Britten: Albert Herring (Decca) - MusicWeb International

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Albert Herring (1947)
Peter Pears (tenor) – Albert Herring
Sylvia Fisher (soprano) – Lady Billows
Johanna Peters (mezzo ) – Florence Pike
Joseph Ward (baritone) – Sid
Catherine Wilson (mezzo) – Nancy
Sheila Rex (mezzo) – Mrs Herring
Owen Brannigan (bass) – Superintendant Budd
April Cantelo (soprano) – Miss Wordsworth
Edgar Evans (tenor) – Mr Upfold
English Chamber Orchestra/Benjamin Britten
rec. 1964, Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh, UK
Reviewed as download in FLAC format
Decca 4218492 [137]

Decca’s commitment to record all of the Britten operas with the composer at the podium yielded several memorable recordings from the 1950s until Britten’s health made him stop conducting in 1974. This first recording of Albert Herring sets a fairly high standard for the work and makes it still the most desirable among the complete recordings of the opera.

Britten’s bucolic English village comedy is populated with two types of characters, the worthies and everyone else. The sly humour of Eric Crozier’s libretto could easily stand alone as a stage comedy, but with the addition of Britten’s gently ironic music it becomes a minor masterpiece, one which is possibly my favorite among all of Britten’s operas. The opera’s premiere occurred at Glyndebourne in 1947. In Michael Kennedy’s book Britten the author relates how John Christie, the owner and manager of Glyndebourne, disliked the opera enough that he greeted the opening night audience with the statement “This isn’t our kind of thing, you know”. Listening to this recording one can only wonder what it was that Christie found so disagreeable about it.

Peter Pears as Albert is the only cast member who sang his role at the world premiere. The 17 year interval hardly seems to have touched his voice, as listening to the live recording from Denmark made two years after the premiere; still available on Nimbus (review). Pears paints a memorable portrait of the shy, dominated Albert, straining against the ties his mother has bound him in. He adds many small vocal touches which illuminate Albert, which is allied with his purely beautiful singing, such as in his charming monologue “it seems as clear as clear”. One of his finest ideas is how he drains his tone of all colour whenever he is addressing his mother. This makes him sound like he is becoming a little boy again whenever Sheila Rex’s weighty Mrs. Herring is bossing him around.

Sylvia Fisher had a long career as one of the finest dramatic sopranos that England ever produced. Here she is utterly sulfurous as the dragon-like Lady Billows. She presents a commanding portrait as the village’s self-appointed Empress. This impression is amplified by the remarkably bold assurance with which she attacks her phrases. Once or twice her tone turns a bit squally in the upper register but in general she sings with an admirably firm line throughout. The highlight of her performance is the Grand March-like solo she sings when she announces to the Herrings that Albert will be crowned as the May King.

The rest of the cast are all adept at presenting detailed vignettes of their characters which seem to bring all of their personalities to life. Owen Brannigan is a luxuriously sonorous and stuffy Superintendant Budd. Johanna Peters, whose warm, even tone belies her comprehensive portrait of the perfectly nasty gossip, Miss Pike. April Cantelo’s perfectly English sounding peaches and cream voice animates the silliness of the flighty Miss Wordsworth; the wide vocal leaps that Britten gave her to negotiate hold no terrors for her. Sheila Rex thoroughly convincing portrait of Albert’s domineering mother is a classic portrayal that has rarely been bettered. John Ward and Catherine Wilson contribute an appealing pair of young lovers, Sid and Nancy.

The recording was made at the original Aldeburgh Concert Hall which burned down in 1970. It was renowned for its superb acoustics and this is demonstrated by Decca’s faultless sound which reveals every strand of Britten’s delicate but ironic orchestration. Orchestral detail is amazingly clear, as noted in such moments as the wonderful percussion strikes when Miss Pike parrots Lady Billlows’ statement “the female sex has soiled”. The voices and chamber orchestra are rendered with splendid presence. The sound also reveals just how clear everyone’s diction is on this occasion; one can easily follow the opera without the need of the libretto.

Setting the seal on the entire event is Benjamin Britten’s lucid conducting, which presents to the listener every detail from the score. At the banquet Albert’s lemonade was laced with rum and to an equal degree Britten laced his orchestration with a wealth of Rossinian irony in the score. Just one example of this is the Second Act opening with the French horn playing the May King theme which suddenly evolves into a traditional hunting call, with Albert as the prize stag. There is no end of small gratifying details with which Britten enchants the audience. While there have been a couple of good recordings that arrived on the market after this one, the original is still hard to beat for its complete authority in every area.

Mike Parr

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