This CD features eight world premiere recordings: Les Illuminations with three additional songs originally intended as part of Britten’s sequence; In memoriam Dennis Brain; Rondo Concertante (for piano and strings); Untitled Fragment (for strings); Variations (for solo piano), and the completion of Movements for a Clarinet Concerto. It features the soprano Sandrine Piau, clarinettist Michael Collins, and pianist Rolf Hind, with the Northern Sinfonia conducted by its music director, Thomas Zehetmair.
This recording is supported by the Britten-Pears Foundation and was a Gramophone ‘Editor’s Choice’ and ‘CD of the Month’ (Awards Issue, 2009).
‘A superb performance of the composer’s song cycle Les Illuminations sung by the French soprano Sandrine Piau… without doubt this recording goes straight up there with the very finest soprano versions on disc.’
Presto
‘With fine recording quality, excellent presentation and persuasive performances, this is a notable issue.’
Classical Source
‘A Fascinating disc [with] lots of little insights into Britten’s musical world’
The Guardian
‘A rich array of unknown items… well worth hearing’
The Sunday Times
