Britten and Handel by Vox Luminis: R3 in Concert Wednesday 26 June

[doversoul1]

Blessed Cecilia!

Benjamin Britten chose to celebrate the opening of Snape Maltings Concert Hall and its glowing acoustic at the 1967 Aldeburgh Festival with Handel's Ode for St Cecilia's Day, a setting of Dryden's dedication to music's patron saint. Five decades later at a concert from this year's Festival recorded in the same venue, one of Europe's finest choirs echoes that programme and adds more Handel - and another tribute to St Cecilia, a setting of Auden from Britten himself.
Presented by Martin Handley.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00066r5

[oddoneout]

I listened to the Dixit. I was pleased they chose a more relaxed tempo than is sometimes the case, but a couple of things I didn't like so much. The female soloists had a tendency to make a slight yelp when attacking some of their notes, and there seemed to be a sudden doubling of tempo halfway through the final movement.

[doversoul1]

I enjoyed Dixit Dominus but thought the soprano was a bit over tasked in Ode for St Cecilia’s Day. The instrumental ensemble sounded very good. Who were they? Does Vox Luminis have a regular ensemble? I missed the Britten.