BaL 28.05.11 - Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings 9.30 a.m.

[tom_960]

Incidentally, I didn't know that Alan Partridge had recorded the Serenade - A-Haa!

Yes indeed he has - and a Partridge in the hand is worth two in the Busch...

Seriously though, we didn't hear of any DVD versions of the Serenade. About 10 years ago BBC TV broadcast a film version recorded by Bostridge, with Sir Colin conducting, in - iirc - Blythburgh Church. Some very evocative and complementary photography too. Was it ever released as a DVD?

[BBMmk2]

I would love to have the AR versio, as to the version as reccomended. You need English speaking artists for works like these.

[tom_960]

I would love to have the AR version, as to the version as recommended, you need English speaking artists for works like these.

I presume you mean ARJ - Anthony Rolfe Johnson? What do you mean by "works like these"? If the boot were on the other foot, would you similarly reject - for example - ARJ's recordings of German cycles such as Liederkreis? And perhaps someone should have told John Tom that you need German-speaking artists for roles like Wotan?

[johnb]

I've listened to the Pregardien recording and have no qualms at all about his pronunciation. In many respects the recording is outstanding and the horn soloist is superb. My one reservation about this version is the balance - Pregardien seems very recessed compared to the horn soloist and orchestra making the piece more of a horn concerto with vocal support. I realise that the balance is probably very similar to what one would actually hear in a live performance but in that situation the visual element would counter the 'recessed' tenor. Although I intensely dislike the exaggerated spotlighting of soloists (which so often happens in recordings) I do think that some delicate rebalancing in favour of the tenor would have been worthwhile.

Having said all that, I think it is a really stunning performance.