CD, Britten (composer)
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English Music For Strings
RecommendedBritten, Bliss, Bridge, Berkeley
Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
Here in [the Bridge Lament] is a prime example of the heartfelt precision and beauty of tone that typifies John Wilson’s Sinfonia of London. There’s plenty of heart, too, in their superlative... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2021
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2021, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recording of the Week, 29th January 2021
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Orchestral
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2021
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Sunday Times, 10 Best Classical Albums of 2021
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New. Edward Gardner conducts Britten
RecommendedNicky Spence (tenor)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner
Rarely since Britten’s own classic Decca recording have I heard a performance of the Sinfonia da Requiem bristling with such visceral energy and structural inevitably as this new account from... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 30th May 2025
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2025, Editor's Choice
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Britten: War Requiem, Op. 66
RecommendedGalina Vishnevskaya (soprano), Peter Pears (tenor), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) & Simon Preston (organ)
London Symphony Orchestra, Melos Ensemble, London Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Highgate School Choir & The Bach Choir, Benjamin Britten
Britten was writing personally for three muses who had all shared the wartime experience...His incandescent commitment to pacificism and horror at the failure of humanism blazes forth...As you... — More…
Awards:
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Building a Library, November 2009, First Choice
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Presto Greatest Recordings of the 1960s
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Grammy Awards, 6th Awards (1963), Best Choral Performance
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Grammy Awards, 6th Awards (1963), Best Contemporary Classical Composition
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Grammy Awards, 6th Awards (1963), Best Contemporary Classical Composition
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Special offer. Britten: Peter Grimes
RecommendedStuart Skelton (Grimes), Erin Wall (Ellen), Roderick Williams (Balstrode), Susan Bickley (Auntie), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Mrs Sedley), Robert Murray (Bob Boles), James Gilchrist (Horace Adams), Marcus Farnsworth (Ned Keene)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner
The best feature of this new Grimes is the orchestral playing, similar in tempo and character to Britten’s own recording. Where Edward Gardner really scores is the Bergen Philharmonic’s precision,... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2020, Recording of the Month
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Presto Editor's Choice, September 2020
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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Opera, November 2020, Disc of the Month
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The Times Records of the Year, 2020
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Winner - Opera
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Recording of the Year
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Britten & Korngold: Violin Concertos
RecommendedVilde Frang (violin)
Frankfurt Radio Symphony, James Gaffigan
Frang has a beautiful tone and superb intonation, and in both concertos applies a satisfying range of colour - there's much to enjoy, technically speaking. The spiky, lonely atmosphere of the... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2016, Disc of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2016
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Gramophone Awards, 2016, Winner - Concerto
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Building A Library, July 2024, Recommended Recording (Korngold)
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This is an album that proclaims the viola as a distinctive, individual solo instrument, ideally served here by its skilled interpreter...this [Bach] Chaconne seems to sum up Ridout's whole approach... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 21st February 2025
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Gramophone Magazine, April 2025, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2025, Recording of the Month
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2025, Young Talent of the Year
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Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 2; Britten: Cello Sonata
Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), Sinfonia of London, John Wilson, Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano)
Sheku Kanneh-Mason states that he has played [the Shostakovich sonata] since his teenage years, and his affinity with its melodic phrases and emotional tenor is well formed. He brings a lovely... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2025, Editor's Choice
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Shibe performs with superb artistry some of the now classics that Bream inspired...Prime in any such catalogue is Britten's 1963 Nocturnal after John Dowland, and Shibe gathers the listener... — More…
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, September 2017, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, October 2017, Instrumental Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2017
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2018, Finalist - Instrumental
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This debut solo album brilliantly played by the rising young organist Anna Lapwood should certainly engage organ aficionados, especially fans of the grand Harrison & Harrison instrument in Ely... — More…
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
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Gramophone Awards, 2022, Finalist - Spatial Audio
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British Music Collection - Britten & Walton
RecommendedPeter Pears (tenor), Dennis Brain (horn), Edith Sitwell (narrator)
Boyd Neel String Orchestra, English Opera Group Ensemble, Benjamin Britten, Anthony Collins
This disc includes one of the great highlights of the whole Britten discography, that first magical recording of the Serenade, with Pears in fresh, youthful voice and Dennis Brain's marvellous... — More…
Awards:
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Building a Library, November 1999, Historic Choice
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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