Britten: Turn of the Screw (2 CD/CD-ROM)

Rodgers (Artist), Bostridge (Artist), Wise (Artist), Benjamin Britten (Composer), Harding (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Harding
• Composer: Benjamin Britten
• Audio CD (April 20, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B0036D7Y16
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,016 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. ACT ONE: Prologue (Prologue)

2. ACT ONE: Theme

3. ACT ONE: Scene 1 : The Journey (Governess)

4. ACT ONE: Variation I

5. ACT ONE: Scene 2 : The Welcome (Governess/Mrs. Grose/Miles/Flora)

6. ACT ONE: Variation II

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. ACT TWO: Variation VIII

2. ACT TWO: Scene 1 : Colloquy and Soliloquy (Governess/Quint/Miss Jessel)

3. ACT TWO: Variation IX

4. ACT TWO: Scene 2 : The Bells (Governess/Mrs. Grose/Miles/Flora)

5. ACT TWO: Variation X

6. ACT TWO: Scene 3 : Miss Jessel (Governess/Miss Jessel)

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. The Turn of the Screw: Libretto

2. The Turn of the Screw: Synopsis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A transformative recording of Britten's eerie, touching opera, April 29, 2010

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Britten: Turn of the Screw (2 CD/CD-ROM) (Audio CD)

Note: With the transfer of this wonderful recording from the Virgin label, I am reposting my original review.)

As a non-fan of Ian Bostridge and the owner of two very good recordings of 'The Turn of the Screw,' I had avoided buying this new set. Now that I have, I am amazed by its quality. Daniel Harding imparts riveting excitement to Britten's score, but more than that, the psychological intenisty from every singer, beginning with a Narrator who foreshadows the horrors to comes, hasn't been matched in any previous recording. Aided by crystal-clear sonics, each performer gives us every syllable of the all-important text by Myfawmy Piper. This can't be said even of the composer's classic (mono) recording or the excellent version under his disciple Steuart Bedford, where the resonant acoustic tends to garble the words.

This verbal clarity draws one vividly into th cloudy terrors of James's ghost story, one in which extreme psychological states are hinted at but which only occasionally erupt on the surface (in this regard, 'Turn of the Screw' is Britten's mini-version of 'Pelleas and Melisande'). Considering that Harding's conducting outdoes the composer, himself a great conductor, one expects great things from him in the future. The Amazon reviewer makes too much of Bostridge's pretty singing style--the tenor does a lot to change his tone into errie timbres when it's called for, and the very fact that he sounds boyish is creepy in and of itself. In sum, this performance is all but definitive.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ian Bostridge and Peter Quint, February 22, 2011

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Britten: Turn of the Screw (2 CD/CD-ROM) (Audio CD)

Sir Benjamin Britten's opera TURN OF THE SCREW is a 'chamber opera' based on the Henry James novella of the same name, adapted as a libretto by Myfanwy Piper. It presents a challenge to opera companies whose audiences are used to more pomp and splendor than this delicate, psychological thriller that depends on cerebral attention as opposed to visual effects. Though the recording form 1954 with Britten conducting the English Group orchestra and the stellar cast of Peter pears, Jennifer Vyvyan and Joan Cross has been the gold standard for years, this new recording with Daniel Harding conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra changes all that. The opera recorded here works on every level - mysterious, frightening, moody, and eloquently sung. Sir Benjamin Britten's score is better revealed under the baton of Daniel Harding - a score that surely is one of Britten's most creative for both voices (adult and children) and orchestra. Hearing this recording in comparison to Britten's own 1954 version is revelatory and bound to bring the public popularity this opera so justly deserves.

While each of the roles is expertly sung - Vivien Turney, Joan Rodgers, Jane Henschel - the astonishing presence of Ian Bostridge is what makes this performance indelible. Not only does Bostridge won a tenor voice of great purity and beauty, but he is also able to immerse himself in the tricky and demanding role of Peter Quint so well that it is difficult not to visualize the supernatural magic and psychological underpinnings of the opera simply by listening to a recording. We all are familiar with Bostridge's many successful recordings of lieder, but now his physical presence on the opera stage is something to watch for, as he is obviously a brilliant actor.

This recording places TURN OF THE SCREW in the same echelon as PETER GRIMES, BILLY BUDD, A MIDSUMMERNIGHT'S DREAM, and DEATH IN VENICE. Recordings of less familiar operas such as this are rare and deserving of a very large audience. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, February 11