BaL 12.05.18 - Britten: Winter Words Op. 52

[Tevot]

You're in for a real treat BBM!

And listen out for the last song.

To be honest I'm not a fan of Winter Words but Before Life and After is a tremendous and haunting song imho.

Looking forward to the programme next Saturday.

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[antongould]

Err, OK! IMV the greatest 20th c. English song-cycle ..... Get stuck in!

IMVVHO also ......

[Beef Oven!]

Err, OK! IMV the greatest 20th c. English song-cycle. Singing it (in a Royal Opera House lunchtime recital) convinced me of that, but possibly not my audients! Get stuck in!

[Beef Oven!]

IMVVHO also ......

[Barbirollians]

Not being terribly keen on either non-orchestral Britten or the song cycle this work is completely new to me as well. I do, however, admire Britten's inspired choices of setting English texts so might well investigate this.

New to me too . A bit surprising to have another Britten work as the piano concerto was on BAL pretty recently.

[Pulcinella]

With some noteworthy (ha ha!) exceptions such as settings by Finzi and Rorem, the piano and voice combination leaves me cold: every pun intended for this cycle under consideration.
But I listened to the Partridge version yesterday, and the ice began to thaw, so I can see why others think highly of Winter Words.
I have the Lavender mentioned above too, so might give that a spin later if I get too hot sitting outside in the glorious sunshine we have today.

[Mary Chambers]

With some noteworthy (ha ha!) exceptions such as settings by Finzi and Rorem, the piano and voice combination leaves me cold: every pun intended for this cycle under consideration.
But I listened to the Partridge version yesterday, and the ice began to thaw, so I can see why others think highly of Winter Words.
I have the Lavender mentioned above too, so might give that a spin later if I get too hot sitting outside in the glorious sunshine we have today.

Does Schubert leave you cold?

Winter Words is a work where a sensitivity to poetry is absolutely essential. Not all singers have this, however good their voices and technique are. Not all listeners have it, either.

I have the Pears/Britten versions, and I have no real need for any other. I like to hear others, though, so I will certainly listen. I haven’t often heard it live, though I do recall one performance, by a student I think. He was trying so hard, all the notes were right, but it was somehow meaningless. If that had been the only time I’d ever heard it, I suspect I might have dismissed it. It’s not a work that yields itself up easily.

[Pulcinella]

Does Schubert leave you cold?

I have to confess that he does.
And his ilk.
I once accompanied a singer in Schumann's 'Er, der herrlichste...' in a festival, and thought it a decent enough piece though.

[Pulcinella]

Bumping this up before Alpie does.
Given the overall lack of response and comment on this thread, I can understand why programme planners still think Britten (Sea interludes apart) is the kiss of death for audience numbers.

[DracoM]

Well, for me, Britten is life-affirming and inviting. Looking forward to the BAL feature.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Given the overall lack of response and comment on this thread, I can understand why programme planners still think Britten (Sea interludes apart) is the kiss of death for audience numbers.

Weeeeeell ... the Thread had already received more responses before the broadcast than Rossini gets in total, Pulcie, so ....

The longer Threads here are usually devoted to orchestral works from Beethoven to Shostakovich, where many Forumistas already have several versions of their own, and we can get cross when the idiotic reviewer omits to mention our favourite recording(s) - or pleased when the enlightened reviewer agrees with our high opinions thereof.

Lieder doesn't attract the same amount of attention. (And I hadn't notice the neglect of Britten's works on concert/opera/recital programmes that you suggest.)


A decent BaL so far, I think. (Ian & Jennifer Partridge outstanding for me.)

[Pulcinella]

Weeeeeell ... the Thread had already received more responses before the broadcast than Rossini gets in total, Pulcie, so ....

True.

The longer Threads here are usually devoted to orchestral works from Beethoven to Shostakovich, where many Forumistas already have several versions of their own, and we can get cross when the idiotic reviewer omits to mention our favourite recording(s) - or pleased when the enlightened reviewer agrees with our high opinions thereof.

Even truer!

Lieder doesn't attract the same amount of attention. (And I hadn't notice the neglect of Britten's works on concert/opera/recital programmes that you suggest.)

Perhaps not, but I still suspect that programme planners are 'wary' of programming Britten.

A decent BaL so far, I think. (Ian & Jennifer Partridge outstanding for me.)

It's made me appreciate the work more, if still not exactly 'like' it (yet!).
Yes: I'm happy with the Partridges!

[DracoM]

Patridges for me too.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Well, I'm as surprised as anyone that the Pears/Britten wasn't the recommended choice, but I think Johnson/Johnson was a good choice.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Perhaps not, but I still suspect that programme planners are 'wary' of programming Britten.

You may well be right - until you mentioned it, I hadn't thought about this. Certainly around ten years ago, Britten featured regularly in recitals and Chamber concerts hereabouts, and ON had a "Britten Season". Maybe there's been a reaction after the centenary festivities of five years ago?

(Although, as Andrew McGregor has just pointed out, Britten isn't under-represented in this year's Proms. )