COMPOSERS: Britten
LABELS: EMI
WORKS: Our Hunting Fathers; Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings; folksong arrangements
PERFORMER: Elisabeth Söderström (soprano), Robert Tear (tenor), Alan Civil (horn); Orchestra of Welsh National Opera/Richard Armstrong; Northern Sinfonia Orchestra/Neville Marriner
CATALOGUE NO: CDM 7 69522 2 ADD/DDD (1982/70)
Our Hunting Fathers (1936), arguably Britten’s earliest masterpiece, is a challenging ‘symphonic cycle for voice and orchestra’ which has been sadly neglected: this impressive performance (1982) was its first commercial recording. Söderström displays her vocal skills to the full, and she is sympathetically accompanied, both here and in the folksong arrangements. Robert Tear’s recording (1970) of the Serenade remains a vivid performance in every way, not least because of the astonishing virtuosity of Alan Civil’s horn playing. Terry Barfoot
Britten: Our Hunting Fathers; Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings; folksong arrangements
Our Hunting Fathers (1936), arguably Britten’s earliest masterpiece, is a challenging ‘symphonic cycle for voice and orchestra’ which has been sadly neglected: this impressive performance (1982) was its first commercial recording. Söderström displays her vocal skills to the full, and she is sympathetically accompanied, both here and in the folksong arrangements. Robert Tear’s recording (1970) of the Serenade remains a vivid performance in every way, not least because of the astonishing virtuosity of Alan Civil’s horn playing. Terry Barfoot
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:31 pm