Around Britten (2013)

This release by British cellist Matthew Barley serves admirably as a solo cello recording that doesn't bog down over the course of 70-plus minutes, and there's more to recommend it as well. The album consists mostly of music by Britten himself, with examinations of his influence in two different directions represented by Gavin Bryars and John Tavener. Barley picks fairly obscure works by Britten that seem to illuminate the essentially personal nature of his work. The highlight is the Third Suite for cello, Op. 87, composed ... Read More

This release by British cellist Matthew Barley serves admirably as a solo cello recording that doesn't bog down over the course of 70-plus minutes, and there's more to recommend it as well. The album consists mostly of music by Britten himself, with examinations of his influence in two different directions represented by Gavin Bryars and John Tavener. Barley picks fairly obscure works by Britten that seem to illuminate the essentially personal nature of his work. The highlight is the Third Suite for cello, Op. 87, composed for Mstislav Rostropovich in 1971, five years before Britten's death. The work originated during Britten's stay in the Soviet Union, and it is based on a Russian Orthodox melody, the Kontakion, that appears in full only at the end of the work. No word on what Britten's Soviet hosts thought of this during a period when religious expression was strongly discouraged, but the work does not come off as really Russian in flavor; instead, the ailing Britten seems to have been attracted by... Read Less