A fascinating issue
of early Britten this, featuring recordings
originally issued on Collins Classics
in the early 1990s. The Quatre Chansons
Françaises are particularly
interesting, being composed when he
was in his mid-teens. The innocent ear
would probably have great difficulty
in identifying the composer – not surprising
in juvenilia such as this – but what
is unmistakable, and significant, is
the strong continental accent of the
music. Debussy, Alban Berg and even
Wagner are all present in the background,
though there is sometimes an uncomfortable
angularity in the vocal writing which
is not present in the mature Britten.
Felicity Lott is at her absolute best
in these, and in the whole-hearted performance
of Les Illuminations that closes
the disc. Her voice sounds at its most
ravishing, and she abandons herself
to the music, delivering a performance
of a sensual beauty that neither Ian
Bostridge nor Pears himself could equal.
What is so remarkable about Lott’s vocal
prowess is the incredible richness of
tone in her upper register – no hint
of shrillness, or of constriction; it
really is something special, and makes
her reading of a song such as Being
Beauteous, for example – the eighth
of Les Illuminations – quite
an outstanding experience, especially
as she finds such variations in vocal
colour to reflect the moods of the poetry
and music. This is great singing.
Our Hunting Fathers,
which reflects Britten’s hatred of blood-sports
(the texts were anthologised, and the
Epilogue written, by W.H.Auden)
is an equally fine though far less
well-known cycle, and shows the young
composer (23 at the time of the premiere)
responding with powerful imagination
to the tensions of 1930s Europe. Hawking
for the Partridge, a setting of
a 17th century poem, is
the most memorable, in which the savage
hunting of the birds of prey seems to
be transformed into an aerial dog-fight.
Though Phyllis Bryn-Julson’s voice may
not have the sumptuousness of Lott’s,
she turns in a brilliant performance
of this and the whole cycle, and misses
nothing in terms of emotional intensity.
Her repeated cries of ‘Fie’ in Melissa
are truly heart-rending, and the
way the young composer allows these
to dissolve into the soft instrumental
colours is magically telling – ample
foretaste of the riches that were to
come.
Steuart Bedford has
always had a particularly acute feeling
for the style and sound-world of Britten’s
music, and he proves an ideal accompanist.
The characteristic string writing in
the Fanfare opening of Les
Illuminations is perfectly realised,
as is the violence of Rats Away and
Hawking for the Partridge in
Our Hunting Fathers.
In performances as
utterly assured and idiomatic as these,
the old question of Male Voice v. Female
Voice just doesn’t arise – for me at
any rate. These versions are quite fit
to take their place alongside the finest
available, and all is captured in vivid
recordings of the highest standard.
It’s great to welcome them back into
the catalogue.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
* Felicity Lott (soprano), Phyllis Bryn-Julson
(soprano) 
