Benjamin Britten

[aligreto]

Benjamin Britten is a composer that I have skirted around for a number of years. I have just checked and I have listened to 28 of his works [all of which are in my collection]. I have liked all of them with the exception of Billy Budd [you can't win 'em all!]. Britten will be one composer that I plan to investigate more in 2017. I will commence by reading this thread and hopefully get some pointers here.

[cilgwyn]

Same here! I find the subject matter unappealing. I think I'll stick to Pinafore......although,funnily enough,that's my least favourite G & S!! I'm not sure about Gloriana,either;although I quite like the Choral dances (not that they made a particularly huge impression on me) and it should be more interesting than an opera on board a ship? I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this opera here? Again,I have to admit that the subject matter doesn't really appeal to me. I notice a certain ubiquitous UK purveyor offering the Argos set at a ridiculously low price,on Amazon! (Groan! )
I wish they'd stop doing that!!

[cilgwyn]

Yes,while I don't want to get into politics;I must admit I do find courtly goings on,past or current,extremely soporific!

[aligreto]

Same here! I find the subject matter unappealing. I think I'll stick to Pinafore......although,funnily enough,that's my least favourite G & S!! I'm not sure about Gloriana,either;although I quite like the Choral dances (not that they made a particularly huge impression on me) and it should be more interesting than an opera on board a ship? I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this opera here? Again,I have to admit that the subject matter doesn't really appeal to me. I notice a certain ubiquitous UK purveyor offering the Argos set at a ridiculously low price,on Amazon! (Groan! )
I wish they'd stop doing that!!

Interesting comments; thank you. For me it was not the fact that it was an opera on board a ship that did not appeal to me but rather that I found the music very dull and uninspiring. I have not heard Gloriana yet so I cannot comment.

[cilgwyn]

My favourite Britten operas in order of preference:
Death in Venice
The Rape of Lucretia
The Turn of the Screw

(Or The Turn of the Screw then Lucretia,depending on how I feel!

Peter Grimes

A Midsummer Nights Dream

I've got the Decca recording of Albert Herring,too. I quite like it now & again for the singers. The recording is atmospheric. But for comedy,I actually think Brian's The Tigers is much more fun!

[aligreto]

My favourite Britten operas in order of preference:
Death in Venice
The Rape of Lucretia
The Turn of the Screw

(Or The Turn of the Screw then Lucretia,depending on how I feel!

Peter Grimes

A Midsummer Nights Dream

I've got the Decca recording of Albert Herring,too. I quite like it now & again for the singers. The recording is atmospheric. But for comedy,I actually think Brian's The Tigers is much more fun!

Thank you for that; I will come back to this post again. 

[cilgwyn]

Actually,I think the seafaring angle probably appealed to me as a teenager! (Treasure island,Moonfleet,John Masefield,etc) It's just so 'long ago'!! I'm like Captain Vere in the Prologue,now  ! Although,not quite that old.........yet!! I also remember that aria with Claggart warbling about how wicked he was,and my mother coming in just at that point and saying,"I don't think he'd say (sing) that (if he was wicked!). I felt she had a point. The problem with wicked characters is that,unlike allot of  cartoon or movie villains, they don't realise that they are wicked! Needless,to say that comment did bother me! I also seem to recall I did enjoy the shanties and the appearance of a Welshman. Very stereotypical. We all talk like that. Duw! Duw! Look you,bach (putting aside my harp!). But it is an old recording!! I also seem to recall that some wags did make comparisons (at the time) between Britten's opera and  HMS Pinafore! Thinking about it now,I think the Britten operas I listed above just have more interesting orchestration and ideas. I don't actually have a problem with the idea of an opera on board a ship,as such. Still not my favourite location,though! (Incidentally,has anyone ever set an opera on board a submarine?).

[knight66]

The self exposure of a wicked character is a normal mechanism used in drama, then opera. Essentially they are internal dialogues and provide insights into the stat of the character. And I think a number of wicked people know perfectly well that they are and have some regrets about it, others relish it. For Britten, it is rarely totally black and white. Vere is deeply repressed and takes his supressed desires out on Budd, punnishing himself for his desire by ensuring the object of that desire is removed.

So much of his work is filled with this kind of repression, Grimes, Budd, Turn of the Screw, Death in Venice. It is his equivelence to Wagner's obsession with redemption.

Mike

[mc ukrneal]

So I have Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. I have the version with the New Philharmonia Orchestra under the direction of Raymond Leppard. The narrator is Richard Baker. This version is simply awesome with some outstanding brass playing and sounds. I find myself, on occasion, interested in a version without narration. Are there any versions like that? And are there any as good as this? The brass have to be really good and the tempo can't drag. I'd also like SOTA sound, but something modern in darned good sound will suffice. Thanks!

EDIT: And clarity has to be excellent too.

[Baron Scarpia]

Britten's own is very fine.

[asin]B0000041S6[/asin]

For modern sound, there is a Hickox recording on Chandos, but it doesn't sound better than Britten's own.

[Mirror Image]

I can only second Scarpia's recommendations. It's difficult to beat Britten conducting his own music since he was such an authority on the podium and knew what he wanted.

[vandermolen]

I can only second Scarpia's recommendations. It's difficult to beat Britten conducting his own music since he was such an authority on the podium and knew what he wanted.

I agree. His version of 'Sinfonia da Requiem' on Decca is by far my favourite version.

[Ken B]

I agree. His version of 'Sinfonia da Requiem' on Decca is by far my favourite version.

Third. He got top notch John Culshaw sound on Decca too. (Just listen to Curlew River!)

[Mirror Image]

I agree. His version of 'Sinfonia da Requiem' on Decca is by far my favourite version.

Oh yeah and his War Requiem is still the performance to beat IMHO.

[vandermolen]

Oh yeah and his War Requiem is still the performance to beat IMHO.

Yes - a very special performance.

[Ainsi la nuit]

I wonder why Rostropovich never recorded the 3rd cello suite commercially - does anyone know? I could probably find the answer online but I'm being cheeky and using this opportunity to wake up this thread.

I just finished listening to the three suites, played by Truls Mørk. Amazing music! I love Britten's chamber music a lot. I still have a lot to explore: I basically don't know his operas at all.

Hearing the violin concerto live (already three times!) is a wonderful experience. It's a terrific piece, full of stark emotion.

[Irons]

I just finished listening to the three suites, played by Truls Mørk. Amazing music! I love Britten's chamber music a lot. I still have a lot to explore: I basically don't know his operas at all.

Hearing the violin concerto live (already three times!) is a wonderful experience. It's a terrific piece, full of stark emotion.

I love Britten's violin concerto. My two favourite recordings are both by the fairer sex: Ida Haendel on EMI, but even better, on the Czech Supraphon label of all places, Nora Grumlikova with Peter Maag conducting the Prague SO, the coupling being RVW Concerto Accademico.

All three Britten quartets are special and the 1st is extra-special.

[bhodges]

I just finished listening to the three suites, played by Truls Mørk. Amazing music!

That is a marvelous recording. (I haven't heard any other recordings of all three, so am unaware of how it compares.)

Want to give a shout-out to Noseda's War Requiem, which is a spectacular modern version -- the best I have heard since Britten's original.

[asin]B00713Y2R6[/asin]

--Bruce

[vandermolen]

In Suffolk on holiday this week. Today we did a six mile walk from Aldeburgh. Saw the shell memorial to Britten on the beach and then visited the very impressive 'Maltings' at Snape.

[Irons]

In Suffolk on holiday this week. Today we did a six mile walk from Aldeburgh. Saw the shell memorial to Britten on the beach and then visited the very impressive 'Maltings' at Snape.

My favourite place. We visit every year and stay at the Wentworth Hotel. Discovered Aldeburgh about twenty years ago and amazingly nothing has changed in that time. A walk along the beach to Thorpeness and back is a must.