Search - Benjamin Britten, Dmitry Shostakovich, Steuart Bedford :: Britten: Johnson Over Jordan / Our Hunting Fathers / Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1

A 'Premiere Recording' and Three Fully Satisfying Performanc

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 06/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even for devoted admirers of Benjamin Britten's music there is one work that probably never has been considered, much less heard, until this fine release with Steuart Bedford and the English Chamber Orchestra. This CD represents the World Premiere recording of 'Johnson over Jordan' a suite for orchestra (arranged by Paul Hindmarsh in 1988) from segments of incidental music Britten wrote for a 1939 J.B. Priestly 'morality play' based on the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead'. The play relates the life of recently deceased Robert Johnson whose life history is told in reverse order: the state of being is called Bardo - an hallucinatory state between life and death. For this play Britten wrote some very fine music that bears our attention. Not only are there intricate 'death motifs' and finely realized variations on themes, but there is also a movement ('The Spider and the Fly') which in illustrating the baser aspects of Johnson's life is composed in the manner of big band swing! The music is very unusual for Britten and contains some excitingly original thoughts.



Also included on this recording is Britten's brilliant 1936 symphonic song cycle (a work Britten compared to his beloved Mahler's 'Das Lied von der Erde') based on the poetry of WH Auden and serving as a reaction to the turbulence of pre WW II Europe. The cycle is a sterling example of Britten's ability to write for the English language and Auden's biting poetry is clearly enunciated and beautifully sung by Phyllis Bryn-Julson. The work foretells the devastation of the decimation of Europe by the 'hunter' Hitler and is one of the more poignant works to come from that time in history.



Completing the CD is a brilliant performance of Shostakovich's very young (1924 - 1926) Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Opus 10, a work which in retrospect holds some themes and ideas used all the way to his last Symphony No. 15. The front role of the piano makes moments of this work almost a piano concerto (Shostakovich himself often played this part in early performances). Bedford's reading and the English Chamber Orchestra's performance is one of the finest available, and this Shostakovich performance alone is worth buying this CD. In all this is a meaningful, well-programmed release that deserves a very wide audience - for Britten lovers and Shostakovich lovers alike. Recorded in Abbey Road Studios in 1990. Very Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, June 2006"