Les illuminations, song cycle for high voice & strings, Op. 18
Serenade, for tenor, horn & strings, Op. 31
Nocturne, for tenor, 7 instruments & strings, Op. 60
Tenor Ian Bostridge brings together three of Britten's most important song cycles: Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, Les Illuminations, and Nocturne. His performances are notable for their dramatic range, particularly the power and passion and vocal abandon he brings to these works. He fully inhabits the music, which leads to some daring interpretive choices. In Serenade, there is a thrilling wildness to "Nocturne" that one does not usually associate with this music, his "Dirge" is a harrowing beacon of doom, and his ...
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Tenor Ian Bostridge brings together three of Britten's most important song cycles: Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, Les Illuminations, and Nocturne. His performances are notable for their dramatic range, particularly the power and passion and vocal abandon he brings to these works. He fully inhabits the music, which leads to some daring interpretive choices. In Serenade, there is a thrilling wildness to "Nocturne" that one does not usually associate with this music, his "Dirge" is a harrowing beacon of doom, and his performance of Nocturne's "But that night when on my bed I lay," is crazed, almost demented sounding. At the opposite end of the spectrum, his "Sonnet" is sung with languid and woozy simplicity. The interpretive integrity of Les Illuminations makes the piece seem more like a mini-opera than a set of songs. Throughout, Bostridge's performance is notable for the radiance of his tone, the power of his voice over the wide range he is required to traverse, and a technique that allows him to...
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