an astonishing range of musical references and styles into its fifty minutes, but this wild ride down the rabbit-hole has real dramatic coherence; Claudia Boyle brings bags of charm and character to the gravity-defying role of Alice, with Presland's deliciously imperious Queen of Hearts and Ewing's languid, lugubrious Humpty Dumpty adding to the fun." - Katherine Cooper, Presto Classical, November 2021.