Episode 3
Donald Macleod introduces Britten's Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, which was premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1952, plus excerpts from two operas and a ballet.
By 1952, when the Aldeburgh Festival was in its 5th year, Britten was nearing forty. By then, he and Pears were very much part of the fabric of the community there. Donald Macleod introduces Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, which was premiered at the festival that year, extracts from two more operas - the first based on Henry James' ghostly novella Turn of the Screw and the second on Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, plus another fairy-tale work - the ballet Prince of the Pagodas, complete with magical evocation of the Balinese gamelan.
Last on
More episodes
Music Played
-
Benjamin Britten
Gloriana (Morris Dance)
Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Performer: Conductor André Previn
- Telarc CD80126.
-
Benjamin Britten
Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac
Performer: Peter Pears (tenor) Performer: John Hahessy (alto) Performer: Benjamin Britten (piano)
- London 425 716-2.
-
Benjamin Britten
Turn of the Screw (extract)
Performer: Ian Bostridge (Peter Quint) Performer: Julian Leang (Miles) Performer: Vivian Tierney (Miss Jessel) Performer: Caroline Wise (Flora) Performer: Joan Rodgers (Governess) Performer: Jane Henschel (Mrs Grose) Performer: Mahler Chamber Orchestra Performer: Conductor Daniel Harding
- Virgin Classics VCD 545521.
-
Benjamin Britten
Winter words – Midnight on the Great Western
Performer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor) Performer: Graham Johnson (piano)
- Helios CDH55067.
-
Benjamin Britten
Prince of the Pagodas (extract)
Performer: ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Symphony Orchestra Performer: Conductor Leonard Slatkin
- Chandos CHAN 10111.
-
Benjamin Britten
Midsummer Night's Dream (extract)
Performer: Alfred Deller (Oberon) Performer: Elizabeth Harwood (Tytania) Performer: Stephen Terry (Puck) Performer: Richard Dakin, John Pryer, Ian Wodehouse (Fairies) Performer: London Symphony Orchestra Performer: Conductor Benjamin Britten
- London 425 663-2.
Broadcasts
- Wed 17 Nov 2010 12:00³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3
- Wed 17 Nov 2010 22:00³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3
- Wed 25 Jan 2012 12:00³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3
- Wed 25 Jan 2012 18:30³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 3
Vaughan Williams Today
Beethoven Unleashed – the box set
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Composers A to Z
Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week
Five reasons why we love Parry's Jerusalem
What is the strange power of Jerusalem which makes strong men weep?
A man out of time – why Parry's music and ideas were at odds with his image...
The composer of Jerusalem was very far from the conservative figure his image suggests.
Composer Help Page
Find resources and contacts for composers from within the classical music industry.