Britten on BBC4

[verismissimo]

Joy to be reminded in the programme of the special qualities of Britten's third quartet. Excellently (and intensely) played by the Fitzwilliams, with Lucy Russell in top form.

Inspired, I got out my only recording of the work, the Albernis from 1981. Terrific.

[ardcarp]

though I'm not sure the Death in Venice back projection worked all that well?

Well, as you say, Lordg, budgetary restrictions....but given the impossibility of staging a full operatic version with sets, lighting, etc, etc, and then only showing snippets, I thought the back-projection solution was really rather clever. It also included real shots of Venice, so for me, it worked.

[JimD]

Maybe I'm in a very small minority, but I still find the claim that Britten saw himself somehow in Aschenbach to be unconvincing, or at least as only circumstantially relevant. It was pushed a bit in the programme. The core issue in the novella, of personal and creative breakdown in the face of a deep attraction which is, to a significant degree, sexual just doesn't seem to fit Britten's situation or experience, particularly as reflected in his work.

I ought to confess that I haven't yet reached the end of the programme: maybe they'll yet come up with some real evidence.

[gurnemanz]

Thomas Mann's idea was that being an artist was like having a disease - seductive but fatal - Apollo/Tadzio. Hans Castorp is "normal" and healthy (and dull) till he goes to Magic Mountain. Or Tonio Kröger's solid North German family telling him that his artistic leanings are akin to being a gypsy in a green wagon. Or making a pact with the devil - as with the composer Adrian Leverkühn in Doktor Faustus. I wonder to what extent Britten agreed that being an artist was some kind of delicious curse. Where else could Richard Wagner have died but Venice?

[Sir Velo]

that incredible tenor (Allen Clayton) and horn player (not named) in the Serenade extract. [/I]

The horn player was credited in the final roll call of honour but, in any case, was evidently Michael Thompson. The tenor was good, but his little, wispy beard and facial histrionics meant I'd rather hear him than watch him.

All in all, a mesmerising documentary; the surgeon gave one the absolute creeps; poor Britten! Sue Phipps, Peter Pears' niece spoke well, although not sure she what her definition of "loyal" is, given her response to the question, "was Peter loyal to Ben?". The only weak interviewee was the young opera director, who seemed to think his job was to pout and glance feyly at the camera, without offering a single observation of substance. Still, these are minor quibbles. The performances were very good.

[Sir Velo]

There is still hope for the BBC when programmes of this quality are produced.

Unless I'm mistaken this was made by an independent company; the BBC only bought the screening rights.

[mercia]

...... so did this documentary have the final word on the 'controversy' of what BB died from ?

not that I wish to revive the nasty discussion we had on the subject earlier in the year

[Richard Tarleton]

A marvellous programme - I watched it over two nights.

Footnote:"To escape the jets" was given as the reason for the move to the more peaceful inland cottage near the end - this referred to the RAF base at Bentwaters near Woodbridge, used by the US Air Force. Things got worse in the years after Britten's death, with the deployment of A10 Tankbusters (aka Warthogs) which used to fly slowly around the Suffolk countryside at a height of 250 feet.

[Mary Chambers]

The horn player was credited in the final roll call of honour but, in any case, was evidently Michael Thompson. The tenor was good, but his little, wispy beard and facial histrionics meant I'd rather hear him than watch him.

All in all, a mesmerising documentary; the surgeon gave one the absolute creeps; poor Britten! Sue Phipps, Peter Pears' niece spoke well, although not sure she what her definition of "loyal" is, given her response to the question, "was Peter loyal to Ben?". .

I don't know why the excellent Allan Clayton persists with the beard. Most offputting, but he is a very good singer.

I didn't find the surgeon particularly creepy - must have another look, as more than one person has mentioned it.

I thought perhaps Susan Pears-Phipps was making a subtle distinction between 'loyal' and 'faithful', in its sexual sense. That would be fair enough, I think. She is going to be on a Classic FM programme tomorrow night called 'Benjamin Britten's Women', in which Joan Bakewell interviews four women who were close to him - Susan, Heather Grant who helped the housekeeper, one of his nieces, and his beloved nurse Rita Thomson. I suspect this will be mostly domestic gossip, but I shall make an effort to listen - if I can find ClassicFM on my radio, that is! (I looked at their website and was totally astonished by their 'chart'. You have to go a long way down it before you find any real classical recordings.)

[Mary Chambers]

...... so did this documentary have the final word on the 'controversy' of what BB died from ?

not that I wish to revive the nasty discussion we had on the subject earlier in the year

He died from heart failure. The precise cause of that is impossible to prove, as far as I can tell.

[amateur51]

I took this documentary in two chunks and now that I've finished it, I wanted to agree with everyone who thinks it is an extraordinary piece. You can quibble about some of the editing but overall I found it very moving and it's a film that I shall buy and revisit often, I think. Very definitely worthy of its subjects & participants.

It was good too to see David Hemmings' refutation of any inappropriate behaviour on Britten's part in relation to him.

I now want a DVD of Death In Venice

[VodkaDilc]

I now want a DVD of Death In Venice

I wonder if the ENO version which was shown on television earlier in the year will be made available on DVD.

[Anna]

I'm not a fan of Britten, and maybe this has been mentioned, but there is a BBC archive programme from 1964 of Britten and Pears here: It may be of interest to some

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p014g298/Celebrity_Recital_Benjamin_Britten_and_Peter_Pears/

[Richard Tarleton]

Sky Arts 2, 8.00-9.45 tomorrow evening - Britten Cello suites - "cellist Jamie Walton explores Britten's cello suites, demonstrating the technical difficulties associated with them". From Blythburgh Church in Suffolk, a regular festival venue.

I recently bought the Rostropovich recordings and am trying to get to grips with them.

Blythburgh church is at the head of the scenic Blyth Estuary, near Walberswick.

[VodkaDilc]

Sky Arts 2, 8.00-9.45 tomorrow evening - Britten Cello suites - "cellist Jamie Walton explores Britten's cello suites, demonstrating the technical difficulties associated with them". From Blythburgh Church in Suffolk, a regular festival venue.

I recently bought the Rostropovich recordings and am trying to get to grips with them.

Blythburgh church is at the head of the scenic Blyth Estuary, near Walberswick.

Thanks for that. I think it might clash with Billy Budd, but one will have to be recorded. (At least Downton's finished, so there's no three-way clash.) I am afraid that the 'cello music is a bit of a blank spot for me, so this will be unmissable.