Sally gardens britten tenor series#
Grimes marked the start of a series of English operas, of which Billy Budd (1951) and The Turn of the Screw (1954) were particularly admired.
Britten was however encountering opposition from sectors of the English musical establishment, and gradually withdrew from the London scene, founding the English Opera Group in 1947 and the Aldeburgh Festival the following year, partly (though not solely) to showcase his own works. He had already begun work on his opera Peter Grimes, and its premiere at Sadler's Wells in 1945 was his greatest success so far. Here Britten composed his first opera to Auden's libretto and the first of many song-cycles for Pears the period was otherwise remarkable for a number of orchestral works, including concertos for piano and violin, and the Sinfonia da Requiem.īritten and Pears returned to England in 1942, Britten completing the choral works Hymn to Saint Cecilia (his last collaboration with Auden) and A Ceremony of Carols during the long sea voyage. In early 1939 the two of them followed Auden to America. More lastingly important was his meeting in 1936 with the tenor Peter Pears, who was to become his life partner and musical collaborator. Auden with whom he collaborated on the song-cycle Our Hunting Fathers, radical both in politics and musical treatment, and other works. His first composition to attract wide attention was the choral variations A Boy was Born, written in 1934 for the BBC Singers. He also studied, less happily, at the Royal College of Music under John Ireland and others. He began composing prolifically as a child, and in 1927 began private lessons with Frank Bridge. Not all is frivolous and frou-frou an Ingemisco from a Requiem by Mayr is particularly moving and Deborah de Graaf's clarinet obbligato in Generali's Per Pieta is just one instance of the exemplary contributions from the band.Britten was born in Lowestoft in Suffolk, the son of a dentist and a talented amateur musician. The title song is a perky daiquiri to get you in the mood, but the operatically inclined will cherish the many little-known arias by composers like the German Peter von Winter, including a dashing Polish specimen by the splendidly named Marco Antonio da Fonseca Portugallo - no prizes for guessing the nationality there. The masterly Richard Bonynge presides over the stylish Arcadia Lane Orchestra. It is a collection of 21 light, airy ballads and arias, lovingly delivered by a soprano whose singing only occasionally reveals the strain of ill-health. Her album, Cherry Ripe, describes itself as "Vocal Treasures of the 18th and 19th Century" and so they are. She was just 50 and one of Australia's finest sopranos, at her peak as Sieglinde in Adelaide's 2004 Ring. An arrangement of Early One Morning has a prettiness that deserves to come back into vogue.ĭeborah Riedel passed away early this year after a decade battling cancer. The sequence of the songs brings special pleasures, especially when, after the chiming reveries of The Ash Grove we are dashed back to earth and 17th-century politics with the astringent Oliver Cromwell. The credit here must go to Davislim's unerringly warm tenor, from his elegant foray through Sally Gardens to his closing salute to summer's final rose. These rather arty takes on the simplest of folk-ballads were spoofed in their time by Dudley Moore, but decades on, they are lovely period pieces, with mellow joys of their own. A collection of Benjamin Britten's Folksong Arrangements, sung by tenor Steve Davislim, has the controversial Simone Young putting down her baton to provide piano accompaniments. Two recent and handsomely packaged Melba releases show that faith and funding have been amply rewarded. This is an organisation which, with the welcome leg-up of a $5 million ($6.3 million) government grant, is catching the best of Australia's singers and other musicians on CD. The redoubtable Dame Nellie Melba may have lent her name to a peach dessert and very, very crisp toast, but I would imagine she would be much prouder to be associated with the sterling work of the Melba Foundation. Herald rating: * * * * Deborah Riedel - Cherry Ripe - (both Melba, through Ode Records) Herald rating: * * * * * Benjamin Britten - Folksong Arrangements
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