Britten: Billy Budd
Jacques Imbrailo (Billy Budd), John Mark Ainsley (Captain Vere), Phillip Ens (Claggart), Matthew Rose (Mr Flint), Ben Johnson (Novice), Colin Judson (Squeak), Iain Paterson (Mr Redburn), Darren Jeffery (Mr Ratcliffe)
London Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus, Sir Mark Elder
The recording sounds intimate, reflecting the claustrophobic setting. Mark Elder and the LPO's bleakly atmospheric reading isn't diminished; but it does highlight the voices to good effect...one...
Britten: Billy Budd
Jacques Imbrailo (Billy Budd), John Mark Ainsley (Captain Vere), Phillip Ens (Claggart), Matthew Rose (Mr Flint), Ben Johnson (Novice), Colin Judson (Squeak), Iain Paterson (Mr Redburn), Darren Jeffery (Mr Ratcliffe)
London Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus, Sir Mark Elder
Purchase product
The recording sounds intimate, reflecting the claustrophobic setting. Mark Elder and the LPO's bleakly atmospheric reading isn't diminished; but it does highlight the voices to good effect...one...
About
This live recording of Billy Budd comes from the 2010 Glyndebourne Festival. Billy Budd, Britten and Glyndebourne share an interesting history. In 1950 Benjamin Britten wrote to Ian Hunter, Artistic Administrator of the Edinburgh Festival, requesting that the first performance of his new opera Billy Budd take place at the Festival in 1951. Hunter indicated that they were ‘unanimous in welcoming the proposal’ and Glyndebourne Opera, as the resident company were the obvious partner. Hunter was possibly unaware of the schism that existed between John Christie and Britten, and maybe the old wounds ran deep, as six months later, Sadlers Wells, were in the frame, the costs subsequently proving prohibitive, so Hunter unsuccessfully re-approached Glyndebourne offering to meet all costs, but Royal Opera Covent Garden ended up producing the first production in London in October 1951.
This Billy Budd is Glyndebourne’s first production (and Director Michael Grandage’s first foray into opera), but such is Glyndebourne’s pedigree with Britten that it was an eagerly anticipated production that does not disappoint. Jacques Imbrailo as Billy Budd is simplicity at its best, with a warmth of tone and excellent diction. Iain Paterson as Redburn the First Lieutenant, leads the officers powerfully, his trio with Lieutenant Ratcliffe (Darren Jeffery) and Flint (Matthew Rose) is as good as any moment in opera can get.
In the pit for this production is the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the command of the incomparable Sir Mark Elder passionately conveying the majesty, the mystery and the drama within Britten’s score.
Includes synopsis in German and French Full English libretto included.
Contents and tracklist
- Jacques Imbrailo (Billy Budd), John Mark Ainsley (Captain Vere), Phillip Ens (Claggart), Michael Wallace (First Mate), John-Owen Miley-Read (Second Mate), Matthew Rose (Mr Flint), Richard Mosley-Evans (Bosun), Peter Gijsbertsen (Maintop), Ben Johnson (Novice), Colin Judson (Squeak), Iain Paterson (Mr Redburn), Darren Jeffery (Lieutenant Ratcliffe), Alasdair Elliott (Red Whiskers)
- London Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus
- Mark Elder
Spotlight on this release
-
An error occurred.
Try watching this video on www.youtube.com, or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser.
Awards and reviews
April 2013
The recording sounds intimate, reflecting the claustrophobic setting. Mark Elder and the LPO's bleakly atmospheric reading isn't diminished; but it does highlight the voices to good effect...one misses Phillip Ens's grey glare as Claggart, but the disembodied voice seems even more subtly nasty in its inflections. John Mark Ainsley's Vere sounds more tonally intense...the chorus must be the liveliest on disc. For all Britten's virtues, I found this version more compelling.
12th January 2013
this new CD version is preferable, because it frees the performance of its unimaginative visuals while keeping the atmosphere of the stage. The focus switches to Mark Elder’s command of the score, the London Philharmonic’s bracing responses and the individual contributions of a spirited ensemble
March 2013
the voices project clearly. We feel as if we are out on deck, yet the balance with the orchestra is very good...Imbrailo makes a marvellously youthful, innocent-sounding Billy...He is fortunate to have such a sympathetic Captain Vere in John Mark Ainsley, who makes up for a voice on the light side by his understanding for this tortured man of the enlightenment...After an uncertain start, Phillip Ens grows into a Claggart of authority
February 2013
Inspiring the LPO to its most accomplished playing, Elder leads with acute, detailed responsiveness to the drama... I had distinctly mixed feeling about John Mark Ainsley's Vere in the DVD of this production but, to my great surprise, I find him almost entirely persuasive on CD...Like Ainsley's Vere, Phillip Ens's Claggart makes a finer impression on disc than on DVD...The daunting challenges of recording this work 'live' are met.
6th January 2013
the musical performance is of such high quality that it is worthy of release in audio format, especially with Glyndebourne’s lavish presentation and documentation. Jacques Imbrailo’s Billy is just as effective on CD as it is on screen: he sounds more youthful and lyrical than his most illustrious predecessors
30th March 2013
Ens’s Claggart is more complex, more subtly shaded than the usual pantomime villain, and John Mark Ainsley’s gracious, contemplative Captain Vere is easier on the ear than Peter Pears was...Imbrailo is a sweetly vulnerable Billy. The chorus is beyond reproach, and Sir Mark Elder’s unsparing, forensic grip on the score never slackens. Essential, in other words.
