Britten

[Pulcinella]

Fair point, but I was referring to SXLP 30194, a January 1976 LP reissue of a 1971 HMV recording of Serenade and Les Illuminations: Tear Harper, Civil, Northern Sinfonia/Marriner. An outstanding early example of someone else recording Britten; in those days most Britten recordings were his own.

Ah! Indeed, very blue.
(Click on 'More images')

https://www.discogs.com/release/8174261-Robert-Tear-Alan-Civil-Heather-Harper-Neville-Marriner-Northern-Sinfonia-Orchestra-Britten-Serenade-

[hmvman]

A friend of mine pointed me towards a discussion on R4's 'Front Row' last Wednesday about two new plays on aspects of Britten: Ben and Imo at the RSC, Stratford and Turning The Screw at the King's Head, London. Interesting discussion about BB's relationships with Imogen Holst and David Hemmings. Interesting, too, that there should be two plays dealing with events in BB's life on at the same time. I doubt I'll be making the journeys to Stratford and London to see them, though. Has anyone else seen them or intending to?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001wq9j Starts about 1 minute in.

[smittims]

No, but I did see the documentary Britten's Children, which was revealing (not, thankfully, in a scurrilous sense) , and have read a hefty book about Imogen Holst which makes it clear she was hopelessly in love with Britten. The moment re Hemmings which stood out for me was when his voice broke suddenly in a performance and the understudy had to go on. H was sitting feeling understandably bewildered and depressed (remember he was still a boy) and Britten just walked past him without a glance. He was no longer of use to him. 'That hurt', said Hemmings. 'A kind word would have meant much'.

[Belgrove]

Ben and Imo was originally a radio play, broadcast on Drama on 3 in 2014, which I recall was interesting. It’s still available on Sounds:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b033b39z

[Simon Biazeck]

As I’m sure everyone here knows, people who were dropped were known as Britten’s ‘corpses’. Dame Janet Baker commented on this, and said that she never suffered that fate. Perhaps her customary directness and no-nonsense attitude put Ben in school-boy mode. She is a goddess too, of course!

I was studying at the Britten-Pears school when, for the first time since he fell out with Britten and his circle, Bob (Robert) Tear had been invited back to lead a week of masterclasses called ‘Art, Text and Song’. There was so much dissent from locals in ‘The Borough’ (letters of complaint that “that man” shouldn’t be here) that the school, led by Andrew Comben (who went on to be director of the Brighton Festival) closed the first few classes to the public. Bob was wonderful and very entertaining. I’m not sure how helpful he was with technical matters (there were teachers and coaches for that, anyway), but he was an inspiring guru-like figure. We got on terrifically well, and he was irreverent about nearly everything whilst simultaneously taking it all very seriously, if you know what I mean. Anecdotes abound about how his humour went down with Ben. In the end, everyone flocked to the classes when they finally opened to the public, but there was a tense moment when, at the final reception, he and Donald Mitchell found themselves in the same room for the first time since the falling out. It was a little awkward. They generally avoided one another but were quite civil.

[hmvman]

Ben and Imo was originally a radio play, broadcast on Drama on 3 in 2014, which I recall was interesting. It’s still available on Sounds:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b033b39z

Thanks very much for this, I'll give it a listen. It wasn't mentioned in the Front Row programme, giving the impression it's a new play. An excerpt was played and I wonder if that was taken from the radio play.

[Ein Heldenleben]

As I’m sure everyone here knows, people who were dropped were known as Britten’s ‘corpses’. Dame Janet Baker commented on this, and said that she never suffered that fate. Perhaps her customary directness and no-nonsense attitude put Ben in school-boy mode. She is a goddess too, of course!

I was studying at the Britten-Pears school when, for the first time since he fell out with Britten and his circle, Bob (Robert) Tear had been invited back to lead a week of masterclasses called ‘Art, Text and Song’. There was so much dissent from locals in ‘The Borough’ (letters of complaint that “that man” shouldn’t be here) that the school, led by Andrew Comben (who went on to be director of the Brighton Festival) closed the first few classes to the public. Bob was wonderful and very entertaining. I’m not sure how helpful he was with technical matters (there were teachers and coaches for that, anyway), but he was an inspiring guru-like figure. We got on terrifically well, and he was irreverent about nearly everything whilst simultaneously taking it all very seriously, if you know what I mean. Anecdotes abound about how his humour went down with Ben. In the end, everyone flocked to the classes when they finally opened to the public, but there was a tense moment when, at the final reception, he and Donald Mitchell found themselves in the same room for the first time since the falling out. It was a little awkward. They generally avoided one another but were quite civil.

The treatment of Robert Tear by Britten and his poisonous circle of sycophants sums up everything I hate about the Arts in Britain. All that “corpses” stuff diminishes him not the corpse. Britten was a mega talent but had absolutely no sense of humour - I mean a seriously po-faced prude .And all that sucking up to the Royals . I mean really - the Establishment never really forgave him for going to the States at the outbreak of WW2 - hence the massively delayed peerage - so why get so worked up when some one leaks a story about them? Couldn’t he see that he and Pears were becoming a self -parody? In many ways the best critique of him is Dudley Moore’s Little Miss Moffit,

[DracoM]

Wow!

[gradus]

This may have been posted before but is new to me, it's Britten in interview in 1968 :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41uBCBzsz2U
There seem to be other John Randolph links to Britten speaking which are also on Youtube.

[oliver sudden]

“Everything I read about The Beatles gives me pleasure.”

I have watched that interview before but hadn’t noticed what other goodies Randolph has on his channel. Plenty to explore there.

I wonder what the piece is that Pears is singing at the beginning? A bit too short for me to spot.

[LMcD]

“Everything I read about The Beatles gives me pleasure.”

I have watched that interview before but hadn’t noticed what other goodies Randolph has on his channel. Plenty to explore there.

I wonder what the piece is that Pears is singing at the beginning? A bit too short for me to spot.

Possibly one of the Elizabethan Lute Songs?

[oliver sudden]

Possibly one of the Elizabethan Lute Songs?

Not the end of Britten’s arrangement of Help! then…

[LMcD]

Not the end of Britten’s arrangement of Help! then…

It could well be either Dowland's 'What Then Is Love But Mourning?' or Rosseter's 'Fine Knacks For Ladies'' which featured on a programme broadcast in the USA on 24/2/1959.

[Ein Heldenleben]

It could well be either Dowland's 'What Then Is Love But Mourning?' or Rosseter's 'Fine Knacks For Ladies'' which featured on a programme broadcast in the USA on 24/2/1959.

Excellent sleuthing LMcD . Quite hard to ident from two notes …

[oliver sudden]

I am duly impressed.