Revelatory performance of one great composer by another, 16 Jun 2005

By	Klingsor Tristan (Suffolk) - See all my reviews

So it is absolutely fascinating to have the one composer's interpretive view of the other's Fourth Symphony. Britten was no amateur conductor, even though nerves often made him physically sick before a performance. Whenever he conducted other composers' works, his performances were never less than elucidating, and often revelatory. So it is here. Tempi are always judiciously chosen. The Slow Movement, for example, always keeps moving where some conductors seem to grind to a halt; the textures are kept clear so that contrapuntal lines make sense; and the whole movement is so well paced that, when the vision of a child's heaven finally bursts through, the moment is truly cathartic. Joan Carlyle sings the final movement beautifully without any affected child impersonations. And, at the end, the whole symphony gently rocks to a close in a way that reminds me of the end of Britten's own Sinfonia da Requiem.

The fill-ups of Mahler songs with Anna Reynolds and the lovely Elly Ameling show the skills of a master songwriter as accompanist. All in all, an enthralling and revelatory disc.

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