I recently
reviewed this attractive CD for MusicWeb International and began by giving a
brief overview of my introduction to BB…
“The
first Britten songs I ever heard were the song cycles Winter Words and
the Michelangelo Sonnets. They were a part of the superb Decca
Eclipse series that was so influential in the early seventies. In fact, I think
I still have the old vinyl recording in my library – I guess I kept it for
sentimental reasons and for the beautiful photograph. Of course the Peter
Pears/ Benjamin Britten recording of these songs have been released on CD and
are no doubt essential discs in every Britten enthusiast’s collection. Yet it
is important that these works are reinterpreted for each generation, and what
was an appropriate style of singing in the 1940s may be less satisfactory sixty
years later...”
I was
impressed with the programme of music on this CD as well as the production – I
concluded:-
“What we
have here is a wonderful CD. I accept that not all the pieces presented may be
everyone’s cup of tea. Certainly I needed to do a double-take on The
Poet’s Echo. But taken in the round it is a fine presentation of a
selection of the composer’s works. It covers that which is well-known, such as
the Sonnets and works from the ‘hidden’ repertoire such as the Um Mitternacht
and the folksong settings.
The
singing and the playing are superb, the presentation is second to none and the
programme notes are ideal. All in all, this is a fine production.”
Please
read my full review and see details of the CD at MusicWeb
International
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