COMPOSERS: Britten
LABELS: EMI
WORKS: Spring Symphony; Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
PERFORMER: Sheila Armstrong (soprano), Janet Baker contralto), Robert Tear (tenor); St Clement Danes School Boys’ Choir/LSO & Chorus/André Previn
CATALOGUE NO: CDM 7 64736 2 ADD
There is ample cause to celebrate this reissue under EMI’s distinguished British Composers label. The soloists are first class (particularly so, Janet Baker) and the LSO plays with an enviable lucidity and transparency. Britten’s mastery of complex vocal forces is never in doubt in this work. As a peculiarly English expression of springlike sentiment it is without equal. It’s a world of meadows, maidens, posies, cakes and ale that quickens the pulse and sends you running for the Pimms. The bleak experience of the East Anglian coast as depicted in the Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes should be an effective antidote. Christopher Lambton
Britten: Spring Symphony; Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
There is ample cause to celebrate this reissue under EMI’s distinguished British Composers label. The soloists are first class (particularly so, Janet Baker) and the LSO plays with an enviable lucidity and transparency. Britten’s mastery of complex vocal forces is never in doubt in this work. As a peculiarly English expression of springlike sentiment it is without equal. It’s a world of meadows, maidens, posies, cakes and ale that quickens the pulse and sends you running for the Pimms.
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:35 pm