'The Aldeburgh Strings' urgently communicative performance of the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings is the icing on this four-layer Britten cake.' The Guardian
'The Aldeburgh Strings give an exceptional performance of Britten's the Serenade For Tenor, Horn And Strings...' Daily Mail
'One is struck by the beauty and security of their quiet playing - a virtue which comes to the fore also in the gorgeously lyrical Prelude.'
MusicWeb International
'...the playing of the hornist Richard Watkins is also truly exceptional...a performance so worth treasuring.' Classic FM
This recording is the conclusion of projects celebrating Britten's centenary in 2013, at which Aldeburgh Strings performed the closing concert in Britten's musical home of Snape Maltings.
The recording opens with Young Apollo, a radiant, expressive, characterful and dramatic work, featuring pianist Lorenzo Soulès. The Lachrymae subtitled ‘reflections on a song of Dowland' explores the viola's intensely mellow sonorities; Máté Szücs (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) is the soloist. The Prelude and Fugue finds Britten indulging in the exuberant technical wizardry of his youthful period whilst recalling Bach's sophisticated contrapuntal textures.
To close, one of the great masterpieces of Britten's cannon: the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. The award-winning tenor Allan Clayton and horn player Richard Watkins are the soloists, the latter reprising his role 30 years after first performing it with Peter Pears.
View the booklet in full here.
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Hi-Fi News
'a new version of the Serenade with the young British tenor Allan Clayton is the real draw of this download...'
more >>American Record Guide'This recording has the advantage of firstrate sound, a superb horn player who is at least the equal of Brain or Tuckwell with an even greater range of tonal nuance, and a singer who simply has a more pleasant sound than Pears.'
more >>Fanfare'...the ensemble is particularly impressive in the hushed sections, playing with exquisite beauty and control...'
more >>Crescendo
'superbe'
more >>AllMusic'...extraordinary performances, aided by top-notch soloists..few recordings satisfy as much as this one, with deliberate, but intense, readings...'
more >>Forum Opera« Le piano de Lorenzo Soulès en offre une interprétation étincelante...Le raffinement de Britten est servi en maître dans ce jalon d'une musique. »
more >>BBC Music Magazine'In the following Tennyson song, "Nocturne", aided by the Aldeburgh Strings' splendidly evocative playing, Clayton sounds suitably heroic at the final "Blow, bugle, blow"...Lorenzo Soules plays Young Apollo's glittering piano part with charismatic dash...'
more >>Voix des ArtsRecording of the Month: 'Clayton establishes himself as a triumphantly worthy successor to Pears...Clayton's voice is both more beautiful and more secure throughout the range than Pears's, but the forthrightness with which he limns the distress of lines like ‘O rose, thou art sick' recalls Pears's interpretive perspicuity.'
more >>Pizzicato'..the soloists are one and all excellent, as are the exceptionally good Aldeburgh Strings.'
more >>The Guardian'urgent, vibrant and punchy'
more >>The Sunday Times'These performances by the Aldeburgh-inspired ensemble vividly affirm Britten's genius.'
more >>Gramophone'All are performances to be recommended.'
more >>MusicWeb International'One is struck by the beauty and security of their quiet playing - a virtue which comes to the fore also in the gorgeously lyrical Prelude. The accompanying Fugue, meanwhile, is a contrapuntal tour de force, and tossed off here with notable verve and aplomb.'
more >>Der neue Merker'Britten's short but magnificent tone poem…bursts with radiant vitality, rises in iridescent tones before us...'
more >>Daily Mail'The Aldeburgh Strings give an exceptional performance of Britten's the Serenade For Tenor, Horn And Strings.'
more >>Classic FM'...the playing of the hornist Richard Watkins is also truly exceptional...a performance so worth treasuring.'
more >>