John Tavener: The Protecting Veil; Thrinos / Benjamin Britten: Third Suite for Cello, op. 87 [Import]

Benjamin Britten (Composer), John Tavener (Composer), Gennady Rozhdestvensky (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), cello Steven Isserlis (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: cello Steven Isserlis
• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Gennady Rozhdestvensky
• Composer: Benjamin Britten, John Tavener
• Audio CD (February 27, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Virgin Classics
• ASIN: B000002SRM
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,899 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Protectig Veil: The Protecting Veil

2. The Protectig Veil: The Nativity Of The Mother Of God

3. The Protectig Veil: Annunciation

4. The Incarnation

5. The Lament Of The Mother Of God At The Cross

6. The Resurrection

7. The Dormition

8. The Protecting Veil

9. Third Ste, Op.87: Intro: Lento

10. Third Ste, Op.87: Marcia: Allegro

11. Third Ste, Op.87: Canto: Con Moto

12. Third Ste, Op.87: Dialogo: Allegretto

13. Third Ste, Op.87: Fuga: Andante Espressivo

14. Third Ste, Op.87: Moto Perpetuo: Presto

15. Third Ste, Op.87: Passacaglia: Lento Solenne

16. Third Ste, Op.87: Mournful Song (Under The Little Apple Tree): Molto Semplice

17. Third Ste, Op.87: Autumn: Vivace

18. Third Ste, Op.87: Street Song (The Grey Eagle): Peasante

19. Third Ste, Op.87: Grant Repose Together With The Saints: Lento

20. Thrinos - Steven Isserlis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Classic Premiere Recording, July 20, 2001

By 

Mark Swinton - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Tavener: The Protecting Veil; Thrinos / Benjamin Britten: Third Suite for Cello, op. 87 (Audio CD)

This was the first recording of John Tavener's phenomenally successful "Protecting Veil," which made him something of a household name (once again in his career) through the world premiere at the BBC Proms, 1989. The work has provoked both acclaim and controversy amongst contemporary composers and music networks, but it remains one of the prime choices of all Tavener devotees, as well as attracting him new listeners year by year as they discover through it a remarkably expressive yet calm sound world.

At the time he wrote it, Tavener had been an Orthodox Convert for barely a decade. His choral music of the time shows that he had absorbed the ethos of Russian and Greek Orthodox music and blended it with certain traits of his earlier, modernist leanings (particularly fundamental traits of serial composition, such as note-rows in inversion and retrograde). He also appeared determined at the time that his music would only consist of vocal writing - hence it took a telephone call from Steven Isserlis, virtuosic 'cellist and lover of Russian music, to convince Tavener to try writing something for instruments rather than voices. Isserlis expected a concerto of some description; what he got was a 40-minute meditation for 'cello and string orchestra in which his solo part is unceasing, representing as it does the Voice of the Mother of God. With the orchestra as an atmospheric backdrop, the 'cello solo winds its way through various chants and melodies pertaining to the Orthodox Feast of the Protecting Veil, which commemorates a vision of the Mother of God during an ancient war - a vision that mysteriously enabled an otherwise outmatched army to defeat their enemy. Tavener turns this, as with all his work, into a musical ikon - scene upon scene of austerely pure and stylised music, very simple and very meditative. There are those who have described the work, and the first movement in particular, as music that they could listen to all day; indeed, one review of the premiere stated that it was "radiant." Others have complained that the music lacks argument or interest, which Steven Isserlis once countered by saying that attendance of a Russian Orthodox Service would shed much light on Tavener's music, composed within Orthodox tradition. Whatever one's personal views on the work are, however, there is no denying that this recording captures it very powerfully: Isserlis plays the demanding solo with exactly the right levels of ecstacy and sobriety, and he is ably supported by the LSO under Gennady Rozhdestvensky (who has conducted other Tavener premieres to notable acclaim).

The remainder of the programme is for unaccompanied 'cello. Britten's Third Suite, written very near the end of his life, is a surprising partner for "The Protecting Veil" - it is a gritty piece, suggesting the emotions of one who is weary of life and yet rejoices in all that it has had to offer. And, like the Tavener (albeit much more subtly), it quotes Russian chant as part of the musical material used to build it up. It is certainly more demanding on the player and on the listener, but in Isserlis it finds a worthy interpreter: his rendition, as with the Tavener, is spell-binding. The disc closes with another Tavener work: "Thrinos" evokes another Orthodox tradition, a lament sung over the dead in the family home before burial. This is even calmer than "The Protecting Veil," and Isserlis plays it with dignity, signing off the disc very beautifully indeed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A splendid performance of the Britten suite cannot save this disc, October 25, 2009

By 

G.D. (Norway) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: John Tavener: The Protecting Veil; Thrinos / Benjamin Britten: Third Suite for Cello, op. 87 (Audio CD)

Britten's cello suites might not be easy works, but they are ultimately among the most rewarding in the solo cello repertoire, challenged - I think - only by Bach's and Kodaly's works. The third suite is generally mournful and reflective, based on three Russian folksongs developed so that the various gestures move towards the main theme. Isserlis plays it superbly - he has an amazing technique, obviously, but also a deep understanding of the music; factors that of course add up to an immensely satisfactory musical experience. On the other hand, that performance doesn't on its own make this issue competitive, given that e.g. Rostropovich has all three suites in equally magnificent performances on Decca.

An the coupling offered here most certainly doesn't either. I don't remember who coined the term `lava lamp music', but Tavener's Protecting Veil is lava lamp music in the absolutely worst sense. It goes on interminably with slowly changing textures and gestures leading absolutely nowhere, and it is exactly as profound and `deeply spiritual' as a lava lamp - new-agey, repugnantly over-ambitious, empty, shallow, silly and desperately dull. If you are among those who are actually enthralled by watching these lamps and can watch them for, say, 40 minutes on end without your fascination faltering, then I guess Tavener's The Protective Veil might just be for you - or if you are absorbed by the computer-generated, colorful patterns you can get for your TV (through your X-box or something similar) to have as background images, then I guess you might also find something to cherish in the work. But how Tavener's name has come to be associated with essentially tonal, minimalist composers such as Gorecki or Pärt is beyond me - I see the superficial similarities in style, but the differences in quality are all to obvious.

Now, Mark Swinton above points out, regarding the complaint that the music lacks interest, that it was one "Isserlis once countered by saying that attendance of a Russian Orthodox Service would shed much light on Tavener's music, composed within Orthodox tradition." Well, I guess it helps your fascination with lava lamps if you think they're genuinely magical, have healing powers or function as tickets to the alien-run, emergency escape spaceships headed for the planet Argon when the Mayan calendar runs out in 2011 as well. In other words, I think I'll pass. The disc also includes the solo-cello `Thrinos', an almost seven-minute solo cello piece written for Isserlis that manages to sound at least twice its length. That is not meant as a compliment.

I don't think there is anything wrong neither with Isserlis's or Rozhdestvensky's performances. They sound committed enough and get the notes I right, I guess, which is everything one could ask for with a work like the Protecting Veil. The sound quality is very good, if perhaps a little flat in the loudest parts. I suppose that if you have to have the work, then this is as good a recording as any. But if you only think you have to have the work, you don't, and if Britten's cello suite is what you're after (and you should be, for it's an excellent work), then I advise you to seek out Rostropovich.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful music for Sunday mornings, June 14, 2002

By 

KIM Mi-sun (Seoul, Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Tavener: The Protecting Veil; Thrinos / Benjamin Britten: Third Suite for Cello, op. 87 (Audio CD)

This is a recording of contemporary religious music for cello by John Tavener. This beautiful contemplative music should appear to listeners of both modern and classical traditions.