Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
The Prince of the Pagodas, ballet in three acts (1954-1956)
Hallé/Kahchun Wong
rec. 2023, Hallé St Peters, Ancoats, Manchester, UK
Hallé CDHLD7565 [2 CDs: 129]
This is a significant entry into the Hallé’s own-label catalogue because I believe it’s the first recording they’ve issued under the baton of their new chief conductor, Kahchun Wong. Actually, this recording was made, under studio conditions, before he succeeded Sir Mark Elder at the start of the 2024/25 season. Interestingly, I understand that in his first concert in the role he included, as well as Maher’s First symphony, a suite of some twenty-five minutes from The Prince of the Pagodas. In passing, I wonder if that’s the same suite which I believe Leonard Slatkin recorded for Chandos during his time as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
To the best of my knowledge, this new recording is the third outing for the ballet score on disc. I chose my words carefully there, avoiding the use of the word “complete”. Britten himself recorded the music for Decca in 1957. I remember buying that on a two-LP Ace of Diamonds set when I was a teenager. Little did I know then that what I was hearing was a pared down version of the ballet. Britten’s recording, which I later acquired on CD, runs to 100:26. By contrast when Oliver Knussen made the first complete recording (with the London Sinfonietta for Virgin Classics in 1989) the recording played for 128:58, virtually identical to that of the Hallé’s new recording. Philip Reed tells us that the cuts were made for the Decca recording in order to fit the score onto two LPs
This ballet is unique in Britten’s output. Not only is it his sole full-length ballet score (he did write a shorter ballet, Plymouth Town in 1931) but it is also, I think, his longest purely orchestral work. As Philip Reed relates in his very interesting booklet notes, The Prince of the Pagodas caused Britten some difficulties. For one thing, he was unaccustomed to the ballet genre. Furthermore, though John Cranko was Britten’s choice as choreographer on the strength of past collaborations, it seems the working relationship was not a happy one. In addition – and this is purely speculation on my part – I wonder if Britten found Cranko’s scenario was not one that fired his imagination; after all, a tale involving a salamander, to say nothing of four giant green frogs was a far cry from the psychological complexities of characters such as Peter Grimes. Composition of the score took far longer than originally envisaged and when it was complete Britten wrote to a friend that ‘I feel as if I’ve been let out of prison after 18 months’ hard labour’. One upside of the extended time spent on the score was that during the course of his work Britten visited Bali where he heard again a Balinese gamelan (he had heard one in New York in 1941, Philip Reed says); this furnished him with a critically important inspiration for Act II.
The Prince of the Pagodas may not have been an entirely congenial experience for Britten but he still composed a score that is full of colour, imagination and invention. The gamelan effects at the end of Act II may be the most ear-catching aspect of the score but even leaving that aside the ballet is still wonderfully imagined for the orchestra. The Hallé performs the music with verve and flair. It’s evident from a note that he has contributed to the booklet that Kahchun Wong admires the score greatly and is excited by it. That, I think, comes across in this recording. I also have the impression that the players relished this new challenge – the percussion section has a field day as the Manchester gamelan! I found myself intrigued by the work and fascinated by Britten’s invention. And for those who aren’t always drawn to Britten’s music, I can say that this score represents him at his most accessible and enjoyable. In addition to the gamelan section there are many other examples of highly inventive writing. For instance, I think that the way Britten portrays the three elements, Air, Water and Fire in Act II shows him as an inspired user of instruments for illustrative effect.
All that said, as I’ve listened to this recording it’s occurred to me more than once that the score as a whole is a bit overlong. That’s especially true of Act III where the core narrative of Belle Rose and the Prince is put on hold for a series of short character dances. That’s right in the tradition of grand full-length ballets, of course, but for me the ballet seems to mark time while those dances run their courses. Also, the gamelan section, while ear-tickling, includes quite a lot of repetitive material, rather in the manner of minimalist music; in Britten’s own recording an editor’s pencil has been taken to the gamelan section (and other parts of the score) yet we can still fully enjoy the gamelan experience. In fact, I came to wonder if Decca’s decision to ask Britten to prune the score for the recording might not have been a good idea on artistic grounds; a tauter score resulted. I recognise, though, that if one is going to produce a recording of The Prince of the Pagodas it has to be the complete score. Fortunately, the quality of this present performance kept my attention from wandering.
The performance has been expertly recorded by producer Jeremy Hayes and the engineering team led by Steve Portnoi. There’s an excellent dynamic range and all sections of the orchestra are clearly heard. Crucially, an abundance of detail comes across; that’s vital for appreciating a score of such rich invention. While, as I say, all sections of the orchestra are very well captured in the recording, the percussion section can be heard with thrilling immediacy throughout the ballet, and not just in the gamelan episode. It’s worth saying, though, that Britten’s own recording for Decca still sounds very handsome, more than sixty years on. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised at that since John Culshaw was the producer and the engineering was in the hands of Cyril Windebank and Kenneth Wilkinson. Decca’s recording is a little more closely balanced and has a brighter sound than the Hallé recording offers; on balance I prefer the Hallé sound. There’s less to choose sonically between the newcomer and the 1989 Virgin engineering for Oliver Knussen.
Philip Reed’s essay about the ballet in the Hallé booklet is very good indeed. My only cavil over the documentation is that the synopsis of the ballet is restricted just to three short paragraphs. By contrast, in the Knussen/Virgin booklet Mervyn Cooke offers not only a splendid essay about the music but also a detailed synopsis which runs to just over four pages and, moreover, relates the synopsis directly to track numbers. It was Cooke’s synopsis that I used when listening to the Hallé recording, even though the track numbers aren’t identical.
I may have some reservations about the score itself but I have none about this new performance. These CDs launch the partnership between the Hallé and Kahchun Wong most impressively. I look forward to experiencing their work together on future releases.
Previous review Jim Westhead (October 2024)
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