Customer Reviews

Letters From a Life: Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten. Volume 3: 1946-51

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This third volume of the biography Britten wanted Mitchell to write is as fascinating, and as fair, as the two earlier volumes. The annotations contain much material from other sources, including a cross-section of reviews from each of Britten's premieres. (Each letter is followed by a lengthy excursus, giving further information on the topic and other points of view.) Mitchell provides a welcome critique of the Carpenter biography's apparent bias regarding Britten's sexuality, and certainly the letters between Britten and his partner, Peter Pears, speak for themselves of a healthy, loving relationship. Britten's difficulties as an arts administrator with the English Opera Group and the Aldeburgh Festival gave some persons cause to call him 'ruthless': the evidence of his letters displays both his charm and his toughness. An invaluable insight into the history of 20th century music.