Britten
Prom 51: Bostridge, London Symphony Orchestra, HardingWednesday, 21 August 2013
There have already been many musical tributes to Sir Colin Davis, whose death in April left us all so much the poorer, but last night’s from the London Symphony Orchestra was particularly and wonderfully poignant. Davis himself was originally... Read more... |
Billy Budd, Glyndebourne Festival OperaSunday, 11 August 2013
It’s not a crowd-pleaser like Albert Herring, nor wittily fanciful like A Midsummer Night’s Dream or macabre like The Turn of the Screw and certainly not the classic that Peter Grimes has become, and until three years ago Glyndebourne had never even... Read more... |
'O what have I done?'Thursday, 08 August 2013
“O what have I done, o what, what have I done? Confusion, so much is confusion.” So sings Captain Vere in the Prologue of Billy Budd and Benjamin Britten plunges us straight into this confusion from the very first bar as we are left in uncertainty... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Britten, Debussy, HindemithSaturday, 20 July 2013
Britten: Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto Howard Shelley (piano), Tasmin Little (violin), BBC Philharmonic/Edward Gardner (Chandos)Edward Gardner starts Britten’s Piano Concerto with amazing ferocity and drive. Winds and horns make light work... Read more... |
Prom 8: BBC Symphony Orchestra, AdèsThursday, 18 July 2013
Anniversary years are essential to classical music, shaking up our regular rhythms of programming and listening every year with new emphasis and new discoveries. While Britten, Wagner and Verdi have all had their moments in 2013, it is Witold... Read more... |
Britten: The Canticles, Linbury Studio TheatreThursday, 11 July 2013
As good old Catullus put it, I hate and love, you may ask why. No doubt it's my job as a critic to probe such difficult responses to Britten's Canticles. Why am I so repelled by the sickly-sweet lullaby Isaac sings just before daddy's about to put... Read more... |
Britten and Poulenc at the Cheltenham Music FestivalThursday, 11 July 2013
"Britten or Poulenc?" The question may seem a fatuous one, geared to the 100th anniversary of the Englishman's birth and 50 years since the Frenchman's death. Yet it certainly livens up what would otherwise be the usual dreary artists' biographies,... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Britten, Copland, Handel, ShostakovichSaturday, 22 June 2013
Britten and Shostakovich: Violin Concertos James Ehnes (violin), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Kirill Karabits (Onyx)No apologies for reviewing yet another Britten disc. This one couples the Violin Concerto with Shostakovich’s Concerto no.1;... Read more... |
Gloriana, Royal OperaFriday, 21 June 2013
Britten’s coronation opera, paying homage less to our own ambiguous queen than to the private-public tapestries of Verdi’s Aida and Don Carlo, is not the rarity publicity would have you believe, at least in its homeland. English National Opera... Read more... |
Three Church Parables, Aurora Orchestra, Aldeburgh FestivalWednesday, 19 June 2013
In Britten’s centenary the Aldeburgh Festival has come up with two mesmerising opera happenings. The innovation is to stage Peter Grimes on the town’s beach, a few hundred yards from the composer’s beachside Aldeburgh first home, amid a splurge... Read more... |
Peter Grimes, Aldeburgh BeachTuesday, 18 June 2013
First things first. There are limited tickets still available for this run of Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh beach but there won’t be for long, so move fast. You can read the rest of this review later; the next few minutes could... Read more... |
War Requiem, Berlin Philharmoniker, Rattle, Philharmonie BerlinSunday, 16 June 2013
How often should a music-lover go to hear Britten’s most layered masterpiece? From personal experience, I’d say not more than once every five years, if you want to keep a sense of occasion fresh. So how often should an orchestra play it? Sir... Read more... |
