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CD Britten: Billy Budd Billy Budd Nathan Gunn baritone
London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus / Daniel Harding
The opera, in its definitive 2-act version, was recorded during the 2 concert performances at the Barbican Hall on 7th & 9th December 2007. As principal guest conductor, Daniel Harding conducts the London Symphony Orchestra.
Virgin 5190392
The recording is scheduled for release in the United Kingdom on 15 September 2008.
"The trio of main protagonists - Billy, Vere and Claggart - is as good as any rival, even if some may prefer Philip Langridge's ardent Captain (for Hickox) to the sometimes over-inflected Ian Bostridge, good though the latter is at conveying the character's moral quandary. Nathan Gunn gets across Billy's wide-eyed innocence with plenty of youthful vocal energy but sings the 'Billy in the Darbies' swansong with eloquent restraint.
"Gidon Saks, meanwhile, is wonderfully baleful and dark-voiced as Billy's nemesis, the evil Master-at-Arms John Claggart - a match for Hickox's John Tomlinson and Britten's Michael Langdon."--Matthew Rye, telegraph.co.uk
"Bostridge portrays a solemn, neurotic and painfully rueful Captain Vere in Britten's men-only opera of good versus evil in the claustrophobic setting of an 18th-century warship under sail. His light, effete, officer-class tenor soars above his gruffer crew."--Rick Jones, The Times
"Le rôle de Billy attire les barytons d’envergure. Venant après Thomas Allen, Simon Keenlyside, Thomas Hampson et Bo Skovus, Nathan Gunn fait belle impression par son timbre et son vécu du rôle. Le reste de la distribution n’appelle que des éloges avec un Ian Bostridge parfait de style et de musicalité (cela faisant longtemps) et un Gidon Saks puissant. Le chœur du LSO est absolument parfait en termes d’homogénéité et de projection."--Pierre-Jean Tribot, resmusica.com
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