Britten: Albert Herring - Hickox, Gilchrist, Stephen, Et Al (2003)
Britten: Albert Herring - Hickox, Gilchrist, Stephen, Et Al (2003)
EAC Rip | Flac (Image + cue + log) | 2 CDs | Full Scans | 584 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Chandos | Catalog Number: 10036
EAC Rip | Flac (Image + cue + log) | 2 CDs | Full Scans | 584 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Chandos | Catalog Number: 10036
Richard Hickox more than any rival brings out the fun of Britten's comic chamber opera, lifting rhythms in an infectious way. The result is warm and welcoming…James Gilchrist is outstanding, with a tenor light enough to sound wimpish in the first half of the opera, and then to convey the anger of the character in the monologue that marks his change of heart.
Composer: Benjamin Britten
Performer: Rebecca Evans, James Gilchrist, Pamela Helen Stephen, Yvette Bonner, …
Conductor: Richard Hickox
Orchestra/Ensemble: City of London Sinfonia
Reviews: This is a very good performance of Britten's British-as-could-be chamber-sized comic opera. It's a work that's chock-full of flavorful characters, and every recorded performance has managed to present casts that come right through the speakers. Had the Naxos recording of this work not just appeared (actually it's a Collins Classics performance, happily re-released last month–for my review, type Q6240 in Search Reviews), this one would be my recommendation.
Richard Hickox's conducting here is very detailed, and his slowish tempos and the somewhat in-your-face recording certainly do help to make the text understandable. But some of the action drags, and frankly, this opera is long enough and detailed enough not to need such underlining. Steuart Bedford on Naxos keeps the action crisper.
The singing here is quite good, but I marginally prefer Christopher Gillett's Albert (Naxos) to James Gilchrist's portrayal, and although I found Josephine Barstow too loud (Naxos), I simply don't like Susan Bullock as Lady Billows–she doesn't convince. The others in each cast are about even, but Della Jones, again on Naxos, makes a better case for Albert's uptight, greengrocer Mum. And one other thing: Naxos' set is less than half the price of this release.
Tracklisting:
1. Albert Herring, Op. 39 by Benjamin Britten
Performer: Rebecca Evans (Soprano), James Gilchrist (Tenor), Pamela Helen Stephen (Mezzo Soprano),
Yvette Bonner (Voice), Gregory Monk (Voice), Susan Bullock (Soprano),
Stephen Richardson (Bass), Alan Opie (Baritone), Anne Collins (Mezzo Soprano),
Roderick Williams (Baritone), Robert Tear (Tenor), Rebecca Bottone (Voice),
Sally Burgess (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor: Richard Hickox
Orchestra/Ensemble: City of London Sinfonia
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1947; England
Date of Recording: 10/2001
Length: 147 Minutes 27 Secs.
Language: English
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 23. March 2013, 17:54
City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox / Britten - Albert Herring - CD1
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-4083N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 896 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
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2 | 2:02.16 | 2:33.23 | 9166 | 20663
3 | 4:35.39 | 2:42.35 | 20664 | 32848
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6 | 12:53.48 | 4:46.49 | 58023 | 79521
7 | 17:40.22 | 3:12.00 | 79522 | 93921
8 | 20:52.22 | 4:24.20 | 93922 | 113741
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Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename J:\New Music\Britten - Albert Herring - Hickox\Britten - Albert Herring - CD1.wav
Peak level 99.0 %
Extraction speed 4.3 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 941D40D6
Copy CRC 941D40D6
Copy OK
No errors occurred
End of status report
==== Log checksum 22293071AD6AE5565EF3A853E3EAC42C288854B7AA1ADD551B5EFDC7F8E17B4F ====
EAC extraction logfile from 23. March 2013, 17:54
City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox / Britten - Albert Herring - CD1
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-4083N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 896 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 2:02.16 | 0 | 9165
2 | 2:02.16 | 2:33.23 | 9166 | 20663
3 | 4:35.39 | 2:42.35 | 20664 | 32848
4 | 7:17.74 | 2:45.68 | 32849 | 45291
5 | 10:03.67 | 2:49.56 | 45292 | 58022
6 | 12:53.48 | 4:46.49 | 58023 | 79521
7 | 17:40.22 | 3:12.00 | 79522 | 93921
8 | 20:52.22 | 4:24.20 | 93922 | 113741
9 | 25:16.42 | 2:03.50 | 113742 | 123016
10 | 27:20.17 | 3:03.58 | 123017 | 136799
11 | 30:24.00 | 3:08.72 | 136800 | 150971
12 | 33:32.72 | 2:27.02 | 150972 | 161998
13 | 35:59.74 | 1:57.72 | 161999 | 170845
14 | 37:57.71 | 1:41.35 | 170846 | 178455
15 | 39:39.31 | 3:36.14 | 178456 | 194669
16 | 43:15.45 | 2:00.36 | 194670 | 203705
17 | 45:16.06 | 2:08.40 | 203706 | 213345
18 | 47:24.46 | 1:36.01 | 213346 | 220546
19 | 49:00.47 | 1:41.51 | 220547 | 228172
20 | 50:42.23 | 2:49.44 | 228173 | 240891
21 | 53:31.67 | 2:53.20 | 240892 | 253886
22 | 56:25.12 | 2:21.51 | 253887 | 264512
23 | 58:46.63 | 0:54.30 | 264513 | 268592
24 | 59:41.18 | 2:41.67 | 268593 | 280734
25 | 62:23.10 | 3:26.51 | 280735 | 296235
26 | 65:49.61 | 1:03.67 | 296236 | 301027
27 | 66:53.53 | 2:39.52 | 301028 | 313004
28 | 69:33.30 | 1:34.12 | 313005 | 320066
29 | 71:07.42 | 1:26.21 | 320067 | 326537
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename J:\New Music\Britten - Albert Herring - Hickox\Britten - Albert Herring - CD1.wav
Peak level 99.0 %
Extraction speed 4.3 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 941D40D6
Copy CRC 941D40D6
Copy OK
No errors occurred
End of status report
==== Log checksum 22293071AD6AE5565EF3A853E3EAC42C288854B7AA1ADD551B5EFDC7F8E17B4F ====
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 23. March 2013, 19:50
City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox / Britten - Albert Herring - CD2
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-4083N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 896 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:50.18 | 0 | 17267
2 | 3:50.18 | 2:03.02 | 17268 | 26494
3 | 5:53.20 | 2:11.46 | 26495 | 36365
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24 | 72:55.65 | 2:04.45 | 328190 | 337534
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename J:\New Music\Britten - Albert Herring - Hickox\Britten - Albert Herring - CD2.wav
Peak level 98.0 %
Extraction speed 3.6 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC ED2DCBF8
Copy CRC ED2DCBF8
Copy OK
No errors occurred
End of status report
==== Log checksum 300049E7B82F03CDFCEEA986E9FD5A5956BF5F23FD18A33EB4F821099C62AC0F ====
EAC extraction logfile from 23. March 2013, 19:50
City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox / Britten - Albert Herring - CD2
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-4083N Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 896 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 %source%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:50.18 | 0 | 17267
2 | 3:50.18 | 2:03.02 | 17268 | 26494
3 | 5:53.20 | 2:11.46 | 26495 | 36365
4 | 8:04.66 | 1:16.24 | 36366 | 42089
5 | 9:21.15 | 2:07.61 | 42090 | 51675
6 | 11:29.01 | 2:34.01 | 51676 | 63226
7 | 14:03.02 | 7:34.36 | 63227 | 97312
8 | 21:37.38 | 4:51.00 | 97313 | 119137
9 | 26:28.38 | 2:50.50 | 119138 | 131937
10 | 29:19.13 | 1:47.24 | 131938 | 139986
11 | 31:06.37 | 2:16.61 | 139987 | 150247
12 | 33:23.23 | 5:24.43 | 150248 | 174590
13 | 38:47.66 | 3:09.03 | 174591 | 188768
14 | 41:56.69 | 2:13.43 | 188769 | 198786
15 | 44:10.37 | 3:16.33 | 198787 | 213519
16 | 47:26.70 | 1:49.72 | 213520 | 221766
17 | 49:16.67 | 1:15.58 | 221767 | 227449
18 | 50:32.50 | 3:01.28 | 227450 | 241052
19 | 53:34.03 | 2:42.07 | 241053 | 253209
20 | 56:16.10 | 2:32.16 | 253210 | 264625
21 | 58:48.26 | 5:24.67 | 264626 | 288992
22 | 64:13.18 | 2:57.51 | 288993 | 302318
23 | 67:10.69 | 5:44.71 | 302319 | 328189
24 | 72:55.65 | 2:04.45 | 328190 | 337534
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename J:\New Music\Britten - Albert Herring - Hickox\Britten - Albert Herring - CD2.wav
Peak level 98.0 %
Extraction speed 3.6 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC ED2DCBF8
Copy CRC ED2DCBF8
Copy OK
No errors occurred
End of status report
==== Log checksum 300049E7B82F03CDFCEEA986E9FD5A5956BF5F23FD18A33EB4F821099C62AC0F ====
Thanks to the original releaser