Britten reviews
Peter Grimes: the best recordings of Britten's famous opera
Daniel Jaffé fishes out the finest recordings of Britten’s deeply unsettling but utterly gripping opera, Peter Grimes
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra: A guide to Britten's masterpiece and it's best recordings
Did you know Britten's Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra was initially composed for a film? Daniel Jaffé enjoys instrumental inspiration from piccolo to double bass as he compares the best versions of Britten’s didactic masterpiece
The Children's Hour
Gareth Brynmor John (baritone), William Vann (piano) (Champs Hill)
Legacy – A Tribute to Dennis Brain
Ben Goldscheider (horn), James Gilchrist (tenor), Huw Watkins (piano) (Three World Records)
Solo (Nuala McKenna)
Nuala McKenna (cello) (Cobra)
Proud Songsters – English Solo Song
Michael Chance, Lawrence Zazzo, Tim Mead (countertenor), et al, Simon Lepper (piano) (King's College)
A Musical Zoo
Ashley Riches (bass-baritone), Joseph Middleton (piano) (Chandos)
And Love Said...
Jodie Devos (soprano), Nicolas Krüger (piano) (Alpha Classics)
I Wonder As I Wander
James Newby (baritone), Joseph Middleton (piano) (BIS)
English Music for Strings
Sinfonia of London/John Wilson (Chandos)
Britten: Saint Nicolas; A Ceremony of Carols
Crouch End Festival Chorus; BBC Concert Orchestra/David Temple, et al (Signum Classics)
Britten - Peter Grimes
Stuart Skelton (tenor), Erin Wall (soprano), et al; Bergen Philharmonic/Edward Gardner (Chandos)
Flax and Fire – Songs of Devotion
Stuart Jackson (tenor), Jocelyn Freeman (piano) (Orchid Classics)
After Silence
VOCES8/Barnaby Smith, et al (VOCES8 Records)
Rosa Mystica
Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir/Paul Spicer, et al (SOMM)
Come To Me In My Dreams : Works by Bridge, Britten, Holst, Howells, Ireland, Turnage, et al
Sarah Connolly, Joseph Middleton (Chandos)
Illuminations: works by Britten, Debussy and Fauré
Nicholas Phan, Myra Huang; Telegraph Quartet; The Knights (Avie)
Benjamin Britten: Choral Works
Jennifer Vyvyan (soprano), Helen Watts (contralto), London Symphony Orchestra/Benjamin Britten
Songs of Vain Glory
This beautifully programmed recital will make you want to rush out and buy as many volumes of British songs as you can. It collects – imaginatively, coherently, and to deeply moving effect – 23 songs on the theme of war.
Albion Refracted
Piatti Quartet (Champs Hill Records)
Mendelssohn • Britten: Violin Concertos
Sebastian Bohren; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Andrew Litton (Sony)
Britten: Death in Venice
John Daszak, Leigh Melrose, Tomasz Borczyk, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Duncan Rock; Teatro Real Chorus & Orchestra/Alejo Pérez; dir. Willy Decker (Naxos; DVD)
Britten: Billy Budd
Jacques Imbrailo, Toby Spence, Brindley Sherratt et al; Chorus & Orchestra of Teatro Real de Madrid/Ivor Bolton; dir. Deborah Warner (Bel Air Classiques, DVD)
Reformation: Works by Mendelssohn, Stravinsky et al
Daniel Frankel, Yiva Larsdotter, Samuel Coppin, John Axelsson, Tom Poulson; Västerås Sinfonietta/Simon Crawford-Phillips (dB Productions)