Brits and Contemporaries, episode 23.
A recording from Benjamin Britten categorised under “Rarities”. The contemporaries are Sergei Prokovjef en Paul Hindemith.
Sergei Prokofjev (1891-1953)
Parts from War & Peace – opera in 13 scenes (1941-42)
libretto: composer + Mira Mendelson, by Leo Tolstoy’s novel
Prins Andrei Bolkonsky – Roderick Williams (baritone)
Natasha – Ekaterina Morozova (soprano)
Pierre Bezukhov – Justin Lavender (tenor)
Helene Bezukhova – Elena Ionova (mezzo-soprano)
Anatol Kuragin – Oleg Balashov (tenor)
Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova – Victoria Livengood (alto)
Field Marshal Kutuzov – Alan Ewing (bass)
Napoleon – Alan Opie (baritone)
Valeri Polyansky: Russian State Symphony Orchestra
Richard Hickox: Spoleto Festival Orchestra
Live recording 4-10 July 1999, Spoleto
Chandos, CHAN 9855 (2000)
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Symphony "Die Harmonie der Welt" (1951)
Herbert Blomstedt: Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig, Vienna Octet
Decca 4785425 (2013)
Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976)
Cantata Academica Op.62 (1959)
Jennifer Vyvyan (soprano)
Helen Watts (alto)
Peter Pears (tenor)
Owen Brannigan (bass)
Harold Lester (piano)
George Malcolm: London Symphony Orchestra & Choir
Recorded 17 March 1961, Kingsway Hall, London
Decca 4688112 (2001)