Benjamin Britten - Cello Symphony; Gloriana Suite; Four Sea Interludes (Paul Watkins; Edward Gardner)

Information

Composer: Benjamin Britten

1. Symphonic Suite from 'Gloriana', Op. 53a: I. The Tournament
2. Symphonic Suite from 'Gloriana', Op. 53a: II. The Lute Song
3. Symphonic Suite from 'Gloriana', Op. 53a: III. The Courtly Dances
4. Symphonic Suite from 'Gloriana', Op. 53a: IV. Gloriana moritura
5. Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68: I. Allegro maestoso
6. Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68: II. Presto inquieto
7. Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68: III. Adagio - Cadenza ad lib
8. Symphony for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 68: IV. Passacaglia. Andante allegro
9. Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes', Op. 33a: I. Dawn. Lento e tranquillo
10. Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes', Op. 33a: II. Sunday Morning. Allegro spiritoso
11. Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes', Op. 33a: III. Moonlight. Andante comodo e rubato
12. Four Sea Interludes from 'Peter Grimes', Op. 33a: IV. Storm. Presto con fuoco

Paul Watkins, cello (5-8)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Edward Gardner, conductor

Date: 2011
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010658

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Review

Gardner’s operatic experience tells in a truly theatrical suite from Gloriana

Getting to grips with Britten’s music in the opera house has done Edward Gardner no harm at all. His conducting of the Symphonic Suite from Gloriana feels as if it has just stepped off the stage. He starts out with flamboyant cut-and-thrust in the jousting of “The Tournament” and gets playing that is light on its feet from the BBC Philharmonic in the “Courtly Dances”. Robert Murray’s intimate singing of the “Lute Song” is a bonus. This is altogether a more enjoyable performance than the one by Britten himself, recently issued by Hänssler Classic (11/10), not least because Britten had an orchestra less sure of the idiom and the live recording falls far short of Chandos’s impressive colour and depth.

It is also Gardner who is the dominant personality in the Cello Symphony. By pacing the score tautly and making sure this often brooding music never stands still (repeated motifs always have their intensity heightened), Gardner provides a strong framework for Paul Watkins’s expressive playing. The deep concentration and nimble technique that he brings to the solo part make this a satisfying performance – at least until comparisons with the composer’s own (London, 9/89). There, Rostropovich’s larger-than-life personality leaps off the page so vividly that he seems even less likely to be surpassed as a Britten interpreter than Peter Pears. Still, with Gardner kicking up quite a storm in the Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, this makes a highly recommendable addition to Chandos’s extensive Britten catalogue.

-- Richard Fairman, Gramophone

More reviews:
MusicWeb International  RECORDING OF THE MONTH
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: *****
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10
http://www.thestrad.com/review/britten-cello-symphony-symphonic-suite-from-gloriana-four-sea-interludes-from-peter-grimes/
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=9174
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/mar/17/britten-cello-symphony-review
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Review/263376,britten-cello-symphony-symphonic-suite-from-gloriana-four-sea-interludes-paul-watkins-vc-robert-murray-t-bbc-phil/gardner.aspx
http://www.allmusic.com/album/britten-cello-symphony-symphonic-suite-from-gloriana-four-sea-interludes-from-peter-grimes-mw0002112838
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britten-Symphony-Symphonic-Gloriana-Interludes/dp/B004LHOZYA
https://www.amazon.com/Symphony-Symphonic-Gloriana-Interludes-Grimes/dp/B004LHOZYA

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Benjamin Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral and chamber pieces. Over the next 28 years, he wrote 14 more operas, establishing himself as one of the leading 20th-century composers in the genre. Britten's other works range from orchestral to choral, solo vocal, chamber and instrumental as well as film music. Britten was also a celebrated pianist and conductor, performing many of his own works in concert and on record.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Britten

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Paul Watkins (born 1970) is a Welsh classical cellist and conductor. Watkins studied cello with William Pleeth, Melissa Phelps and Johannes Goritzki. From 1990 to 1997, he was principal cellist of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Watkins joined the Emerson String Quartet in the 2013-14 season, replacing the departing cellist David Finckel. He was previously a cellist with the Nash Ensemble. As a conductor, Watkins has been music director of the English Chamber Orchestra since 2009, and has recorded for the Warner Classics label. Watkins plays on a cello made by Domenico Montagnana and Matteo Goffriller, c 1730.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Watkins_(musician)

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Edward Gardner (born 22 November 1974 in Gloucester) is an English conductor. He attended University of Cambridge as a music student, and was a choral scholar in King's College Choir. He also studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where his teachers included Colin Metters. He was music director of English National Opera (2006-2015), principal guest conductor of  the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (2011-2016). He is currently principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Gardner has conducted several recordings for EMI Classics and Chandos. Records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gardner_(conductor)

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