Britten
Death in Venice, English National OperaSunday, 16 June 2013
Austere, beautiful, heartbreaking, streaked with genius - that goes for both Benjamin Britten’s last opera Death in Venice and Deborah Warner’s remarkable production of it for ENO, returning all too briefly to the Coliseum, with a superb central... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Britten, Poulenc, RameauSaturday, 15 June 2013
Britten: Still falls the Rain, The Heart of the matter, Canticle V etc Nicholas Phan (tenor), Myra Huang (piano), Jennifer Montone (horn) Sivan Magen (harp) (Avie)Another well-planned Britten anthology in the composer’s centenary year, made more... Read more... |
War Requiem, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Litton, Bergen International FestivalFriday, 07 June 2013
In Bergen’s Grieg Hall (one is tempted to say the Hall of the Mountain King) the 2013 Bergen Festival concludes with the mournful tolling of bells. A consonant “Amen”, like a healing benediction, is the last word and with it comes perhaps a glimmer... Read more... |
Albert Herring, Opera NorthThursday, 16 May 2013
Staging Britten’s third opera in the round in a small performance space of the Howard Assembly Room makes complete sense. Albert Herring’s supporting cast of village grotesques are that little bit more oppressive when they’re singing yards away from... Read more... |
Bostridge, Britten Sinfonia, Barbican HallSunday, 05 May 2013
The Barbican Hall’s house lights faded to black, with just the soft glow of music stand lamps on stage as the Britten Sinfonia filed on and eased into the Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. Directed from leader’s desk by Jacqueline Shave, the... Read more... |
The Seckerson Tapes: Ian BostridgeSunday, 21 April 2013
It comes as no surprise that international tenor Ian Bostridge plays a significant part in EMI and Virgin Classics‘ contribution to Britten 100. In this exclusive audio podcast he discusses the man, the music, the insecurities, the contradictions,... Read more... |
BBC Proms 2013: Ring operas for a fiver eachFriday, 19 April 2013
First, the good news: you can see Wagner’s entire Ring at the Royal Albert Hall, with absolutely the world’s finest Wagner singers and conductor in concert, for a grand total of £20. The bad news is that unless you have a season ticket – in which... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Lyon: A contemporary opera house taking a bold approachSunday, 14 April 2013
“There are three rivers in Lyons: the Rhône, the Saône and the Beaujolais.” Thus goes the popular saying – as apt today for France’s gastronomic and wine-quaffing capital as it was back in the 15th century, when the city first became a hub of... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Britten, Billy Mayerl, ProkofievSaturday, 30 March 2013
Britten: Billy Budd John Mark Ainsley, Jacques Imbraillo, Matthew Rose, Philip Ens, Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Mark Elder (Glyndebourne)I missed this staging of Britten’s Billy Budd, first performed in May 2010. I’m... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Britten, Scarlatti, Pink FloydSaturday, 02 March 2013
Britten: Cello Symphony, Cello Sonata and Cello Suites Alban Gerhardt, Steven Osborne, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Manze (Hyperion)This is a brilliant anthology, wonderfully performed and beautifully recorded. Britten’s cello music... Read more... |
Gerstein, Philharmonia Orchestra, Gardner, Royal Festival HallMonday, 18 February 2013
You don’t have to live under a totalitarian regime to write music of profound anguish. I was driven to argue the point at a Shostakovich symposium when an audience quizzer took issue with my assertion that Britten could go just as deep as the... Read more... |
Pires, LSO, Haitink, Barbican HallWednesday, 13 February 2013
It’s not that Bernard Haitink’s tempos are universally slow, it’s just that they often feel that way. When it works the music can be magisterial, immense, but when it doesn’t you find yourself chafing against such unyielding allegiance to restraint... Read more... |
