Search - Graham Titus, Thomas Allen, Benjamin Britten :: Britten: Folk Song Arrangements, Vol. 2

This second volume of Britten's folksongs is more fun

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/24/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In 1995 Collins Classics issued a comprehensive 3-CD set of Britten's many folksong arrangements. Now that they're on Naxos, you can buy all 52 solo songs on two CDs or this one, a single CD devoted to various orhcestrations, choral arrangements, and other oddments.



Frankly, even though this catch-all is considered an addendum, I found it more fun than the more famous solo songs. Britten had lots of interesting things to say via the orchestra, and the varied textures allow for moe diversity than piano alone. I'm not fond of boy choirs, but Britten was, so we get a handful of those settings, which are either charming or twee depending on your viewpoint.



As before, Philip Langridge bears the brunt of almost all the songs--they were originally set for Britten's life partner, tenor Peter Pears. Langridge's lyric voice is easier to listen to than Pears's, but he's not nearly the artist. For all that, everything about this CD, including the conducting by Simon Joly, adds to the listener's pleasure. The only defect is that for the orchestral songs the singre is placed much too far back."