Britten: Curlew River - Pears/Shirley-Quirk/Britten (1965)

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Britten: Curlew River - Pears/Shirley-Quirk/Britten (1965)

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"This recording captures the intimacy of the piece; it is as though the listener is in church hearing the monks process past and reliving the story with them. Peter Pears is remarkably moving in the difficult role of the Madwoman, ably supported by singers and instrumentalists alike."

Simon Whalley, 1001 classical recordings you must hear before you die

Tracklisting:

Curlew River, op.71 - A Parable for Church Performance

01 - Te lucis ante terminum (Abbot, Monks)
02 - I am the ferryman (Ferryman)
03 - I come from the Westland (Traveller)
04 - But first may I ask you what is that strange noise? (Ferryman)
05 - Clear as a sky without a cloud (Madwoman)
06 - Near the Black Mountains there I dwelt (Madwoman)
07 - A thousand leagues may sunder a mother and her son (Pilgrims)
08 - Ignorant man! You refuse a passage to me… (Madwoman)
09 - I beg your pardon (Ferryman)
10 - Curlew River, smoothly flowing… (Traveller, Abbot, Pilgrims)
11 - Today is an important day (Ferryman)
12 - Look! While you were listening to my story… (Ferryman)
13 - Ferryman, tell me, when did it happen?' (Madwoman)
14 - Hoping, I wandered on (Madwoman)
15 - He whose life was full of promise (Abbot)
16 - The moon has risen (Abbot, Pilgrims)
17 - Go your way in peace, mother (Spirit)
18 - Good souls, we have shown you… (Abbot)

Madwoman - Peter Pears, tenor
Ferryman - John Shirley-Quirk, mezzo-soprano
Abbot - Harold Blackburn, soprano
Traveller - Bryan Drake, tenor
Voice of the Spirit - Bruce Webb, bass

English Opera Group Orchestra and Chorus, Benjamin Britten, conductor