Britten: Les Illuminations. Serenade. Nocturne Andrew Staples, Christopher Parkes, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra & Daniel Harding

• Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976): Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18:
• 1Britten: Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18: I. Fanfare02:04
• 2Britten: Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18: II. Villes02:28
• 3Britten: Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18: III a. Phrase01:05
• 4Britten: Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18: III b. Antique02:15
• 5Britten: Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18: IV. Royauté01:32
• 6Britten: Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18: V. Marine00:58
• 7Britten: Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18: VI. Interlude02:49
• 8Britten: Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18: VII. Being Beauteous04:05
• 9Britten: Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18: VIII. Parade02:43
• 10Britten: Les Illuminations for Tenor and String Orchestra, Op. 18: IX. Départ02:47
• Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, Op. 31:
• 11Britten: Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, Op. 31: I. Prologue01:22
• 12Britten: Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, Op. 31: II. Pastoral03:05
• 13Britten: Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, Op. 31: III. Nocturne03:38
• 14Britten: Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, Op. 31: IV. Elegy04:25
• 15Britten: Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, Op. 31: V. Dirge03:21
• 16Britten: Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, Op. 31: VI. Hymn02:03
• 17Britten: Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, Op. 31: VII. Sonnet04:01
• 18Britten: Serenade for Horn, Tenor and Strings, Op. 31: VIII. Epilogue01:30
• Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments and Strings, Op. 60:
• 19Britten: Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments and Strings, Op. 60: I. On a poet's lips I slept03:10
• 20Britten: Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments and Strings, Op. 60: II. Below the thunders of the upper deep03:24
• 21Britten: Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments and Strings, Op. 60: III. Encinctured with a twine of leaves02:40
• 22Britten: Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments and Strings, Op. 60: IV. Midnight's bell goes ting, ting, ting02:24
• 23Britten: Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments and Strings, Op. 60: V. But that night when on my bed I lay03:00
• 24Britten: Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments and Strings, Op. 60: VI. She sleeps on soft, last breaths04:28
• 25Britten: Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments and Strings, Op. 60: VII. What is more gentle than a wind in summer?03:57
• 26Britten: Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments and Strings, Op. 60: VIII. When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see04:39
• Total Runtime01:13:53

Info for Britten: Les Illuminations. Serenade. Nocturne

In these three song cycles, Britten draws his inspiration from the peaks of European poetry (Shakespeare, Blake, Shelley, Keats, but also Rimbaud), the better to push back the boundaries of the genre. He multiplies the relationship between voices and instruments, moving from strings alone (Les Illuminations) to a string ensemble featuring obbligato wind instruments, harp and timpani (Nocturne), not forgetting the fascinating dialogue with the horn in the Serenade. A unique sound world is revealed here by artists at the top of their form!

"Staples is hugely impressive in [the Serenade and the Nocturne], reinforced in the Serenade by superb solo horn playing by Christopher Parkes, but he seems to me to be at his very best in Les Illuminations, where he brings just the right amount of steeliness to its powerful declamations." (The Guardian)

Andrew Staples, tenor
Christopher Parkes, horn
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Daniel Harding, conductor

Andrew Staples
A prolific concert performer, Andrew has appeared with the Berliner and Wiener Philharmoniker, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with Sir Simon Rattle; the Orchestre de Paris, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding; the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the ScottishChamber Orchestra with Robin Ticciati; the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, the Orcherstre Métropolitain and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; the Accademia Santa Cecilia with Semyon Bychkov; and the Staatskapelle Berlin with Daniel Barenboim.

Andrew made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Jacquino Fidelio, returning for Flamand Capriccio, Tamino Die Zauberflöte, Tichon Katya Kabanova and Narraboth Salome. He has also appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, the National Theatre Prague; La Monnaie Brussels; the Salzburger Festspiele; Hamburgische Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, the Lucerne Festival and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Recent and future engagements include his Metropolitan Opera debut as Andres Wozzeck, Nicias in concert performances of Thais with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Das Lied von der Erde with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Budapest Festival Orchestra. Further future engagements include returns to the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Bayerischer Rundfunk Munich.

Christopher Parkes
is solo horn of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Principal Horn of the John Wilson Orchestra. He has previously held positions in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Principal Horn, 2008-10) and the London Philharmonic Orchestra (3rd Horn, 2004-2008). He has been a professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama since 2012.

Other orchestral engagements have included performing as principal horn with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Munich Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Solo appearances have included the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony and BBC Scottish Symphony, with conductors including Gianandrea Noseda and Daniel Harding.

He has performed chamber music with artists such as Anne Sofie von Otter, Ian Bostridge and Pierre Laurent Aimard and with ensembles such as Superbrass, Stockholm Syndrome and Fine Arts Brass (Solo Horn, 2002- ).

Chris has played principal horn for recording artists such as Paul McCartney and George Michael and has appeared on film soundtracks for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, Batman: The Dark Knight Rises and on computer games such as James Bond: Blood Stone and the Uncharted franchise.

Chris studied at Chetham’s School of Music and Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Booklet for Britten: Les Illuminations. Serenade. Nocturne