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Death in Venice
Berg's Wozzeck proved to be an important influence on Benjamin Britten as a young composer. Although many of the themes of Wozzeck reappear in his operas, Britten did not embrace 12-tone technique. However, Death in Venice, Britten's last opera, seems to revisit Berg's masterpiece in a way that none of his operas had previously done. The theme of the alienated loner often returns in Britten operas, but Death in Venice delves deeper into the pathology of its protagonist in a way that none of his other operas do. Peter Pears gives a chilling performance as the anti-hero, Aschenbach. Pears' ability to create a character that is simultaneously likable and horrible is haunting. John Shirley-Quirk, tasked with having to play seven different characters, manages to create a unique voice and color for each. Countertenor James Bowman creates an ethereal and gender-ambiguous Apollo.
Track List
Act I
1. My mind beats on and no words come
2. Who's that? A foreigner, a traveler, no doubt
3. Hey there! Hey there, you!
4. Ah serenissima! Where should I come but to you
5. We are delighted to great the signore
6. So I am led to Venice once again
7. The wind is from the west
8. Tadziù! Tadziù! That is it...
9. Aou'! Stagando, Aou'!
10. Beneath a dazzling sky
11. Love that beauty causes is frenzy god-inspired
12. The boy, Tadziù, shall inspire me
2. Who's that? A foreigner, a traveler, no doubt
3. Hey there! Hey there, you!
4. Ah serenissima! Where should I come but to you
5. We are delighted to great the signore
6. So I am led to Venice once again
7. The wind is from the west
8. Tadziù! Tadziù! That is it...
9. Aou'! Stagando, Aou'!
10. Beneath a dazzling sky
11. Love that beauty causes is frenzy god-inspired
12. The boy, Tadziù, shall inspire me
Act II
13. So it has come to this
14. Buon giorno, Signore! Va bene, Signore?
15. Do I suspect a scent?
16. This way for the players, signori!
17. One moment, if you please
18. So it is true, true, more fearful than I thought
19. Receive the stranger god
20. Do what you will with me!
21. Hurrah for the Piazza
14. Buon giorno, Signore! Va bene, Signore?
15. Do I suspect a scent?
16. This way for the players, signori!
17. One moment, if you please
18. So it is true, true, more fearful than I thought
19. Receive the stranger god
20. Do what you will with me!
21. Hurrah for the Piazza
Customer Reviews
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5.0
Based on 5 reviews
✓ Verified Buyer
United Kingdom
What a performance!!!
The original production of DIV... Wonderfully recorded! CD's played perfectly with a great dynamic range!
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✓ Verified Buyer
United States
✓ Top Reviewer
United Kingdom
Don't forget the Travel Clerk...
...beautifully played and sensitively sung by PETER LEEMING (who is also in the Decca commercial recording, made the following year. This is a most important role and the singer deserves to be identified. Trivia: In the 1989 (?) Glyndebourne Touring Opera production, happily preserved on DVD, the Clerk was sung by the very young Gerald Finley!Incidentally, I find the sound -for the most part, ignoring a little over-recording at climaxes here and there, very good, rather than just 'quite good'...so don't be put off. This is a magnificent, essential addition to the Britten discography...and it's LIVE!
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✓ Verified Buyer
United Kingdom
Death in Venice World Premiere Cast Snape Maltings 1973
A great performance, in fine sound, of Britten's final opera as he originally conceived it. As Aschenbach, his last major role, Peter Pears is magnificent. His singing of the first-act recitative 'I have always kept a close watch over my development' clearly evokes Aschenbach's initial introspective irresolution. It is a key passage, which an uncertain and terminally ill Britten later dropped, except as an option (it does not feature in the Decca studio recording of 1974). John Shirley-Quirk's singing of a number of sardonic minor characters is protean and Stuart Bedford's conducting is predictably apt. Highly recommended.
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✓ Verified Buyer
United Kingdom
David Massarella
A very special recording, coming from the first run of performances at Aldeburgh. Wonderfully conducted, Pears on great form (though occasionally fallible with words).
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