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Amazon.co.uk Review
This recording assembles the royalty of British opera in one performance, and the effect is electrifying. Every role is sung with energy and passion, so that a chamber-opera effect is created of powerfully claustrophobic intimacy. When this is played out against a backdrop of perfectly-realised pageantry and pomp, the result is a heady mix of desire and duty. Barstow finds a different colour of her clear, strong voice for each scene: first commanding, then entreating; next queenly, then lover-like. Langridge also finds exactly the right sound for the impetuous, clever and foolish Essex. But if there is a prize for this recording, it must surely go to Mackerras who understands that the orchestra is another character in the drama, commenting on the action. He draws a sinewy, taut sound from the WNO orchestra and never lets the tension drop. This is a must-hear recording of an unduly neglected masterpiece. --Warwick Thompson
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A little known piece that is a true classic,
By gedrobinson@hotmail.com (Leeds, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Britten: Gloriana - Box Set (Audio CD)
I stumbled across this piece by accident, being bought tickets to a performance by Opera North as a Christmas Present by a well meaning friend. It was an experience I was not to forget, and the delivery here surpasses what I observed live. Featuring Bryn Terfel, a man of almost superstar status in the world of Opera, this rendition is virtually perfect. If you dont know, the story is based upon the love / hate relationship between a young Elizabeth I and Essex - one of her "favourites". Unlike most portrayals of this formidable Queen, Gloriana displays her as a frail and emotionally unstable character (to whit - she is ultimatley responsible for the death of a man she once loved) The score encapsulates all the tension, emotion and confusion swirling in the mind of our former ruler as she realises that she has to curtail a character that even she cannot tame. The sensitivity of the ultimate anguish, as she signs Essex's death warrant, cannot be described in words, neither mine nor Britten's, and the music is left to portray this finality.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Much finer than history would have you think,
By
This review is from: Britten: Gloriana - Box Set (Audio CD)
Until this recording came along history would have you think Gloriana was Britten's one big operatic dud. This version triumphantly kicks that preconception into the outer darkness. Superbly cast in strength what surprised me was how well as a piece of drama it flows. Whether the big set piece public scenes or the 'private' moments between characters they all work superbly. Another major triumph for Mackerras - right up there with his evangelising of Janacek operas. Unlikely ever to be bettered.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning music,
By A Customer
This review is from: Britten: Gloriana - Box Set (Audio CD)
This recording of Gloriana does full justice to this staggeringly beautiful piece. It has been little performed over the last 50 years, but is an absolute masterpiece. A poignant story, and with Britten's 'less is more' philosophy underlying the music - buying this record for track 15 alone would be worth it (the lyre song). All voices in theis recording are in very fine form, and the orchestra and conducting are top notch. A joy.
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