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Benjamin Britten: The Rarities
 
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Benjamin Britten: The Rarities [Box set]

~ Pears/Britten/Ellis/Rostropovich (Artist)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Audio CD (14 May 2001)
  • SPARS Code: DDD
  • Number of Discs: 2
  • Format: Box set
  • Label: Universal Classics
  • ASIN: B00005IA6G
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 100,393 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Track Listings

Disc: 1
1. Canticle II - Abraham & Issac
2. Gemini variations, Op. 73
3. A birthday Hansel, Op. 92 (Canticle)
4. Cantata academica (Carmen Basiliense), Op. 62
5. Russian funeral
Disc: 2
1. Cantata misericordium, Op. 69
2. Children's crusade, Op. 82
3. The poet's echo, Op. 76
4. Six holderlin fragments, Op. 61
5. Two insect pieces (1935)
On this CD:
  1. Canticle No. 2_Abraham and Isaac
    Composed by Benjamin Britten
    with Norma Procter, Sir Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten

  2. Gemini Variations (12 Variations and Fugue on an Epigram of Kodály)
    Composed by Benjamin Britten
    with Gabriel Jeney, Zoltán Jeney

  3. (A) Birthday Hansel
    Composed by Benjamin Britten
    with Sir Peter Pears, Osian Ellis

  4. Cantata Academica, 'Carmen basiliense'
    Composed by Benjamin Britten
    Performed by London Symphony Chorus
    with Jennifer Vyvyan, Helen Watts, Sir Peter Pears, Owen Brannigan, Harold Lester
    Conducted by George Malcolm

  5. Russian Funeral
    Composed by Benjamin Britten
    Performed by Jones Brass Ensemble
    with John Iveson

  6. Cantata misericordium
    Composed by Benjamin Britten
    Performed by London Symphony Chorus
    with Sir Peter Pears, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
    Conducted by Benjamin Britten

  7. Children's Crusade (Kinderkreuzzug)
    Composed by Benjamin Britten
    Performed by Wandsworth School Boys' Choir
    Conducted by Russell Burgess, Benjamin Britten

  8. (The) Poet's Echo
    Composed by Benjamin Britten
    with Galina Vishnevskaya, Mstislav Rostropovich

  9. (6) Hölderlin Fragments
    Composed by Benjamin Britten
    with Sir Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten

  10. (2) Insect Pieces
    Composed by Benjamin Britten
    with Heinz Holliger, András Schiff

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Britten devotees will want to snap up this mid-priced, two-disc set from Decca without further ado, containing as it does a first release for a riveting account of Abraham and Isaac featuring Peter Pears, Britten and contralto Norma Procter (the mono master-tape from March 1957 only resurfaced in 1999). It's a stunningly eloquent display in every way and an indispensable addition to the Britten discography. Other highlights include vintage, irreproachably idiomatic renderings of the Cantata academica and Cantata misericordium (both set down in the early 1960s and still sounding remarkably fresh); Pears and Britten at the their most inspirationally recreative in the Six Holderlin Fragments; and a gripping realisation of that gritty Brecht setting Children's Crusade (completed in 1969 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Save the Children Fund). Elsewhere, harpist Osian Ellis generates a really fine rapport with Pears in the Burns cycle A Birthday Hansel (a charming late work from 1975), and there are plenty more intriguing rarities to savour. A fascinating compendium overall, but what a shame that, Abraham and Isaac apart, neither texts nor translations are provided in the booklet.--Andrew Achenbach

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Customer Reviews

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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Unpublished 1st Performance is the best, 23 Jan 2002
By Klingsor Tristan (Suffolk) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
The real treasure on this 2CD collection is undoubtedly the first recorded performance of the canticle, Abraham & Isaac. The reason it was unpublished does not reflect too well on the composer. Having written the piece for Kathleen Ferrier (ah, now, if only she had recorded it!), her tragically early death meant that Britten and Pears had to search out an alternative. Their choice lighted on Norma Procter and she gives a truly inspired performance partnering Pears, scaling down her voice to suit the young boy, yet singing with heart-breaking intensity. Sadly Britten's eye then lighted on a delectable young choirboy with whom he and Pears subsequently recorded the piece, only informing Procter after the event. One can imagine her disappointment. As she said on rehearing it, "I never thought it possible to hear this forbidden recording after 44 years - this side the tomb - and as I listened unbelieving - it was too much emotionally - the tears streamed down my face." And not just hers.
The other recordings on the discs are less unfamiliar, though none is performed often. Why? The Cantata Academica is a charmer and great fun, despite a rather arch Latin text. Try Jennifer Vyvyan soaring a high descant over the male voices humming an old student song. The Russian, German and Scottish song cycles are all worthy of their poets and more. The Cantata Misericordium is another rarely performed piece with many an echo of its almost contemporaneous War Requiem. Special effects (e.g. the barking dog) actually enhance the seriousness of the much underrated Children's Crusade, the harrowing Brechtian tale of refugee children in wartime Poland. And none of the more incidental pieces outstay their welcome.
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