Opera, Birtwistle (composer)
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The NMC Songbook
RecommendedSopranos - Claire Booth, Ailish Tynan, Elizabeth Atherton
Mezzo-sopranos - Susan Bickley, Loré Lixenberg, Jean Rigby
Countertenors - James Bowman, Michael Chance, Andrew Watts
Tenors - Andrew Kennedy, Daniel Norman, Benjamin Hulett
Baritones - Stefan Loges, Roderick Williams,...
…anyone listening to these discs will find many things to savour… It is, inevitably an eclectic mix, but, as in any well-planned song recital, the progressions and juxtapositions are continually... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 20th April 2009
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Gramophone Awards, 2009, Winner - Contemporary
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Special offer. Birtwistle: Punch and Judy
RecommendedStephen Roberts, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Jan DeGaetani, Philip Langridge, David Wilson- Johnson & John Tomlinson
London Sinfonietta, David Atherton
It's almost 40 years since the 1968 premiere of Punch and Judy, celebrated in legend as a rude gesture in the face of Aldeburgh primness, and with hindsight as one of the finest achievements... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1980, Winner - Contemporary
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Special offer. Birtwistle: The Mask of Orpheus
RecommendedBBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers, Andrew Davis and Martyn Brabbins
Birtwistle's opera is about the Orpheus myth, but the familiar story has been fragmented. Each of the principal characters is represented by two singers and a (silent) dancer, and much of what... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1998, Winner - Contemporary
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Special offer. Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale
Harrison Birtwistle (The Soldier), George Benjamin (The Devil), Dame Harriet Walter (narrator)
Royal Academy of Music, Oliver Knussen
It’s recorded in a way to convey to the maximum both the poetic detail and the expert pacing of Knussen’s finely-pointed reading, and to give full rein to Dame Harriet’s wonderfully free-spirited... —
Awards:
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The Times Records of the Year, 2017
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Special offer. Birtwistle: The Minotaur
John Tomlinson (The Minotaur), Johan Reuter (Theseus), Christine Rice (Ariadne), Andrew Watts (Snake Priestess), Philip Langridge (Hiereus), Amanda Echalaz (Ker), Rebecca Bottone, Pumeza Matshikiza, Wendy Dawn Thompson, Christopher Ainslie, Tim Mead (Innocents)
The Royal Opera Chorus &...
This opera, premiered at the Royal Opera last April, seems to me to be a masterpiece, of the kind that one feels the greatness of before one has a complete understanding of it. …the Minotaur... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2009, Finalist - DVD
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2009, DVD of the Month
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Opera, September 2009, Recording of the Month
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Special offer. Birtwistle: The Minotaur
John Tomlinson (The Minotaur), Johan Reuter (Theseus), Christine Rice (Ariadne), Andrew Watts (Snake Priestess), Philip Langridge (Hiereus), Amanda Echalaz (Ker), Rebecca Bottone, Pumeza Matshikiza, Wendy Dawn Thompson, Christopher Ainslie, Tim Mead (Innocents)
The Royal Opera Chorus &...
This opera, premiered at the Royal Opera last April, seems to me to be a masterpiece, of the kind that one feels the greatness of before one has a complete understanding of it. …the Minotaur... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, July 2026, DVD of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2009, Finalist - DVD
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Opera, September 2009, Recording of the Month
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Special offer. Birtwistle: Gawain
RecommendedMarie Angel (Morgan le Fay), Anne Howells (Lady de Hautdesert), Francois Le Roux (Gawain), John Tomlinson (The Green Knight/Bertilak de Hautdesert), Penelope Walmsley-Clark (Guinevere), Richard Greager (Arthur), Omar Ebrahim (The Fool), Alan Ewing (Agravain), John Marsden (Ywain), Kevin Smith (Bishop...
Tomlinson pulls off the feat magnificently. There's a deep, grainy quality to his voice that catches the sorrow and cynicism of the Green Knight perfectly...Another strength of this recording... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 1996, Winner - Contemporary
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New Music Collections Vol. 2 - Electronic
Roger Smalley (electronics), Richard Barrett (electronics), John Orford (bassoon), Rajmil Fischmann (tape), Michael Chance (countertenor), George Mosley (baritone), Claudia Molitor (electronics), Joanna MacGregor (piano), Donnacha Dennehy (tape), Sarah Collins (electronics), Barry Anderson (electronics),...
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Signum Digital Sampler
James Rhodes (piano), Matthew Barley (cello), Llŷr Williams (piano), Julian Bliss (clarinet), Miah Persson (soprano), Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin), David Goode (organ)
Charivari Agreable, Chapelle du Roi, Vasari Singers, Philharmonia Orchestra, Gabrieli Consort and Players, Wroclaw Philharmonic...
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Kathleen Ferrier Centenary Edition - The Complete Decca Recordings
Kathleen Ferrier (Contralto), John Tilbury (Prepared Piano), Timothy Hutchins (Flute), John Harle (Saxophone), Paul Clarvis (Percussion), Glyndebourne Festival Chorus (Chorus), Zoe Vlachopoulos (Soprano), Southern Philharmonic Orchestra (Narrator), Ann Ayars (Soprano), Elsie Suddaby (Soprano), Eric...
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