BaL 16.11.13 - Britten: The Turn of the Screw

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30am
Building a Library:
Simon Heighes with a personal recommendation from recordings of Britten's chilling Henry James adaptation 'The Turn of the Screw'

Available Versions:-

Aldeburgh Festival Ensemble, Steuart Bedford
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Steuart Bedford (DVD)
English Opera Group, Benjamin Britten
ROH, Sir Colin Davis
LSO, Richard Farnes
LPO, Edward Gardner
Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Harding
BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Richard Hickox (DVD)
LPO, Jakub Hrusa (Blu-ray/DVD)
Western Australia Opera, David Stanhope (DVD)

[VodkaDilc]

Now this will be interesting. A wonderful work and one of the best BAL reviewers.

Despite the recording, I would find Britten/Pears/Hemmings hard to beat.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Despite the recording, I would find Britten/Pears/Hemmings hard to beat.

- almost "because of the recording": that claustrophobic Mono sound! Brrrr!

[DracoM]

It's still Vickers for me. Staggering performance.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It's still Vickers for me. Staggering performance.

In Turn of the Screw, DracoM?

[Mary Chambers]

In Turn of the Screw, DracoM?

What a horrible thought!

[Sir Velo]

It's still Vickers for me. Staggering performance.

On the face of it, this sounds like real miscasting to me; a less ethereal Peter Quint it would be hard to imagine. It's not coming up on Amazon, so presumably it's not been resurrected for CD.

[amateur51]

In Turn of the Screw, DracoM?

He'd put the 'gross' into Mrs Grose I reckon

[LeMartinPecheur]

9.30am
Building a Library:
Simon Heighes with a personal recommendation from recordings of Britten's chilling Henry James adaptation 'The Turn of the Screw'

Available Versions:-

Aldeburgh Festical Ensemble, Steuart Bedford
[..........]

That's the one on my shelves tho' I don't quite recognise the band EA. (Makes me think of diminutive Anglican-priestly robes...)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Duly noted and amended.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm confused...

[Nick Armstrong]

It's still Vickers for me. Staggering performance.

What a "curious" thread this is...

Not sure JV ever sang in the opera, let alone recorded it.

A stunning piece, my first ever opera visit - Langridge at the ENO, hair-raising I went back twice.

Bostridge curiously unconvincing on stage, imho....

Will look forward to hearing this BAL... although:

I'm confused...

it sounds as though there are problems...

[verismissimo]

All too sing-song for me (the presenter, that is). Had to turn it off.

[amateur51]

I enjoyed this BaL very much and it has led me to some DVD choices.

i saw/heard Bostridge 'on stage' with Sir Colin Davis at the Barbican theatre (I think - not the concert hall) and his singing of Quint was a revelation - the naturalness of his melismas (melismata? ) was stunning.

[Mary Chambers]

i saw/heard Bostridge 'on stage' with Sir Colin Davis at the Barbican theatre (I think - not the concert hall) and his singing of Quint was a revelation - the naturalness of his melismas (melismata? ) was stunning.

I'm sure Bostridge once said that he was going to stop singing it, because he couldn't really do the melismas! (I don't know the plural either. Predictive text wants to put Melissa's.) I saw him live (ENO) and wasn't particularly impressed with his acting.

I enjoyed the programme, but I like all the recordings I've ever heard of this piece, though Britten's own definitely comes top for me. I think I've seen all available DVDs, including one of the ITV (yes!) transmission in the 1950s, with Jennifer Vyvyan in her role of the Governess. (The way Simon Heighes stressed the last syllable of this word annoyed me throughout the programme - goverNESS.) I find them all interesting in different ways, and don't have a particular favourite. Live performance is more to my taste where possible. I saw a superb Miles in the Opera North production a few years ago, James Micklethwaite.