Britten: Sinfonietta, Op. 1

Recording location: Sofiensaal, Vienna, Austria, October 1956 (Poot), June 1964 (Hindemith), April 1965 (Britten), April 1971 (Badings, Wellesz)

This recording forms part of a series of 10 reissues celebrating the glorious Decca recordings from the 1950s-1970s of the Wiener Oktett (Vienna Octet), made up of key principals from the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Perhaps the ensemble projected a rather cosy, cuddly image on its tours abroad. More often than not, the program would include the works by Mozart, Michael Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Spohr, Conradin Kreutzer and Brahms. Many listeners would therefore be surprised to know how much twentieth-century music the group played, especially at home in Vienna. The conservatism of chamber music societies and impresarios meant that much of this “cutting edge” music was not included in their international touring programs. Fortunately there were exceptions; and the Decca Record Company went out of its way to document some of the ensemble’s more up-to-date offerings.

This anthology brings together all of the Wiener Oktett’s recordings of 20th century chamber music, and all but the Britten make their first appearance on CD. The cheeky Octet by Belgian composer Marcel Poot was commissioned by the Vienna Octet. The Wellesz was a kind of peace offering. Indonesian-born Dutch composer Henk Badings enjoyed healthy representation in the concert hall from key Dutch performers and his Octet is dedicated to the Wiener Oktett. The ensemble performed Hindemith’s 1957-58 Octet regularly and recorded it soon after (1964).

Distinguished commentator Tully Potter’s notes focus not only on the music itself and the performers, but the inter-relationships between the two.

“immediately pleasurable listening” [Poot] Gramophone

“accomplished performances” [Britten, Hindemith] Gramophone

“The performances are at once lively and relaxed, in the best Viennese tradition” (Wellesz, Badings) Gramophone

The repertoire on this CD is written across a period of more than forty-five years, from the year Britten entered the Royal College of Music at the age of sixteen, to the very last year of his life. The works are performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and they are conducted by Edward Gardner, whose Britten release in March 2011 (CHAN10658) was made Disc of the Month in the April issue of BBC Music.

They are joined by two extraordinary soloists. Sarah Connolly CBE is one of the foremost British mezzo-sopranos and a fellow of the Royal College of Music. She has been nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award, a TMA Award, and two Grammy awards – and won Edison, Gramophone, and South Bank awards. The violist Maxim Rysanov is one of the up-and-coming stars on today’s classical music scene. In the words of Gramophone: ‘It is rare for a musician featured as our One to Watch, already to be on his second Editor’s Choice…, but such is the pace of viola-player Maxim Rysanov’s rise that it’s difficult to keep up.’

The earliest of the works recorded here is Britten’s Two Portraits for strings. Written around the time Britten joined the Royal College of Music, this work remained unpublished during his lifetime. It was published only posthumously, in 1997. The first ‘portrait’ is an exuberant character-study of a childhood friend. The second, by contrast, is a characteristically introspective self-portrait, with the plaintive voice of the viola (the string instrument that Britten himself played) taking the lead. The soloist in the Two Portraits and Lachrymae is Maxim Rysanov.

The cantata Phaedra, Op. 93 is one of the very last works written by the composer before his death in 1976. Britten modelled the work on the Italian baroque cantatas of Handel, but it is also strongly influenced by Purcell, especially in the quality of the word setting. Phaedra is based on Robert Lowell’s acclaimed verse translation of Racine’s classical tragedy Phèdre, in which Phaedra, who is suffering from unrequited love for Hippolytus, the son of her husband by his former wife, causes his death, before, devastated by remorse, she takes her own life. Originally written for the mezzo-soprano Janet Baker, the tragic part of Phaedra is here sung by Sarah Connolly (also featured in A Charm of Lullabies). This is an extremely taut and economical work, very intense, and emotionally charged.

This all English album is a wonderful mix of the known and little known. Gustav Holst's opera in one act "Savitri" is based on an episode from the Indian classic Mahabharta. Holst created this work as a result of an almost obsessive fascination with spiritualism and Asian culture that swept through Europe prior to World War I.

Benjamin Britten's Op.1 "Sinfonietta" was written when he was an 18 year old music student and is dedicated to his teacher Frank Bridge.

"The Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughan Williams is, in his own words, "an English landscape transcribed into musical terms." This work is one of the 20th century's most beautiful Pastorales, set for solo violin and orchestra.

One of the most innovative and imaginative composers of the 20th century, Benjamin Britten was a master of the orchestral genre. This extensive collection charts the development of Britten’s orchestral voice and features some of his greatest works, including the evocative Four Sea Interludes, the powerful and majestic Sinfonia da Requiem, the virtuosic Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and the brilliantly colourful ballet score The Prince of the Pagodas.