An excellent Hyperion
reissue on the Helios label, this disc
includes some of Britten’s lesser-known
but typically brilliant works, such
as Phaedra and The Sword in
Stone, as well as some very early
works, and the much-loved Lachrymae.
Phaedra, which
was written for Janet Baker, is a cantata
for soprano solo, strings, percussion
and harpsichord, and the words have
been taken from Robert Lowell’s verse
translation of Racine’s Phèdre.
It is a powerful, dramatic and moving
work, and this recording brings out
those qualities well. Rigby has a deep,
rich, mature voice that suits the piece
well. She faces competition on the Elatus
label from Lorraine Hunt with the Hallé
Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano (later
in the same year, curiously enough!),
and it is the Warner Elatus disc (0927490102
coupled with The Rescue of Penelope)
that I marginally prefer – Hunt comes
across as slightly wilder and more impassioned
than Rigby does here. Another good recording
that you might across is with Ann Murray
on Naxos along with superlative performances
of Serenade and Nocturne
with Philip Langridge. Again, I slightly
prefer Hunt’s interpretation, and her
heavier voice and more intense and passionate
touch works better for me than Murray’s
shriller and lighter yet more sinister
air.
Lachrymae is
probably the best known work on the
disc. It is a set of variations on the
opening part of Dowland’s song If
my complaints could passions move,
and is here played in its later version,
the piano part rearranged by Britten
for strings. There are many different
recordings of this work, and this is
certainly one that I can recommend,
with a brilliantly sympathetic string
orchestra, and radiant viola solo from
Roger Chase, quite virtuosic in places,
and suitably dark and intense.
The Sinfonietta
for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon,
trumpet, trombone, harp and percussion
was written when Britten was studying
under John Ireland at the Royal College
of Music, and is an amazingly accomplished
work for his age. The Nash Ensemble’s
vibrant, lively playing shows off the
young Britten’s skills well.
In 1939 the BBC commissioned
Britten to write the incidental music
for a dramatic version of T H White’s
novel The Sword in the Stone,
about King Arthur’s youth. Britten plays
around with references to Wagner throughout
the work – most notably in the Bird
Music movement, whilst the Lullaby
I find almost reminds me of Shostakovich
in parts! The work is a suitable combination
(given the subject matter) of playfulness
and enchantment. A delightful work,
and extremely well performed.
Two movements exist
of Britten’s early attempt at a wind
sextet – in which he employs the usual
wind quintet combination with an added
bass clarinet. This disc includes the
first movement only, which was completed
while he was still at school at Gresham’s
in Norfolk. Precocious is surely the
only word to describe this highly atmospheric
work!
In 1936 Britten collaborated
with W H Auden to produce the music
for Night Mail, a documentary
made in 1936 about express trains. It
is a stunning work, and makes a good
end to the disc, although I would sooner
have had the second movement of the
wind sextet and left Night Mail
to another disc, to be presented in
its entirety rather than just the final
sequence. The work brings up an image
of the train chugging along and the
people whose lives it will touch, painting
an extremely vivid picture. The words
and music work brilliantly, to deeply
moving effect. If you are in the slightest
nostalgic this will bring a lump to
your throat! Nigel Hawthorne narrates
superbly in an extremely evocative performance.
This is a disc I can
wholeheartedly recommend. The pieces
are well-chosen - slightly unusual but
all the more welcome for that, and the
sensitive, characterful performances
are of a consistently high standard.
The notes and presentation are good,
although I was surprised to see the
artistic director listed along with
the performers on the disc cover – what
other ensemble lists their managing
or artistic director on the back? Otherwise,
this disc cannot be faulted.
Em Marshall
Note from Dr Stephen Hall:-
Britten's Op.95 Phaedra is called
a 'cantata' but might as well be a highly
compressed opera by a composer at his
peak of genius with little time left
to him as his health collapsed.
It was written for Dame Janet Baker
and those unlucky enough to have missed
the premiere or a recording of it missed
glory which the Decca CD (with The
Rape of Lucretia) fails to capture.
Steuart Bedford did his best to rally
the ECO troops in the studio and Dame
Janet was on great form but it simply
falls short of what might have been.
It plods along - like Lowell's clumsy
translation of Racine - and the harpsichord
is too far forward to make it sound
real.
Furthermore, Decca's cynical policy
of sticking Britten recordings together
at full price occurs here as awkwardly
as the Billy Budd package where
the great opera runs for just a few
minutes on CD1 before getting to the
rest.
Hyperion's version with Jean Rigby
conducted by Friend shows Miss Rigby
near her best but the direction and
orchestra are less than friendly and
there is a confused air in the ensemble
which lets the soloist down. The recording
is also vague.
The best performances are in the cheaper
range with the star recording surely
being the Elatus with the late Lorraine
Hunt-Lieberson. She is in her element
with the Hallé Orchestra on accurate
and thrilling form. Kent Nagano drives
the action from his deep understanding
of Britten's works and knowing the stakes
regarding the soloist's health.
This full-blooded performance reminds
me of Dame Janet's world premiere because
the character of Phaedra is a woman
in middle age crazy about her son-in
law so the part needs maturity but also
guile in her royal court. Dame Janet
achieved this live but the studio recording
remains a disappointment.
The Elatus recording lacks some focus
and the Shostakovich-like skeletal percussion
in the final bars is muffled but a good
mixer can emphasise it.
Enter Steuart Bedford again on Naxos
with a Collins (1994) re-issue with
the Irish Ann Murray as Phaedra, a fresher
ECO and far better recording than Decca
managed. This time we hear the intricate
subtleties of Britten's wondrous orchestration.
Ann Murray has a lighter mezzo voice
than Baker and Hunt-Lieberson and she
is more restrained than the latter in
the passionate abandon department
but Murray picks up the 'foxy' nature
of the historical character (as Baker
did live) and is utterly thrilling in
a different way from the late Lorraine
Hunt-Lieberson.
I suggest buying the Elatus and
the Naxos but maybe borrowing the overpriced
Decca from a library until someone who
has a good recording of Dame Janet live
can find a label to release it in the
face of copyright tyranny.
Britten wrote some great music in his
last years and Phaedra is perhaps
the best.
Stephen Hall
Jean Rigby (mezzo); Roger Chase (viola); Nigel
Hawthorne (narrator) 
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