Ethel Smyth takes her libretto from her close friend H.B. Brewster, and it is this work's failing. The Prison's text is just so unappealing, even though the general subject has been done before, and much better.
I find it all rather nonsensical, even if I get the main idea. A man, The Prisoner, is serving time in prison and is coming to the end of his life. He musically communes with His Soul in order to break free from his mental shackles in order for him to be truly set free.
Some have mentioned The Prisoner was innocently imprisoned, but I find no evidence of that in the song's texts, so perhaps this detail was dropped from the source material. While The Prison is not hard to understand, I find it all rather esoteric stuff as depicted from Brewster.
Luckily, music can be enjoyed without depending on words. Unfortunately, I am not particularly bowled over by the musical aspects either. Sure the wordiness gets in the way, but there isn't really any musical centerpiece to the work either.
I can't fault the performers, for they are spectacular here. The two soloists take on the roles bolded above, and both give impressive vocal executions. The Experiential Orchestra and Chorus under James Blachly sound exquisite, aided by a deeply detailed recording from this Chandos SACD, also playable on CD. Even if the orchestra is given a slight preference to the chorus, everything sounds superb. I love the closely recorded harp too!
So what is my issue? I think, for me at least, this oratorio is directionless. The tempos are all quite similar throughout its runtime, reminding me of lyrical offenders George Dyson and Frederick Delius at their most directionless. The Prison sounds beautiful, and remains so without much of a hook over its 60+ minute runtime. Thus the work throbs and wanders about in a lovely manner.
There are a few standout moments such as the modal folksy Greek portion in Part 2 and a few dance-like settings which perk up the prose-like text spewings. The orchestral colors are always interesting too, even if the on-the-nose word painting, such as those Part 1 bird calls, are sometimes too much.
I have never heard of the NY-based Experiential Orchestra and Chorus before, but I am mighty impressed. In the liner notes, Blachly tells of his emotional reaction to Ethel Smyth's score, but I am afraid I don't share his outlook. I greatly admire his dedication to this music however, and I am glad to have heard it.
Listen on YouTube
Works
The Prison
Soloists
Sarah Brailey, soprano
Dashon Burton, baritone
Performers
Experiential Chorus
Experiential Orchestra
James Blachly, conductor
Label: Chandos
Year: 2020
Total Timing: 64.00
Smyth's wonderful Mass in D (BLOG), worked miles better for me as an hour-long musical work.
While The Prison is lovely to listen to, I can't say it holds my attention for its hour-plus duration. The denseness of the metaphysical text is a problem, but setting such to music doesn't help matters either.
If much of this weren't so beautiful, I would probably pitch this to The Kraken, but as it is, these performers are really much more than this work could ever ask for.
Find more Smyth recordings HERE!
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