BBC Singers: five essential recordings
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
The BBC Singers played a significant part in the contemporary choral music world, regularly performing commissions
Birtwistle Angel Fighter. In Broken Images
Andrew Watts (Angel), Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts (Jacob); BBC Singers & London Sinfonietta / David Atherton NMC
'Angel Fighter owes as much to terse commentaries from choir and instruments as to extended dialogues between the admirable solo singers, and Atherton couples scrupulous attention to detail with exemplary alertness to the steadily unfolding shape of the whole.'
Adams Doctor Atomic
Sols; BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra / John Adams Nonesuch
'It is the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers who really stand out here. Razor sharp from beginning to end, the orchestra remain highly responsive to the work’s often complex polyrhythmic patterns and pulsations, with tempo and pacing perfectly judged under the composer’s own direction. The chorus is equally effective, ensuring that clarity is retained for the quieter dreamlike sections, and a measure of control applied to louder moments. The powerful, terrifying evocation of Vishnu at the end of Act 2 scene 3 (‘At the sight of this’) is absolutely gripping, as indeed is the performance throughout. Highly recommended.'
Birtwistle The Moth Requiem
Roderick Williams (baritone); BBC Singers & Nash Ensemble / Nicholas Kok Signum Classics
'Terrific stuff, with already the feel of a classic, and admirably served by the BBC Singers plus alto flute and three harps, and the conductor Nicholas Kok. May I ask for the departed John Alldis and his choir to be remembered? I expect he’s already in here somewhere. Without the work he did and the standards he set in the 1960s there would be no BBC Singers as we celebrate them today.'
Britten Death in Venice
Soloists; BBC Singers, City of London Sinfonia / Richard Hickox Chandos
'Hickox draws playing of high quality and generosity of feeling. Add an exemplary choral contribution from the BBC Singers and a typically atmospheric Chandos recording, and there is no reason to resist. After their titanic Billy Budd this is the next most desirable release in the Hickox/Chandos series of Britten operas so far.'
Birtwistle The Mask of Orpheus
BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Davis and Martyn Brabbins NMC
'Birtwistle communicates his refracted but gripping myth with, above all, orchestral colour: an orchestra of wind, percussion and plucked instruments (plus tape, sampler and a small chorus) used with vivid mastery. The sheer sound of this opera is quite haunting and, not least at the end when the myth dissolves, moving.'
