SLOVAK RSO/ADRIAN LEAPER - KETELBEY:BELLS/SUITES

Albert Ketelbey was an excellent pianist, touring Britain and honing his craft as an expert tunesmith as musical director of London?s Vaudeville Theatre. The delightful miniature In a Monastery Garden placed Ketelbey at the forefront of British Light Music composers, with its birdsong and atmospheric chants delivering a ?glow of exultation? that proved hugely popular in its day. From the unashamedly sentimental Bells Across the Meadows to the impressive Suite Romantique and the famous In a Persian Market, Ketelbey?s music takes us back to a nostalgic era of palm court salons and imaginative reverie.