Archive for Benjamin Britten
Happy Birthday Britten!
Today is Benjamin Britten’s birthday, and we have just the album to celebrate! Britten’s Orchestra Michael Stern Kansas City Symphony The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is a symphonic tour-de-force and audio spectacular, featuring all sections of the symphony, separately and together. Based on a famous theme by Henry Purcell, Britten writes in essence his “Concerto for Orchestra,” taking the ensemble apart, then reassembling it in a grand and jubilant finale. Dynamic range is…
Just Need to Brag…
We might be 34 years old, but we still get excited when our releases are popular! It’s especially exciting when it’s a new format for us! Our first multi-channel SACD Hybrid of Britten’s Orchestra is really gaining ground! For instance we just saw today that Britten’s Orchestra SACD is currently #21 on Amazon.com’s New Releases bestsellers list! And it’s up there with pretty good company. This is very exciting for us to see that people…
We wanted to share this outstanding review from EnjoytheMusic.com of our most recent release Britten’s Orchestra: “Britten’s Orchestra”Benjamin BrittenThe Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra; Sinfonia da Requiem;Four Sea Interludes & Passacaglia from Peter GrimesReview by Wayne Donnelly This is the second Reference Recordings orchestral release from the Kansas City Symphony, now the label’s “house band” replacing the Minnesota Orchestra. Minnesota Music Director Osmo Vanska is under exclusive contract to the Scandinavian BIS label, which…
Benjamin Britten
We came across this video the other day, and thought even for a “trailer” it was worth sharing — especially in light of our recent Britten’s Orchestra release and upcoming SACD release:
Britten’s Orchestra Release Day!!!!!
Britten’s Orchestra Michael Stern Kansas City Symphony The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is a symphonic tour-de-force and audio spectacular, featuring all sections of the symphony, separately and together. Based on a famous theme by Henry Purcell, Britten writes in essence his “Concerto for Orchestra,” taking the ensemble apart, then reassembling it in a grand and jubilant finale. Dynamic range is extreme. Britten was a dedicated pacifist, and the Sinfonia da requiem from 1940…
The Music of Peter Grimes – Britten’s Orchestra
Though we aren’t getting into opera, we are doing the orchestral suite music from the opera Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten. Peter Grimes was writtten by Britten as a libretto adopted from a section of George Crabbe’s poem The Borough. First perfromed in London in 1945, Peter Grimes was Britten’s first opera to become a critical and popular sucess, and is now considered a staple of U.K. and U.S. repertoire. However, what is of most…
Sinfonia da Requiem
Continuing our effort to give you some information about the pieces on the upcoming album Britten’s Orchestra with the Kansas City Symphony, we want to give you a little information on Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20. However, this is just a taste as next week we may give more information from our Program Notes. Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20 was written by Benjamin Britten in 1940 when he was 26 years-old. It was commissioned by…
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
As the countdown to Britten’s Orchestra gets closer, we thought we would talk about the actual music that is going to be on the album. So, today we thought we’d start with “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” by Benjamin Britten. The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, opus 34 was written by Benjamin Britten in 1964. It was orginially commissioned for an educational documentary film called The Instruments of the Orchestra, and featured…
Benjamin Britten
Well, in order to get you prepared for our upcoming Kansas City Release, we thought we would give you a little background information on Benjamin Britten. So, in good taste we are going to steal a bit from Wikipedia. To see the original Wikipedia source click HERE. Britten was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, the son of a dentist and a talented amateur musician. He showed musical gifts very early in life, and began composing prolifically…
Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Here at Reference Recordings, we are getting very excited about our upcoming album with the Kansas City Symphony, Britten’s Orchestra. So, to get you excited, here is a YouTube video of one of the movement’s from “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.” Unfortunately, this is not the Kansas City Symphony. But, as you listen, imagine how great it will sound at audiophile quality in HRx, HDCD, possibly SACD, and maybe in the future on…
Kansas City Symphony New Album Information
Here is some new and specific information about the upcoming (release date still pending) album from the Kansas City Symphony, including the album name! Britten’s Orchestra, RR-120 HDCD 1. The Repertoire:The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is a virtuoso orchestral spectacular, which RR has wanted to record for many years. Sinfonia da Requiem is widely considered to be Britten’s finest orchestral inspiration, and is full of color and wide dynamic range. The music of…
Kansas City Symphony New Release – Track Listings
As promised, we will now share with you the track listings for the upcoming Kansas City Symphony album on Reference Recordings: Britten Passacaglia from Peter Grimes, op. 33b Britten “Four Sea Interludes” from Peter Grimes, op. 33a I. Dawn: Lento e tranquilloII. Sunday morning: Allegro spiritosoIII. Moonlight: Andante comodo e rubatoIV. Storm: Presto con fuoco Britten Sinfonia da Requiem, op. 20 I. LacrymosaII. Dies IraeIII. Requiem Aeternum Britten The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,…
Kansas City Symphony New Release – Sneak Peak!
Greetings Fans!!! As promised, you will get a sneak peak at what is going to be on the Kansas City Symphony’s new album with Reference Recordings. But, we aren’t going to indulge too much today. We are going to post here the press release for the pre-recording session concert that the Kansas City Symphony held June 4th. We have blanked out the names of the actual pieces because we will release that information on Monday!…
Kansas City Symphony – New Release
Here on the blog we like to give exciting upcoming information. As many may know last February, Reference Recordings partnered with the Kansas City Symphony to create a number of albums. This fall (2009), the second of those albums will be released. We will not be giving away the title or contents of that album today, but in order to get you excited we want to turn back the pages to last summer’s debut, Tempest!…