Britten The Little Sweep, etc
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Benjamin Britten
Genre:
Opera
Label: London
Magazine Review Date: 11/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 78
Mastering:
Stereo
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 436 393-2LM
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(The) Little Sweep |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
Alleyn's School Choir April Cantelo, Juliet Brook, Soprano Benjamin Britten, Conductor Benjamin Britten, Composer David Hemmings, Sam, Treble/boy soprano English Opera Group Orchestra Gabrielle Soskin, Tina Crome Jennifer Vyvyan, Rowan, Soprano Lyn Vaughan, Hugh Crome Marilyn Baker, Sophie Brook Michael Ingram, Gay Brook Nancy Evans, Miss Baggott, Mezzo soprano Peter Pears, Clem; Alford, Tenor Robin Fairhurst, Johnny Crome Trevor Anthony, Black Bob; Tom |
Gemini Variations (12 Variations and Fugue on an E |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
Alfred Jerger, Wotan, Tenor Aristide Baracchi, Marullo, Tenor Aristide Baracchi, Marullo, Tenor Aristide Baracchi, Marullo, Baritone Benjamin Britten, Composer Ella Flesch, Brünnhilde, Soprano Emanuel List, Hunding, Bass Gabriel Jeney, Violin Gabriel Jeney, Piano Giuseppe Menni, Count Ceprano, Bass Giuseppe Nessi, Borsa, Tenor Linda Brambilla, Countess Ceprano, Soprano Linda Brambilla, Countess Ceprano, Soprano Linda Brambilla, Giovanna, Soprano Linda Brambilla, Countess Ceprano, Mezzo soprano Linda Brambilla, Giovanna, Soprano Linda Brambilla, Giovanna, Soprano Lotte Lehmann, Sieglinde, Soprano Margarete Klose, Fricka, Mezzo soprano Marta Fuchs, Brünnhilde, Soprano Zoltán Jeney, Flute Zoltán Jeney, Piano |
Children's Crusade (Kinderkreuzzug) |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
Adelio Zagonara, Gherardo, Tenor Anna Marcangeli, Sister Dolcina, Soprano Anna Maria Canali, Zita, Contralto (Female alto) Benjamin Britten, Composer Benjamin Britten, Conductor Carlo del Monte, Rinuccio, Tenor Chamber Ensemble Claudio Cornoldi, Gherardino, Contralto (Female alto) Fernando Valentini, Marco, Baritone Giulina Raymondi, La Ciesca, Mezzo soprano Lydia Marimpietri, Nella, Soprano Lydia Marimpietri, Nella, Soprano Lydia Marimpietri, Nella, Soprano Russell Burgess, Conductor Saturno Meletti, Betto di Signa, Bass Sylvia Bertona, Lay Sister I, Soprano Teresa Catntarini, Nursing (Infirmary) Sister, Mezzo soprano Wandsworth School Boys' Choir |
Composer or Director: Benjamin Britten
Genre:
Opera
Label: London
Magazine Review Date: 11/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 66
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 436 397-2LM
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Noye's Fludde |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
Benjamin Britten, Composer Caroline Clack, Mrs Sem, Soprano Chorus Darien Angadi, Ham, Treble/boy soprano David Pinto, Sem, Treble/boy soprano East Suffolk Children's Orchestra Eileen O'Donovan, Mrs Jaffett, Soprano English Opera Group Orchestra Marie-Thérèse Pinto, Mrs Ham, Soprano Norman Del Mar, Conductor Owen Brannigan, Noye, Bass Sheila Rex, Mrs Noye, Mezzo soprano Stephen Alexander, Jaffett, Treble/boy soprano Trevor Anthony, Voice of God, Speaker |
(The) Golden Vanity |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
Anne Michalsky, Leitmetzerin, Soprano Aristide Baracchi, Monterone, Tenor Aristide Baracchi, Monterone, Tenor Aristide Baracchi, Monterone, Bass Benjamin Britten, Piano Benjamin Britten, Composer Hermann Gallos, Valzacchi, Tenor Karl Ettl, Police Commissioner, Bass Lina Pagliughi, Gilda, Soprano Luigi Piazza, Rigoletto, Baritone Russell Burgess, Conductor Salvatore Baccaloni, Sparafucile, Bass Tino Folgar, Duke, Tenor Vera de Cristoff, Maddalena, Contralto (Female alto) Wandsworth School Boys' Choir |
Author: Christopher Headington
None the less, these works still make invigorating listening. Lord Clark, of ''Civilisation'' fame, once said that
The Little Sweep also gets a vivid performance and this, again, was a first recording. It hasn't worn as well as other Britten works, partly because the libretto is middle class and the language twee, as when the children sing of Sammy ''Poor young boy! He's just a baby!/Weak with toil and wan with strain''. Yet one can forget that when listening to music that mostly remains delightfully fresh, and even join in the audience songs if one has a mind. On this same disc, the Gemini Variations, written for two Hungarian boys whose charming request won Britten over, and using flute and violin as well as piano duet, is less striking. The performance is nothing special either nor is the 1966 recording. But Britten enthusiasts will want this 15-minute piece. It is not otherwise available.
Nor are
Which leaves Owen Wingrave. Listening to it again, I don't think that it gives us Britten at his very best and the libretto seems oddly dated in a way that that of another James opera, The turn of the screw, doesn't, although the librettist was again Myfanwy Piper. Nevertheless, it remains the work of a master. The performance under the composer has a convincing Owen in Benjamin Luxon and a strong cast generally, while the 1970 sound is both immediate and pleasing.'
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