Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
|
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
This could be said to be the most personal of all Britten's operas. It was written sub specie mortis when he was very ill and he deliberately postponed major surgery until he had finished it. It was his last outpouring of love, both for the man and the voice of Peter Pears. And, of course the part fits Pears like a glove. It has to be admitted that, while Britten always wrote perfectly for his lover's unique voice, the parts themselves were not always such a good fit (Albert Herring, Lysander, even Grimes, for example). Aschenbach, on the other hand, is his part par excellence. The coolly objective aesthete, observing and chronicling beauty from the outside, who is brought low by a sudden eruption of the Dionysian side of his nature seems, on the evidence of his performances, to be a part Pears was born to play. No-one since has bettered him. Tear (available on video) takes objectivity too far: he stands outside the part and seems to be an observer of the observer. Rolfe Johnson is fine as the aesthete, less convincing in his moral decline. Langridge (on the new Chandos CD) is more a man of action than Pears, more ready to involve himself in life, and consequently his descent into physical and spiritual degeneration seems to have less distance to travel, heart-breaking though he makes the final scenes. His very different portrayal is probably the only credible rival to Pears.
Of course, Pears sings the part ravishingly, penetrating all the shades of meaning in the recitatives, climbing great heights in the more lyrical passages. The 'Phaedrus' aria is perhaps the most sublime and beautiful thing done by both composer and singer. This opera was certainly Pears' masterpiece, even if it remains debatable whether it was Britten's.
These days Alan Opie seems to have monopolised the multiple Mephistophelean baritone parts. And very good he is, too. But it is fascinating to return to the composer's original choice, John Shirley-Quirk. He really sings the part and demonstrates what a good 'sing' most of it is. The more extreme figures perhaps lack something of the character Opie invests them with (Fop or Entertainer, for example: Shirley-Quirk doesn't do camp!), but the Traveller, the Gondolier and the Hotel Manager benefit from the greater lyricism in the voice.
For the first time in the Decca canon of his operas (Noye excepted) Britten doesn't conduct this performance. By the time it was made, he was too ill. Steuart Bedford, who takes on the task, was fully briefed and the composer's intentions were no boubt made very clear throughout the sessions. It is, as it was in the theatre, as satisfying a reading as you could have expected from Britten himself. James Bowman as Apollo and all the bit-parts taken by members of the English Opera Group are admirably sung and performed.
A great performance of a great part in a great (if underrated) opera. Why hesitate?
The opera is also a musical depiction of Venice; its alleyways, the churches, the light. Just listen to the scene where Aschenbach opens his hotel window to look at the view. You are there, you can smell the air, hear the bells. It's a wonderfully evocative piece of writing.
A minor gripe: the games scene is overlong, but otherwise the performances are first rate.
One of Britten's greatest operatic achievements.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
