Search - Sir Michael Tippett, Sir Colin Davis, BBC Symphony Orchestra :: Tippett: A Child of Our Time

The classic recording of a choral masterpiece

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sooner or later this, the definitive studio recording of Tippett's fervent anti-Fascist oratorio, will be back in print. In the meantime there are copies on the used market, as well as in a box set on British Decca. The composer himself leads a passionate reading, now on Naxos, but with lesser vocal soloists. Davis's quartet is unbeatable, led by Janet Baker and Jessye Norman in prime voice. Not that John Shirley-quirk and Richard Cassily are any less dramatic and committed.



The BBC orchestra is excellent, and one only laments that the chorus sounds rather mushy and far away, with muddied diction of Tippett's libretto, which the composer himself wrote on the advice of T.S. Eliot. Otherwise, the recording is clear and full. Davis's conducting is balanced and dramatic, though it could be fiercer at times. A better recording hasn't emerged since this one appeared over two decades ago, so every lover of this moving work would do well to seek it out."

Definitive recording

Porat Y C Jacobson | 05/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just want to indorse Santa Fe Listener's review - this is indeed the definitive recording of this powerful work. I knew this recording well. A gap of 10 or so years elapsed before purchasing it again - and none of the depth or beauty or darkness of this music has lessened - I am not sure I agree that the chorus is lacking in anyway - they have that removed feel of a 'chorus' (as in a Greek drama) for the main line - yet warmth and fullness for the Negro spirituals. Davis brings out Tippet's unique timbers beautifully and the soloists are at one with the music."