Peter Pears, John Shirley-Quirk, James Bowman, Benjamin Britten - Britten: Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo; Winter Words; Who Are These Children? (2006)

Tracklist

01. Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22: Sonetto XVI
02. Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22: Sonetto XXXI
03. Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22: Sonetto XXX
04. Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22: Sonetto LV
05. Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22: Sonetto XXXVIII
06. Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22: Sonetto XXXII
07. Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22: Sonetto XXIV
08. Winter Words, Op. 52: At Day-Close In November
09. Winter Words, Op. 52: Midnight On the Great Western
10. Winter Words, Op. 52: Wagtail and Baby
11. Winter Words, Op. 52: The Little Old Table
12. Winter Words, Op. 52: The Choirmaster's Burial
13. Winter Words, Op. 52: Proud Songsters
14. Winter Words, Op. 52: At the Railway Station, Upway
15. Winter Words, Op. 52: Before Life and After
16. On this island, Op. 11: Let the florid music praise!
17. Who are these children, Op. 84: 1. A Riddle (The Earth)
18. Who are these children, Op. 84: 2. A Laddie's Sang
19. Who are these children, Op. 84: 3. Nightmare
20. Who are these children, Op. 84: 4. Black Day
21. Who are these children, Op. 84: 5. Bed-time
22. Who are these children, Op. 84: 6. Slaughter
23. Who are these children, Op. 84: 7. Riddle (The Child You Were)
24. Who are these children, Op. 84: 8. The Larky Lad
25. Who are these children, Op. 84: 9. Who Are These Children?
26. Who are these children, Op. 84: 10. Supper
27. Who are these children, Op. 84: 11. The Children
28. Who are these children, Op. 84: 12. The Auld Aik
29. Tit for tat: 1. A Song Of Enchantment
30. Tit for tat: 2. Autumn
31. Tit for tat: 3. Silver
32. Tit for tat: 4. Vigil
33. Tit for tat: 5. Tit For Tat
34. Tit for tat: Sweeter than Roses (Ed. Britten)
35. Tit for tat: When the Cock Begins To Crow

Anyone who has always wanted to hear Benjamin Britten's realization of Purcell's When the cock begins to crow for counter-tenor and baritone, his Let the florid music praise!, Who are these children for tenor and piano settings, as well as his Tit for Tat for baritone and piano, but who was born too late for the LP era, will have to pick up this disc. Why? Because this disc is these four works' first release on CD and anyone below a certain age who loves Britten's songs will have to get it to hear them. Indeed, anyone who loves Britten songs will have to pick up this disc anyway since it contains several of his best works in the genre performed in most cases by the dedicatee with the composer as the accompanist. Each song cycle creates its own distinct world -- Seven Michelangelo Sonnets of anguish and ecstasy, Winter Words of innocence and experience, Let the florid music praise! of energy and virtuosity, Who are these children of prejudice and cruelty, and Tit for Tat of painful subjects treated in a lighthearted way -- while all still being products of Britten's own highly individualistic style. While Peter Pears' unlovely voice and hypersensitive interpretations in the first four cycles may take some getting used to for those who don't already know his work, those who already know and love Britten already know and love Pears for the simple reason that most of Britten's music for tenor was written for Pears. The set of baritone songs is performed here by the doughty and dependable John Shirley-Quirk while the counter-tenor for the two Purcell realizations is the lean but wiry James Bowman. Although originally released in 1956 and 1973, these Decca recordings sound warm and deep in their 2006 digital remasterings.

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