Britten - Billy Budd / Hampson ? Rolfe Johnson ? Halfvarson ? Smythe ? Saks ? Nagano
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Category: Music CD
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CD Details
Edition: Music CDFormat: Import
CD Release Date: 2005-08-17
Music Label: Warner Classics UK
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Act l:Prologue/Scene l
- Act l:Prologue/Scene l
- Act l:Prologue/Scene l
- Act l:Prologue/Scene l
- Act l:Prologue/Scene l
- Act l:Prologue/Scene l
- Act l:Prologue/Scene l
- Act l:Prologue/Scene l
- Act 2:Scene l/Interlude and Scene 02
- Act 2:Scene l/Interlude and Scene 02
- Act 2:Scene l/Interlude and Scene 02
- Act 2:Scene l/Interlude and Scene 02
- Act 2:Scene l/Interlude and Scene 02
- Act 2:Scene l/Interlude and Scene 02
- Act 2:Scene l/Interlude and Scene 02
- Act 2:Scene l/Interlude and Scene 02
- Act 2:Scene l/Interlude and Scene 02
- Act 2:Scene l/Interlude and Scene 02
- Act 3:Scene 1/Interlude & Scene 02
- Act 3:Scene 1/Interlude & Scene 02
- Act 3:Scene 1/Interlude & Scene 02
- Act 3:Scene 1/Interlude & Scene 02
- Act 3:Scene 1/Interlude & Scene 02
- Act 3:Scene 1/Interlude & Scene 02
- Act 3:Scene 1/Interlude & Scene 02
- Act 3:Scene 1/Interlude & Scene 02
- Act 3:Scene 1/Interlude & Scene 02
- Act 3:Scene 1/Interlude & Scene 02
- Act 4:Scene 01
- Act 4:Scene 01
- Act 4:Scene 01
- Act 4:Scene 01
- Act 4:Scene 01
Music reviews of Britten - Billy Budd / Hampson ? Rolfe Johnson ? Halfvarson ? Smythe ? Saks ? Nagano
Music Review: Britten at his best
Rating: 5 Stars
I must admit that I am late in coming to this wonderful recording. I purchased the more recent Chandos recording led by Hickox that features Simon Keenlyside in the title role. That recording is wonderful and you may read my review thereof if you wish, but let us come to this equally fine reading of Britten's masterful score by Nagano and company. Here we find Billy Budd in it's original Four Act version. The added (or rather, subtracted) material brings with it a greater understnding of the characters, particularly Captain Vere and how his men perceive him, but is not necessary to the drama and was thusly omitted. The music is hauntingly beautiful and if you are familiar with the more commercialy available Two Act version, then the restored music found here will be a real treat. The singing is most excellent, particularly from Thomas Hampson in the title role. This wonderful baritone has the perfect tone quality for the role of Billy and his English declamation is superb. He is nicely foiled by the Claggart of Eric Halfvarson, whose dark, menacing tone rules the set when he is present. Caught between them as Vere is Anthony Rolfe Johnson. The Englishman's tenor is well-suited if a little light for Vere's high-lying line. The men of the ensemble sing magnificently and Nagano absolutely flies through the score, though the listener never feels that he is rushing, only that the action is leading to its inevitable, tragic end. Very highly recommended!
Description of Britten - Billy Budd / Hampson ? Rolfe Johnson ? Halfvarson ? Smythe ? Saks ? Nagano
Benjamin Britten's "Billy Budd," based on Melville's story, is the second-best opera about life on the sea since Wagner's "Flying Dutchman"--the best being Britten's "Peter Grimes." It is one of the 20th Century's most tragic operas and the only important opera with an all-male cast. Its music evokes the ocean: the winds and waves, the sailors' songs, and the harsh realities of a seaman's life on a British 18th-century man-of-war. It climaxes in a deadly confrontation between pure good, embodied in the young sailor Billy Budd (Hampson), and pure evil in the sadistic master at arms, John Claggart (Halfvarson). Composed in 1951, it was shortened to the now standard two acts by Britten for a broadcast in 1960. This brilliant first recording of the original four-act version shows that much was lost in the revision. --Joe McLellanGeneral CDs
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