Release Date: 28 January 2022
After announcing their new partnership with NMC Recordings – coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Manchester-based ensemble and record label – Psappha is delighted to re-issue a recording from their catalogue featuring works by close collaborator and the ensemble’s founding Patron, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, performed by the Psappha ensemble and the late Jane Manning.
Psappha performed and toured its production of Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot in the UK and abroad, accompanying Peter Maxwell Davies on a trip to the Barossa Festival in New South Wales in the year 2000. This unconducted recording of the work is the result of a long collaboration between composer, soloist and musicians and includes an extended conversation between Peter Maxwell Davies and Paul Driver.
Miss Donnithorne was an Australian lady, apparently one of the models for Miss Havisham in Dickens’ Great Expectations; jilted at the last minute, she became a recluse, and Davies’ piece discovered her ranting among the remnants of her wedding cake, which is decorated with instrumentalists.
Jane Manning soprano
Conrad Marshall flute
Dov Goldberg clarinet
Richard Casey piano
Tim Williams percussion
David Routledge violin
Jennifer Langridge cello
AUDIO
REVIEWS
"Miss Donnithorne's Maggot, from 1974, sung and acted here with touching vividness by Jane Manning," The Guardian
"...this work transcends its immediate context, in terms of its thematic concern with gender, sexuality and social power, but also its enduring musical vitality." The Wire
Release Date: 28 January 2022
Cat No.: PSA1001