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Britten: A Midsummer Night's Dream / Britten, London So


Release Date: 03/30/1990 
Label:  Decca   Catalog #: 425663   Spars Code: ADD 
Composer:  Benjamin Britten
Performer:  John Shirley-Quirk,  Stephen Terry,  Elizabeth Harwood,  Helen Watts,   ... 
Conductor:  Benjamin Britten
Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Symphony Orchestra
Number of Discs: 2 
Recorded in: Mono 
Length: 2 Hours 24 Mins. 

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Notes and Editorial Reviews

This performance is sheer delight. Britten's conducting, more than anyone else's, conveys the sinister strata in the score which underlie the comic and fantastic. Elizabeth Harwood's Tytania is a lovely performance, both warm and unearthly.

If I had to name Britten's greatest opera, I should still hover between three, finally (I think) opting for Billy Budd. But I would have no hesitation in selecting A Midsummer Night's Dream as the one I enjoy most, even more than Albert Herring. As a successful operatic version of Shakespeare it ranks with Verdi. Why no one recorded the magical Glyndebourne production I shall never understand. But Britten's own performance, recorded in 1966, is sheer delight. His conducting, more Read more than anyone else's conveys the sinister strata in the score which underlie the comic and fantastic.

Alfred Deller's unmatched Oberon, Owen Brannigan's Bottom, Thomas Hemsley's Demetrius, Norman Lumsden's Quince and David Kelly's Snug are the only survivors on record from the 1960 first performances. Sir Peter Pears sang Flute then but moved to Lysander on record, a pity, I think, for his comic impersonations were at once subtle and funny. Elizabeth Harwood's Tytania is a lovely performance, both warm and unearthly.

-- Gramophone [5/1990]
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Works on This Recording

1. A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 64 by Benjamin Britten
Performer:  John Shirley-Quirk (Bass Baritone), Stephen Terry (Boy Soprano), Elizabeth Harwood (Soprano),
Helen Watts (Alto), Owen Brannigan (Baritone), Norman Lumsden (Voice),
Kenneth MacDonald (), David [bass baritone] Kelly (), Keith Raggett (Voice),
Richard Dakin (Voice), John Pryer (Voice), Heather Harper (Soprano),
Josephine Veasey (Mezzo Soprano), Thomas Hemsley (Baritone), Peter Pears (Tenor),
Ian Wodehouse (Voice), Gordon Clark (Voice), Eric Alder (Voice),
Alfred Deller (Countertenor), Robert Tear (Tenor)
Conductor:  Benjamin Britten
Orchestra/Ensemble:  London Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1960; England 
 Date of Recording: 1966 
Venue:  Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London 
Length: 144 Minutes 12 Secs. 
Language: English 

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