Live Recordings of Outstanding Musicians: Peter Pears & Benjamin Britten / LP

M10 46091 0

Product Details:

• Label: Melody
• Format: Vinyl LP
• Country: USSR
• Released: 1985
• Genre: Classical

Overview

This live recording album features the exceptional collaboration between renowned tenor Peter Pears and celebrated composer/pianist Benjamin Britten. It showcases two of Britten’s major vocal works: Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo (Op. 22) and Winter Words (Op. 52), performed in front of a live audience at the Grand Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic Society in 1963 and 1966.

Winter Words, a vocal cycle based on poems by Thomas Hardy, explores the darker, introspective themes of life, love, and loss. The cycle, full of emotional depth, includes pieces such as "The choirmaster's burial" and "At the railway station, Upway," which convey Hardy’s profound sense of isolation and melancholy.

Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, composed in 1940, is a lyrical masterpiece of Britten’s early career, capturing the beauty and introspection of Michelangelo's poetic works. The cycle is known for its rich harmonic textures and expressive vocal lines, with Britten’s piano accompaniments adding depth and contrast to Pears' resonant tenor.

This LP also features Britten’s arrangements of folk songs, including “The Ash Grove” and “The Plough Boy,” which complement the more complex vocal cycles. The combination of Pears’ expressive performance and Britten’s brilliant musicality provides an unforgettable listening experience.

Track Listing:

Side 1
B. Britten - Winter Words

1. At Day-Close in November
2. Midnight on the Great Western (The Journeying Boy)
3. Wagtail and Baby (A Satire)
4. The Little Old Table
5. The Choirmaster's Burial (The Tenor Man's Story)
6. Proud Songsters (Thrushes, Finches, and Nightingales)
7. At the Railway Station, Upway (The Convict and the Boy with the Violin)
8. Before Life and After
   I Wonder as I Wander (Christmas Carol)
   The Plough Boy (Folk Words) – Arranged by B. Britten

Side 2
B. Britten - Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo

1. Sonnet XVI
2. Sonnet XXXI
3. Sonnet XXX
4. Sonnet LV
5. Sonnet XXXVIII
6. Sonnet XXXII
7. Sonnet XXIV
   The Ash Grove (Welsh Folk Tune)
   Le roi s'en va l'en chasse (French Folk Song) – Arranged by B. Britten

Recorded live at the Grand Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic Society in 1963 and 1966.

Key Credits:

• Liner Notes: P. Grünberg
• Restorer: N. Andreyeva
• Editor: P. Grünberg
• Cover Design: A. Grigoriev

Box #152