Britten to America – video interview with Sir Mark Elder

As his centenary year draws to a close, we can look back at some wonderful new recordings of Britten's music: Philip Higham's disc of the Cello Suites (Delphian), Oliver Knussen conducting The Rape of Lucretia at Aldeburgh (Virgin Classics), Ian Bostridge recording Britten's songs with Antonio Pappano and Xuefei Yang (EMI Classics), the Takács Quartet giving masterly accounts of all three string quartets (Hyperion), to name just a few.

But there is one more surprise left in Britten Year. The ever-enterprising NMC Records with Sir Mark Elder and his Hallé orchestra have just released an album of Britten's incidental music for radio and theatre called 'Britten To America'. Featuring soloists Mary Carewe, Jean Rigby and Andrew Kennedy, alongside narration from Samuel West, this album features music that will surprise even the most ardent Britten devotee, as Sir Mark explains to James Jolly in the following exclusive video interview: