Britten Orchestral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Benjamin Britten
Label: Chandos
Magazine Review Date: 2/1991
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 73
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CHAN8817
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
(I) Musici de Montreal Benjamin Britten, Composer Yuli Turovsky, Conductor |
| Lachrymae |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
(I) Musici de Montreal Benjamin Britten, Composer Rivka Golani, Viola Yuli Turovsky, Conductor |
| Simple Symphony |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
(I) Musici de Montreal Benjamin Britten, Composer Yuli Turovsky, Conductor |
| Young Apollo |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
(I) Musici de Montreal Benjamin Britten, Composer Christian Prévost, Violin David Ellis, Cello Eleonora Turovsky, Violin Paul Stewart, Piano Suzanne Careau, Viola Yuli Turovsky, Conductor |
Composer or Director: Benjamin Britten
Label: Chandos
Magazine Review Date: 2/1991
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: ABTD1442
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
(I) Musici de Montreal Benjamin Britten, Composer Yuli Turovsky, Conductor |
| Lachrymae |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
(I) Musici de Montreal Benjamin Britten, Composer Rivka Golani, Viola Yuli Turovsky, Conductor |
| Simple Symphony |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
(I) Musici de Montreal Benjamin Britten, Composer Yuli Turovsky, Conductor |
| Young Apollo |
Benjamin Britten, Composer
(I) Musici de Montreal Benjamin Britten, Composer Christian Prévost, Violin David Ellis, Cello Eleonora Turovsky, Violin Paul Stewart, Piano Suzanne Careau, Viola Yuli Turovsky, Conductor |
Author:
This is an attractive Britten programme, extremely well performed by these Montreal players under Yuli Turovsky. The recording, too, is admirable, though some may find it rather too close for complete comfort, especially in pizzicato passages.
The disc contains a rarity inYoung Apollo, composed in 1939 in North America where it had a single performance in Toronto before being withdrawn and its opus number given to another work. It was disinterred after Britten's death and has previously been recorded by Simon Rattle for EMI (1/83—nla). Scored for solo piano, string quartet and string orchestra, it has an extraordinary brilliance and is clearly a by-product of Les illuminations. One imagines Britten was dissatisfied with it because it is too short to stand satisfactorily on its own. It is strange how such a marvellous pianist had problems with orchestral works involving that instrument, as the Piano Concerto also testifies. Nevertheless, we would be the poorer for not knowing it, and this performance conveys all its dazzle as well as its poetry.
Rivka Golani is an eloquent soloist in the 1976 orchestral version of Lachrymae, one of Britten's 'homage' works, in this case to Dowland. But for all the virtuosity and depth of her playing, she does not penetrate to the melancholy heart of this set of variations as fully as Roger Chase on Virgin Classics, nor is the recording quality quite as good. Of course, she is still in the top class and if you prefer this Chandos selection, you will be quite happy with this Lachrymae (and the Chandos disc contains 23 minutes more music).
The Simple Symphony is also common to both discs. Here Turovsky tends to portentousness as he does in the Frank Bridge Variations. Both works are exceptionally well played, although a rather over-careful precision elbows out any impression of spontaneity. However, the cellos in the ''Funeral March'', the glacial sounds produced in ''Chant'' and the intensity of the lento section of the finale are all plus factors.'
The disc contains a rarity in
Rivka Golani is an eloquent soloist in the 1976 orchestral version of Lachrymae, one of Britten's 'homage' works, in this case to Dowland. But for all the virtuosity and depth of her playing, she does not penetrate to the melancholy heart of this set of variations as fully as Roger Chase on Virgin Classics, nor is the recording quality quite as good. Of course, she is still in the top class and if you prefer this Chandos selection, you will be quite happy with this Lachrymae (and the Chandos disc contains 23 minutes more music).
The Simple Symphony is also common to both discs. Here Turovsky tends to portentousness as he does in the Frank Bridge Variations. Both works are exceptionally well played, although a rather over-careful precision elbows out any impression of spontaneity. However, the cellos in the ''Funeral March'', the glacial sounds produced in ''Chant'' and the intensity of the lento section of the finale are all plus factors.'
Britten Orchestral Works
Britten Orchestral Works
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