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Once Britten, twice shy

So apparently Benjamin Britten once died, and to prove it the BBC is making a docu-drama about his final decade. Well, it is the centenary, after all, and the English sure do love him. It’s taken most of the art out of guessing what Oxford ensembles might programme over the course of 2013. Actually, it turns out that some of Britten’s lesser-known choral music is pretty extraordinary. This livens things up no end if you happen to sing with Schola Cantorum of Oxford (as I do, having unaccountably passed the audition back in October). Schola has collaborated with the BBC several times recently on composer profile pieces, and we duly fronted up to the chapel at St Peter’s College – which is also our usual rehearsal space – on 11 February. Our task: to be filmed singing three Britten numbers while not stuffing up too badly or accidentally looking into a camera. Upon arrival, it was a bit like the first five minutes of a Doctor Who episode – all frosted blue light and dry ice, with unknown backlit entities lumbering through the murkiness from time to time. Sadly, we weren’t permitted to pretend to land a TARDIS, nor even…

March 13, 2013
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CD and Other Review

Review: Britten: Songs Volume 2 (Malcolm Martineau)

Malcolm Martineau is not just one of his generation’s finest accompanists, but also a first-rate musical curator with an impressive knack for matching songs to singers. This 2-CD collection of Britten songs is the second in its series, notable both for the breadth of repertoire assembled and as a platform for some of Britain’s rising vocal stars. Much of Britten’s vocal music was of course written expressly for his partner and music, Peter Pears. This collection includes both the first and last piano/voice cycles Britten wrote for the tenor: the amorous Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo (performed by Allan Clayton) and Who are these children?, given authentic Scots lilt by Nicky Spence. Robin Tritschler and Benjamin Hulett, take on the other Pears-inspired repertoire, with Hulett’s elegant, witty singing in The Red Cockatoo and other songs especially appealing. Maybe a greater variety among these high male voices would have been welcome – despite its common inspiration, Britten’s music for tenor is remarkably adaptable – but all four sing with admirable commitment and clarity. Also striking is baritone Benedict Nelson, in the dark and mystical Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, his slightly rough-hewn timbre a compelling jolt amid so many sweet-voiced tenors….

January 30, 2013
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CD and Other Review

Review: BRITTEN: Serenade FINZI: Dies Natalis (Mark Padmore, Britten Sinfonia)

Britten’s Serenade presents a sort of history of English poetry, from 15th-century verse through to Blake and Tennyson, so clear diction is the key to bringing the words to life musically. Tenor Mark Padmore doesn’t disappoint.The Serenade was composed for the composer’s life partner Peter Pears and the great horn virtuoso Dennis Brain. Their 1953 recording with maestro Eugene Goossens (Decca/Eloquence) remains the definitive version, but Padmore and the Britten Sinfonia have plenty of fresh insights almost 60 years on. I’m also a fan of the late Anthony Rolfe-Johnson on Chandos. Padmore doesn’t quite match Rolfe-Johnson’s light, limpid gait in the florid Hymn, but his lean, muscular tone, sweetened with generous vibrato, has more immediate drama throughout. The shimmering Sinfonia strings show finesse in the music of their namesake, while the appropriately named Stephen Bell provides energetic, richly shaded phrasing and precise intonation on horn. Britten’s darker Nocturne for tenor, seven obbligato instruments and strings (1958) shows even more stunning invention from the master of orchestral colour. Most noteworthy are the sinister bassoon and crisp pizzicato of the second movement, delicate harp in the third and the arrestingly powerful timpani solo in the fifth. With so many Serenades in all-Britten…

June 14, 2012