Customer Reviews

Benjamin Britten: The Prince of the Pagodas - Ballet in Three Acts, Op. 57 (Complete) - Oliver Knussen / London Sinfonietta

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Tomato, tom-ah-to. Britten was born to write this ballet. Every phrase is so very English, and in his own manner Britten does his own spin on his very Englishness. Don't expect anything other than one more Westerner encountering a foreign, and hence exotic, culture. This is a Brit's interpretation of an Eastern tale. It is an absolute delight.

There are a few recordings of this ballet available, as well as mere selections. In my opinion, it isn't worth the loss of countless gems to hear selections instead of the complete work, regardless of its length.

Britten's odd little twists and turns on friendly, expansive English harmonies can sound muted and underdone if not handled correctly. With Knussen and the London Sinfonietta, there are no worries. The listener is jolted out of serenity quite frequently, with sharp punctuation marks via the percussion, sudden, shining brass choirs, and constantly leaping melodic lines in the strings. Every once in a while a sentence is finished with an exclamation point of the entire orchestra, where the highest woodwinds prove their valor and are perfectly audible. You don't want to miss this beauty.

(Buyer beware that I had to buy the CDs to achieve gapless playback in iTunes. Perhaps you might have better luck with the downloads than I did, however.)

There are only two recordings of the ballet to my knowledge and both are delightful. This one, however , is more complete by a good bit and I find myself listening to it more often than Britten's recording because some parts make better sense when heard complete. In addition to that the playing is very good indeed.