Planet Hugill celebrates Carlisle Floyd’s Wuthering Heights “on disc at last.”
“This new recording from Reference Recordings finally brings Carlisle Floyd’s 1958 opera Wuthering Heights to disc. … Floyd’s music is intense and dramatic, in a form of continuous arioso as the libretto is more poetic prose than poetry, with individual speeches standing out aria-like, including the one which gave rise to the piece in the first place. … The recording was made at a pair of concerts performances and we have to be grateful for Florentine Opera that we finally have Wuthering Heights on disc. … Georgia Jarman makes a finely passionate Cathy and that aria (now at the end of Act Two) is a significant moment which Jarman makes tremendous. Kelly Markgraf’s dark voiced Heathcliff is suitably intense and dramatic, brooding well and the opera concludes with a powerful duet for Jarman and Markgraf. The other cast members get their moment, and Susanne Mentzer particularly stands out as a strong Nelly the housekeeper and very much a foil for Jarman’s Cathy. A significant role is played by the orchestra, and Joseph Mechavich gets a fine performance from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and they take full advantage of the opportunities that Floyd gives them.… This is Carlisle Floyd at his prime and deserves a wider audience.” —Robert Hugill, Planet Hugill