Part of Royal Opera's Britten centenary celebrations • 'Susan Bullock is an awe-inspiring Gloriana... Toby Spence, as Essex, has regained all his pristine vocal lustre' The Independent • 'Director Richard Jones... staging... is both moving and surprising... ' The Daily Telegraph • Extra features: Inside Rehearsals, Gloriana Behind the Scenes, cast gallery.
English Song Series 22 - Britten: Songs & Proverbs Of William Blake
Naxos
CD
$19.99May 29, 2012
"This music has the power to connect the avant-garde with the lost paradise of tonality,’ said Robin Holloway once about Britten. He might have been talking about this Blake set, a standout in Britten’s still often underrated output of the 1960s, written for Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau after his contribution to the War Requiem.
Putting this new Roderick Williams recording immediately up against the composer and Fischer-Dieskau is like going from hymns ancient to hymns modern. Williams finds an ideal emotional stance—involved, totally word-conscious but never melodramatic…as a recorded recital, Williams—and Burnside, who is similarly colourful but keeps an interpretative distance from pumping up the text—have created an outstanding achievement, one to set alongside the Gerald Finley/Julius Drake disc. Their remaining items, including Tit for Tat—Britten’s ‘reissue’ of early 1929-31 Walter de la Mare settings—shine in a similar way. The Potton Hall recording is clean and clear with excellent instrument/voice balance."
-- Mike Ashman, Gramophone [6/2012]
This disc couples a masterpiece from Britten’s maturity and songs written in his youth. The latter were revived and gathered together as a set in his later years. Britten wrote very little for baritone, but I do think it a pity that rather than seek an interesting work by another composer to complement these two works, it was decided to complete the disc with folk-songs. Beautiful though these arrangements are, many collectors will have quite enough Oliver Cromwells and Little Sir Williams on the shelves, thank you. They are, however, beautifully sung here. There is a very brisk Plough Boy, and Roderick Williams tones in his voice beautifully for the gentler numbers. Ca’ the yowes, a minor masterpiece, is magnificently grand. Overall, the delivery is simple, neither folk-song nor art-song, and refreshingly avoiding the coy or arch in the likes of The foggy, foggy dew. No, Williams presents them unadorned, and with a beautiful legato line, as a series of lovely tunes with inventive and striking accompaniments. Others, some of whom set them up as quasi-operatic scenes, do inject more life into some of the songs, not always to their advantage.
Tit for Tat, a set of five short songs to poems by Walter de la Mare, was first performed in 1969 by John Shirley-Quirk with the composer at the piano. I have in my head the sound of Shirley-Quirk singing these songs, but can’t for the life of me remember where or when it comes from. The songs were written when Britten was in his teens, and he had only recently gathered them together and, with minimal editing, prepared them for publication. They are accomplished works that can, on the whole, be enjoyed without making allowances for the composer’s age. There is not the psychological insight - neither into the poems nor into the mind of the listener - that you find in the mature composer’s vocal music. Nor is the piano part so developed. Listen however to the second song, “Autumn”: everything that was to come is there in embryonic form. It would be easy to exaggerate the claims of these songs, but presented so cleanly and with such understanding as do Williams and his superb pianist, Iain Burnside, they make just the effect the mature composer surely intended.
Philip Lancaster’s booklet essay casts plenty of light on the programme. Walter de la Mare’s poems are sadly not given, but the folk-song texts do appear, as do the texts of the masterly Songs and Proverbs of William Blake. This work was composed for Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and is dedicated to him. The dedication reads “For Dieter: the past and the future. It is a proper, integrated song-cycle, but which is sung without a break. Poems and proverbs alternate, creating a continuous text which was chosen and arranged in order by Peter Pears, no doubt with input from the composer. Words and music combine to create a cycle that maintains a single mood throughout its length, one of melancholy observation. In his book Britten, Voice and Piano, Stephen Johnson recounts how the relationship between Fischer-Dieskau and Britten, though nourished by mutual admiration, was not an easy one. The sessions for their Decca recording of December 1965 were by all accounts particularly fraught, but this is hardly audible in the finished result, which is a performance of extraordinary mastery. Fischer-Dieskau is magnificent, and the composer’s piano playing is miraculous. Listen, for example, in the ppp quavers that introduce A Poison Tree, how he manages to conceal the inconvenient fact that a piano works by hammers striking on keys. This is the kind of piano playing that prompted Gerald Moore, in his book Am I Too Loud?, to proclaim Britten as “the world’s greatest living accompanist”. Britten’s recorded legacy is essential for any admirer of his work, but happily the era is now long gone when attempts by other performers to stamp their own personality on the music seemed like an affront to the composer’s memory. Iain Burnside is outstandingly fine on this disc. It seems almost insulting to state that his playing is technically impeccable, but I do state it, whilst adding that he is profoundly in tune with the music and with the singer’s needs. Roderick Williams gives a performance of great vision, beautifully sung, that will satisfy any listener who discovers the work from this performance. In general, Fischer-Dieskau employs a wider range of vocal colour that allows him, in The ChimneySweeper, for example, to play the part of the oppressed child with remarkable vividness. Another example would be at the line “And blights with plagues the marriage hearse” in London, where Williams doesn’t really match Fischer-Dieskau’s disillusioned bitterness. Williams is slower, too, the song hardly reflecting the composer’s marking of “Very agitated”. If this gives the impression that the reading is a pale one, the opposite is the case. There is a suggestion of whimsy in Fischer-Dieskau’s performance of The Fly that is absent in Williams’ reading, and Williams launches Ah! Sun-flower with a superb crescendo barely observed by Fischer-Dieskau. The end of the work, too, is very fine indeed from both artists, not quite resigned, not quite hopeless.
Anyone who delves into the musical analysis of these 25 gems-into their incredible thematic structure, into their harmonic cosmos-will fall in love with them. Yet, the purely emotional enjoyment of such simply beautiful folk songs is also readily accessible-and, indeed, likely just as Britten intended, as a folk composer of his time. - Daniel Johannsen
Performed by Tanya Houghton, Jennifer Sturgeon, Jenny Bourke and Lynda Barrett, Sweet Chance is a lyrical journey for harp, flute and voice, inspired by artistic relationships forged through travel and chance encounters. From Parisian inspiration to a Belfast home, this recital programme ranges from Britten's Interlude to songs newly arranged with harp accompaniment, and Alwyn's virtuosic flute and harp duet, Naiades.
Winter Words is the solo debut release by American tenor Nicholas Phan. The recording was made in the wake of a recital tour in 2010-11 which culminated in his Carnegie debut at Weill Hall. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and an alumnus of the Houston Grand Opera studio Nick has performed with the opera companies of Los Angeles and Seattle, symphony orchestras of Atlanta, St. Louis and San Francisco, and the Marlboro, Ravinia and Edinburgh Festivals, among others. He sang in Stravinsky's Pulcinella with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Nick presents a deeply personal perspective of Britten's music, encompassing his own performing experiences to audience reaction. He says: "I've been a fan of Britten since playing his Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra with my youth orchestra in Detroit as a teenage violinist. But my great devotion to his music increased to an obsession when an excellent pianist and good friend asked if I'd perform with her at a small university in Missouri. She suggested Winter Words, saying, "I think these would sound really great in your voice, and I've wanted to play them for ages, so indulge me." I researched and played through Britten's settings of Hardy's poems and before long, I was hooked." Approaching the performance in a small Midwestern town with some trepidation ("how would they react?"), Nick describes the audience's overwhelmingly positive response: "my favourite piece on the program ... the most lasting impression." Such is the enduring quality of Britten's sophisticated yet direct song writing, of which Nick is a leading torch-bearer. critical acclaim for Nicholas Phan "took hold of the music with unerring musicality, precise diction, and conversational command." - The Rest is Noise, Alex Ross "an excellent young singer ... more importantly he penetrates deeply into the inner drama" - Boston Globe "Vocally and dramatically at the level of the finest international artists." - Chicago Sun Times
Tying in with the centenary of Britten’s birth this year, this three-disc compilation set brings together a large selection of early and late unaccompanied choral works, performed by the Finzi Singers and Paul Spicer. This disc includes A Boy was Born, Rejoice in the Lamb, and Choral Dances from Gloriana.
This recording brings together three youthful masterworks all composed by Benjamin Britten before his 30th birthday. Originally released in 2005 'Britten: Les Illuminations' has been re-issued as part of Linn's ECHO series which offers a second chance to enjoy the best of the label's award-winning catalogue. These are highly insightful performances, widely considered to be modern reference versions to set next to Britten's own. Clio Gould and the ensemble demonstrate playing of impressive unanimity of purpose, joyous intensity and clarity of detail. The ensemble is joined by the Royal Philharmonic Society's 2012 'Singer of the Year' Toby Spence, for two of Britten's most popular song cycles. Toby Spence's voice is ideally suited to the wide-ranging demands that Britten makes on it; his tonal freshness and acutely observed articulation of the words are absorbing. Martin Owen, whose horn playing has drawn comparisons with Dennis Brain, is equal to every one of the near-impossible tasks set him by Britten in the Serenade. Re-defining the string orchestra, Scottish Ensemble inspires audiences with vibrant and powerful performances. Scottish Ensemble is the UK's only professional string orchestra, built around a core of twelve outstanding string players. The ensemble is known both in the UK and internationally for it's versatility and ambitious programming. Performing standing up, the individual layers bring an energetic and passionate dynamic to every performance.
Benjamin Britten THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA (Blu-ray Disc Version)
Lucretia – Sarah Connolly Tarquinius – Christopher Maltman Bianca – Catherine Wyn-Rogers Lucia – Mary Nelson Junius – Leigh Melrose Collatinus – Clive Bayley Female Chorus – Orla Boylan Male Chorus – John Mark Ainsley
English National Opera Orchestra Paul Daniel, conductor
David McVicar, stage director
Recorded live at the Aldeburgh Festival, The Maltings, Snape, 2001
Bonus: - Cast gallery
Picture format: 1080i High Definition Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean Running time: 120 mins No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)
R E V I E W: 3761210.az_BRITTEN_Rape_Lucretia_Paul.html BRITTEN The Rape of Lucretia • Paul Daniel, cond; Sarah Connolly (Lucretia); Christopher Maltman (Tarquinius); John Mark Ainsley (Male Chorus); Orla Boylan (Female Chorus); Clive Bayley (Collatinus); Leigh Melrose (Junius); Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Bianca); Mary Nelson (Lucia); O of the English Natl Op • OPUS ARTE 7135 (Blu-ray: 120:00) Live: Aldeburgh 6/2001
Premiered at Glyndebourne in July of 1946, The Rape of Lucretia was Britten’s first stage work after Peter Grimes, and the first he called a “chamber opera.” It was composed for just eight singers and a chamber ensemble of 12 instrumentalists, but a good performance of Lucretia packs at least as much of an emotional wallop as Peter Grimes or Billy Budd, and this performance is indeed a good one. A mood of dread and tense expectation is established in the opening scene for the Roman generals—Collatinus, Junius, and the depraved Tarquinius—that hardly lets up for the entire work. Four of the singes are truly top-notch: John Mark Ainsley and Orla Boylan as the Male and Female Chorus, Sarah Connolly in the title role, and Christopher Maltman (officially a “Barihunk,” who gets to take his shirt off for the rape scene) portraying Tarquinius. The other singers also cover their roles quite effectively. For example, the peaceful oasis in act I, scene 2, where the servants Bianca and Lucia wordlessly accompany the Female Chorus, is especially lovely.
As is frequently the case for this artist, stage director David McVicar questions, clarifies, and reconsiders. In a brief “Extra Feature,” McVicar explains that he actively rebelled against Britten’s specific instructions that the Male and Female Chorus should comment on the action, but not participate in it. Here, the two interact on stage with the other six singers, which makes the production considerably more theatrical and much less stylized. One reason, McVicar offers, is that Lucretia’s relationship with the Female Chorus can counter the typical “objectification” of the character—we can more easily understand her as something other than a sexual target. Lucretia’s costume is almost frumpish; she’s no fancier in her dress than her servants. She sports a plain, short hairstyle and wears very little jewelry. This wife of a powerful Roman general is certainly no temptress. This effort to de-glamorize the character may further confuse the already confused matter as to why Lucretia feels any sense of blame for her violation, why she won’t accept her husband’s absolution and kills herself. McVicar doesn’t seem to have much trouble with the opera’s “Christian” epilog, which was added (perhaps, it’s been said, at the urging of Peter Pears) to soften the harsh tragedy of Lucretia’s death by invoking the suffering and sacrifice of Christ. The director reminds us that the work was introduced just following World War II, when the world was attempting to come to grips with the senseless horror of the Holocaust. But a listener certainly won’t feel warm and fuzzy after the final blackout: This production maintains plenty of the moral ambiguity inherent to the score and libretto.
In keeping with the modest musical forces employed, Yannis Thavoris’s set and costume design is simple, attempting no profound commentary of its own. The recorded sound is good, with excellent detail to reveal Britten’s imaginative use of the small orchestra. Subtitle choices are English, French, German, Japanese, and Korean.
This release of the Britten Cello Suites follows Quirine Viersen’s successful album of the Bach Suites. The album is a tribute to the artist’s good friend and producer Paul Janse, who passed away two years ago. Dutch cellist Quirine Viersen is one of the leading musical personalities of her generation. Her intense and virtuosic playing has convinced the public, the press, and her colleagues of her special musicality. She has shown broad insight in classical music literature with her concerto and recital performances as well as her festival participation. Viersen has been awarded numerous prizes at international competitions, the most important being the Young Artist Award in 2000 which was presented to her by the Credit Suisse Groupe. Viersen plays a 1715 Joseph Guarnerius Filius Andreae, provided by the Dutch National Instrument Fund.
Peter Grimes – John Graham Hall Boy – Francesco Malvuccio Ellen Orford – Susan Gritton Captain Balstrode – Christopher Purves Auntie – Felicity Palmer First Niece – Ida Falk Winland Second Niece – Simona Mihai Bob Boles – Peter Hoare Swallow – Daniel Okulitch Mrs. Sedley – Catherine Wyn-Rogers Rev. Horace Adams – Christopher Gillett Ned Keene – George von Bergen
Milan La Scala Chorus and Orchestra Robin Ticciati, conductor
Richard Jones, stage director
Recorded live at the Teatro alla Scala, June 2012
Bonus: - Interviews with cast and crew
Picture format: 1080i High Definition Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean Running time: 168 mins No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)
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REVIEW:
Robin Ticciati brings transparency and detail to the score, director Richard Jones focuses on Grimes the outsider and the entire cast gives a magnificent performance.
Britten: Frank Bridge Variations - Lachrymae - Elegy For Str
BIS
SACD
$21.99Nov 19, 2013
This collection of works for string orchestra combines two of Britten's first masterpieces, Simple Symphony and the Frank Bridge Variations, with the even earlier Elegy for Strings - recorded here for the first time - and Two Portraits, composed between the ages of 14-16. Directed by the Norwegian violinist Terje Tonnesen, the Swedish string ensemble Camerata Nordica performs this program with an engaging directness and striking virtuosity - qualities which no doubt contributed to the team being entrusted by the Britten-Pears Foundation with making the world premiere recording of the Elegy, as well as giving it's first public performance during the 2013 BBC Proms.
Britten: Billy Budd / Bolton, Teatro Real de Madrid [Blu-ray]
BelAir Classiques
Blu-Ray
$36.99Sep 14, 2018
800 liters of water, two sails, thirty pulleys, sixty hammocks : for the Bicentenary of the Teatro Real of Madrid, Deborah Warner coined a colossal production of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd. “Oh, what have I done?” Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, former commander of the H.M.S. Indomitable asks himself with horror at the beginning of the opera, before recounting the tragic events that took place aboard his ship in 1797. The story revolves around a young model sailor, Billy Budd, and John Claggart, the unscrupulous master-at-arms obsessed and crazed by Billy’s angelic beauty; and follows the characters in their fall down to the most infernal depths of perversion and psychosis, exploring the themes of innocence, culpability, individual responsibility and justice. In this ambiguous and symbolic tale, drawn from Herman Melville’s last masterpiece, the composer Benjamin Britten, who returns for the occasion to symphonic opera and its infinite possibilities, unsettles and disturbs us by revealing the complexity and universality of human experience. Far from writing the characters as allegories of Good and Evil, the opera shows us instead the remorseless logic followed by the surge of one’s darkest desires. But in this opera dominated by masculinity, Deborah Warner goes beyond the story of violence, jealousy and hatred and chooses to focus instead on the collateral beauty produced by comradeship, friendship and forgiveness. Tenor Jacques Imbrailo, who knows the title role perfectly, delivers a stunning rendition of the young sailor’s part, while British singers Toby Spence and Brindley Sherratt provide solid interpretations of Captain “Starry” Vere and of John Claggart. In the pit, Ivor Bolton masterfully deploys, along with the Orchestra of the Teatro Real, all the energy and power of Britten’s fifth opera.
Britten: Complete Music with Guitar & Voice / Meucci, Nardis
Brilliant Classics
CD
$8.99$17.99Save 50%Oct 22, 2021
The “Songs from the Chinese”, a cycle of six songs on poems translated from the original Chinese by Arthur Waley (1889–1966), were written in 1957 and premiered the following year by the duo of Pears and Bream. By the late 50s Bream was a lutenist and guitarist of great renown and had accompanied Pears in works by Dowland and other early music of the British Isles, concerts that inspired Britten to write for the duo some music of his own. His cycle naturally invited comparison with another great set of songs from the Chinese, Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde”, and the reception at the time was favourable: “as a whole, they make a statement about life (and particularly the transience of youth and beauty) as poignant and personal as Mahler’s” (critic Jeremy Noble in Tempo,1959). The sixth instalment of Britten’s lifelong project of folksong arrangements was published in November of 1961 in a second wave along with volumes four and five, which followed some 12 years after the first three volumes were issued in the 1940s. Volume Six contains six English folksongs and is the only one of the sets that he scored for voice and guitar. These folksong arrangements are as much a product of Britten’s admiration for Bream as are the “Songs from the Chinese”. In fact, when Pears and Bream premiered Britten’s song cycle at the Aldeburgh Festival (17 June 1958), they performed three of these folksongs on the same concert. Britten wrote the guitar solo “Nocturnal” after John Dowland in 1963 for Bream, who premiered it the following year (12 June 1964). The nine movements of the work are a “variations & theme”, progressing opposite to the usual order of a theme and variations. The model, “Come, Heavy Sleep” from the First Book of Songs by John Dowland (1563–1626), is only revealed at the end, with the variations leading up to it hinting at the song with treatments of various thematic fragments. Marcello Nardis and Duilio Meucci complete this album with three additional works by Dowland including the original “Come, Heavy Sleep” on which Britten based his Nocturnal, another well-known song, “Flow my tears”, and the lute solo “A Dream”.
Outstanding singers, conductors and directors come together in five diverse but compelling operas by Benjamin Britten. The turbulent, inward fishing community of Peter Grimes is transposed to a merciless 1980s society in Richard Jones' production. An 'outstanding' Sarah Connolly (Guardian) stars in The Rape of Lucretia, navigating the difficult tale with superb poise. Billy Budd is grippingly staged aboard the claustrophobic MS Indomitable, with Jacques Imbrailo portraying the troubled sailor in the 2010 Glyndebourne Festival Opera production by Michael Grandage. More light-hearted is the Royal Opera House staging of Gloriana, penned by Britten to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and featuring Susan Bullock as the monarch. Finally, Edward Gardner conducts the English National Opera in Deborah Warner's highly acclaimed production of Death in Venice, In which John Graham-Hall stars as the ageing Gustav von Aschenbach. These productions from some of the world's best opera houses offer five masterful performances that are an ideal way to experience Benjamin Britten's music. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true Surround Sound.
A BRITTEN COLLECTION (7-DVD Box Set)
PETER GRIMES
Peter Grimes - John Graham Hall
Boy - Francesco Malvuccio Ellen Orford - Susan Gritton Captain Balstrode - Christopher Purves Auntie - Felicity Palmer First Niece - Ida Falk Winland Second Niece - Simona Mihai Bob Boles - Peter Hoare Swallow - Daniel Okulitch Mrs. Sedley - Catherine Wyn-Rogers Rev. Horace Adams - Christopher Gillett Ned Keene - George von Bergen
Milan La Scala Chorus and Orchestra Robin Ticciati, conductor Richard Jones, stage director
Recorded live at the Teatro alla Scala, June 2012
THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA
Lucretia - Sarah Connolly Tarquinius - Christopher Maltman Bianca - Catherine Wyn-Rogers Lucia - Mary Nelson Junius - Leigh Melrose Collatinus - Clive Bayley Female Chorus - Orla Boylan Male Chorus - John Mark Ainsley
English National Opera Orchestra Paul Daniel, conductor
David McVicar, stage director
Recorded live at the Aldeburgh Festival, The Maltings, Snape, 2001
BILLY BUDD
Captain Vere - John Mark Ainsley Billy Budd - Jacques Imbrailo Claggart - Phillip Ens Mr. Redburn - Iain Paterson Mr. Flint - Matthew Rose Lieutenant Ratcliffe - Darren Jeffery Red Whiskers - Alasdair Elliott Donald - John Moore Dansker - Jeremy White Novice - Ben Johnson Squeak - Colin Judson Bosun - Richard Mosley-Evans
Glyndebourne Chorus London Philharmonic Orchestra Mark Elder, conductor Michael Grandage, stage director
Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Opera House, 8 and 11 June 2010
GLORIANA
Queen Elizabeth I - Susan Bullock Earl of Essex - Toby Spence Countess of Essex - Patricia Bardon Lord Mountjoy - Mark Stone Lady Rich - Kate Royal Sir Robert Cecil - Jeremy Carpenter Sir Walter Raleigh - Clive Bayley Ballad Singer - Brindley Sherratt
Royal Opera Chorus Royal Opera House Orchestra Paul Daniel, conductor Richard Jones, stage director
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, June 2013
DEATH IN VENICE
Gustav von Aschenbach - John Graham Hall Traveller / Elderly Fop / Gondolier / Barber / Hotel Manger / Player / Dionysus - Andrew Shore Apollo - Tim Mead Tadzio - Sam Zaldivar The Polish Mother - Laura Caldow Two Daughters - Mia Angelina Mather / Xhuliana Shehu The Governess - Joyce Henderson Jaschiu - Marcio Teixeira
English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra Edward Gardner, conductor Deborah Warner, stage director
Recorded live at the London Coliseum, June 2013
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Bonus: - Cast gallery (all) - Introduction to the opera (Billy Budd, Gloriana) - Introduction to the designs (Billy Budd) - Interviews with the cast and crew (Peter Grimes) - Comments from the director (The Rape of Lucretia) - Britten’s Aldeburgh (Gloriana)
Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic Sound format: DTS 5.1 (all) / + LPCM 2.0 (The Rape of Lucretia, Billy Budd, Gloriana) / + Dolby Digital 2.0 (Peter Grimes, Death in Venice) Region code: 0 (worldwide) Audio Language: English Menu Language: English Subtitles: English, French, German (all) + Japanese (Peter Grimes, The Rape of Lucretia, Gloriana) + Korean (Death in Venice) / + Spanish (Billy Budd) Running time: 13 hrs 10 mins (opera) + 27 mins (bonus) No. of DVDs: 7 (DVD 9)
Blest Cecilia - Britten Choral Works I / The Sixteen
Coro
CD
$18.99Apr 01, 2002
Fans of Benjamin Britten and of The Sixteen will rejoice at this reissue of material from the choir's acclaimed three-volume Britten series originally recorded for the now-defunct Collins label. (Presumably all of the music from the complete set eventually will appear under the Sixteen's new Coro emblem.) If you know the earlier recordings, you'll quickly notice that the program here is different from the original configurations: there are five selections from Collins' Vol. 3--Hymn to the Virgin, A Hymn of Saint Columba, Hymn to Saint Peter, Jubilate Deo, Festival Te Deum; three from Vol. 2--Rejoice in the Lamb; Antiphon; Te Deum in C; and the Hymn to Saint Cecilia from Vol. 1.
Recorded performances of Britten's choral music don't get any better than this. No one will argue that this choir was/is capable of singing anything, and singing it as well as or better than anyone--and these Britten pieces are made for exuberant, exultant, exacting singing that the Sixteen can do without a blip, a glitch, or the slightest faltering step. From the fawning, devotional A Hymn to the Virgin to the wild and glorious Rejoice in the Lamb, this is music most perfectly created and most grandly and emphatically presented. A first-class effort; a classic.
--David Vernier
Works: Hymn to the Virgin A Hymn of Saint Columba Hymn to Saint Peter Antiphon Te Deum in C Jubilate Deo Hymn to Saint Cecilia Festival Te Deum Rejoice in the Lamb
“Gift Voucher: six Suites for Slava” This note, scribbled on a paper napkin was a promise supposedly made in 1964 by Benjamin Britten to the cellist Mstislav Leopoldovich “Slava” Rostropovich. It would appear that he wanted to compose for his friend a contemporary counterpart to Bach’s Solo Suites, which for any cellist are a sort of Old Testament in the cello repertoire. Britten took Baroque dance movements as a model and formed them into modern character pieces. Both from the point of view of form and tone, they exude a kinship and affinity with Johann Sebastian Bach. The fact that he actually only composed three suites was due to Britten’s poor health and his death not long afterwards. Britten’s encounter with Mstislav Rostropovich was the motive and inspiration for his cello works: they had met in the early 1960s through Dmitry Shostakovich at a performance by Rostropovich of the Soviet composer’s First Cello Concerto. Shostakovich is said to have complained after the concert of bruised ribs because during the concert Britten had often jabbed him in the ribs out of pure enthusiasm for the music. That enthusiasm led Benjamin Britten to dedicate his cello suites to the exceptional cellist. (Jakob Spahn)
![Britten: The Rape Of Lucretia / Ainsley, Boylan, Bayley, Melrose, Maltman [blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/2498126.jpg?v=1786838139&width=800)
![Britten: The Rape Of Lucretia / Ainsley, Boylan, Bayley, Melrose, Maltman [blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/81OECINmRiL.jpg?v=1786838139&width=800)
![Britten: The Rape Of Lucretia / Ainsley, Boylan, Bayley, Melrose, Maltman [blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/2498126.jpg?v=1786838139&width=400)
![Britten: Billy Budd / Bolton, Teatro Real de Madrid [Blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/3820904.jpg?v=1786909480&width=800)
![Britten: Billy Budd / Bolton, Teatro Real de Madrid [Blu-ray]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/3820904.jpg?v=1786909480&width=400)
