Benjamin Britten - Phaedra; A Charm of Lullabies; Lachrymae; Two Portraits; Sinfonietta (Sarah Connolly; Edward Gardner)

Information

Composer: Benjamin Britten

1. Phaedra, dramatic cantata for mezzo-soprano and small orchestra, Op. 93
2. A Charm of Lullabies, for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, Op. 41: 1. A Cradle Song
3. A Charm of Lullabies, for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, Op. 41: 2. The Highland Balou
4. A Charm of Lullabies, for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, Op. 41: 3. Sephestia's Lullaby
5. A Charm of Lullabies, for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, Op. 41: 4. A Charm
6. A Charm of Lullabies, for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, Op. 41: 5. The Nurse's Song
7. Lachrymae, for solo viola and string orchestra, Op. 48a
8. Two Portraits: 'D. Layton' (for string orchestra)
9. Two Portraits: 'E.B.B.' (for solo viola and string orchestra)
10. Sinfonietta, Op. 1: I. Poco presto ed agitato
11. Sinfonietta, Op. 1: II. Variations. Andante lento
12. Sinfonietta, Op. 1: III. Tarantella. Presto vivace

Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano (1-6)
Maxim Rysanov, viola (7, 9)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Edward Gardner, conductor

Date: 2011
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2010671

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Review

In just over 70 minutes, this disc takes us from the dawn of Britten’s creative life to its sunset. The earliest work is the Two Portraits, a student work dating from summer 1930. Edward Gardner’s sensitivity to the bittersweet Thirties idiom of the first portrait and the elegiac eloquence of viola soloist Maxim Rysanov in the second combine to highly atmospheric effect. By contrast, the latest work is the dramatic cantata Phaedra, composed for Janet Baker and one of the minor masterpieces of Britten’s last years. Spurred on by Gardner’s keen sense of theatre, Sarah Connolly goes straight for the drama. Though there are points where memories of Janet Baker’s very individual accents (Philips, 5/90) are impossible to erase, Connolly uses her larger voice and breadth of scale to create a veritable operatic scena.

The rest of the programme is cleverly planned around a series of orchestral arrangements of smaller works. Rysanov returns as soloist in a deeply thoughtful performance of Lachrymae in Britten’s own later version for small string orchestra, and Connolly comes back as the warm-voiced soloist in the orchestral version of A Charm of Lullabies so skilfully made by Colin Matthews that it could be by Britten himself. Finally, Gardner leads a brilliant performance of the Sinfonietta, Op 1, showing how Britten’s version for small orchestra and two horns can add colour without losing all its original chamber-music edge thanks to vital playing from the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chandos’s excellent sound. None of these is a first recording but every one is top quality. Imaginative programme, highly recommended.

-- Richard Fairman, Gramophone

More reviews:
MusicWeb International  RECORDING OF THE MONTH
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: ****
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/09/britten-phaedra-lullabies-lachrymae-review
http://www.allmusic.com/album/britten-phaedra-a-charm-of-lullabies-lachrymae-two-portraits-sinfonietta-mw0002141475
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britten-Lullabies-BBC-Symphony-Orchestra/dp/B004SVNIGA

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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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Sarah Connolly (born 13 June 1963 in County Durham) is an English mezzo-soprano. She studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music and continues her studies with Gerald Martin Moore. Although best known for her baroque and classical roles, Connolly has a wide-ranging repertoire which has included works by Wagner as well as various 20th-century composers. Connolly has made a number of recordings including Rameau's Les Fetes d'Hebe with Les Arts Florissants, Antonio Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans with The King’s Consort and J.S. Bach's cantatas with Collegium Vocale Gent.
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Connolly-Sarah.htm

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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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