Episode 2
Donald Macleod introduces part of Britten's cantata St Nicholas, premiered on the opening night of the very first Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, plus excerpts from two operas.
The first ever Aldeburgh Festival took place in June 1948. Donald Macleod introduces part of Britten's cantata St Nicholas, premiered on the opening night, plus extracts from two operas, both set in Suffolk - the dark tale of Peter Grimes, set in a fishing village based on Aldeburgh and the comedy Albert Herring, about a socially inept young man destined to be crowned May King.
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Music Played
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Benjamin Britten
Spring Symphony (extract)
Performer: Alison Hagley (soprano) Performer: Catherine Robbin (alto) Performer: John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Performer: Monteverdi Choir Performer: Philharmonia Choir Performer: John Eliot Gardiner
- DG 453 433-2.
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Benjamin Britten
Serenade (Nocturne)
Performer: Peter Pears (tenor) Performer: Dennis Brain (horn) Performer: Boyd Neel String Orchestra Performer: Conductor Benjamin Britten
- Decca 425996-2.
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Benjamin Britten
Peter Grimes (extract)
Performer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson (Peter) Performer: Felicity Lott (Ellen) Performer: Thomas Allen (Balstrode) Performer: Patricia Payne (Auntie) Performer: Maria Bovino, Gillian Webster (Nieces) Performer: Stuart Kale (Boles) Performer: Sarah Walker (Mrs Sedley) Performer: Simon Keenleyside (Ned) Performer: David Wilson-Johnson (Hobson) Performer: Christopher Lackner (Fisherman) Performer: Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Performer: Conductor Bernard Haitink
- EMI CDS 754 832-2.
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Benjamin Britten
St Nicholas - No. VII: Nicholas and the Pickled Boys
Performer: Robert Tear (tenor) Performer: Choir of King’s College, Cambridge Performer: Academy of St Martin in the Fields Performer: Conductor Sir David Willcocks
- EMI CDM565112-2.
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Benjamin Britten
Albert Herring (extract)
Performer: Josephine Barstow (Lady Billows) Performer: Felicity Palmer (Florence Pike) Performer: Peter Savidge (Vicar) Performer: Susan Gritton (Miss Wordsworth) Performer: Stuart Kale (Mayor) Performer: Robert Lloyd (Superintendent) Performer: Northern Sinfonia Performer: Conductor and piano Steuart Bedford
- Naxos 8.660107-08.
Broadcasts
- Tue 16 Nov 201012:00BBC Radio 3
- Tue 16 Nov 201022:00BBC Radio 3
- Tue 24 Jan 201212:00BBC Radio 3
- Tue 24 Jan 201218:30BBC Radio 3
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