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Britten: Billy Budd ~ Keenlyside · Langridge · John Tomlinson · LSO · Hickox

Box Set

Simon Keenlyside (Artist), Philip Langridge (Artist), Benjamin Britten (Composer), Format: Audio CD
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 16 ratings
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Track Listings

Disc: 1

1 Billy Budd: Prologue: I Am An Old Man... (Vere)
2 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 1: Pull, Me Bantams!
3 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 1: Boat Ahoy!
4 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 1: First Man Forward! (Claggart)
5 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 1: Your Name? (Claggart, Billy)
6 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 1: Billy Budd, Kind Of The Birds! (Billy)

Disc: 2

1 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 1: I Heard, Your Honour! (Claggart)
2 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 1: Come Along, Kid!
3 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 1: Christ! The Poor Chap... (Billy)
4 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 1: What's That? What's Those Whistles? (Billy, Claggart)
5 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 1: Starry Vere We Call Him (Billy)
6 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 2: Boy! (Vere)
7 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 2: Gentlemen, The King! (Vere)
8 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 2: Ay, At Spithead... (Vere)
9 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 2: We Are, Sir. Claggart Is An Able One (Vere)
10 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 3: Blow Her Away (Billy)
11 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 3: We're Off To Samoa... (Billy)
12 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 3: Hi! You... A... A...! (Billy)
13 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 3: Over The Water... (Claggart)
14 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 3: Come Here (Claggart)
15 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 3: Billy!... Hist! Billy Budd! (Billy)
16 Billy Budd: Act I - Scene 3: Dansker, Old Friend... (Billy)

Disc: 3

1 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 1: I Don't Like The Look Of The Mist... (Vere)
2 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 1: With Great Regret I Must Disturb Your Honour (Claggart, Vere)
3 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 1: Deck Ahoy!
4 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 1: Volunteers! Call For Boarding Volunteers! (Vere)
5 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 1: There You Go Again, Master-At Arms (Vere, Claggart)
6 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 1: Oh, This Cursed Mist! (Vere)
7 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 2: Claggart, John Claggart, Beware! (Vere, Billy)
8 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 2: Master-At-Arms And Fortopman... (Vere, Claggart, Billy)
9 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 2: God O' Mercy (Vere)
10 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 2: Gentlemen, William Budd Here... (Vere)
11 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 2: William Budd, You Are Accused... (Vere, Billy)
12 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 2: Poor Fellow, Who Could Save Him?
13 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 2: I Accept Their Verdict (Vere)
14 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 3: Look! (Billy)
15 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 3: Here! Baby! (Billy)
16 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 3: And Farewell To Ye... (Billy)
17 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 4: (Interlude)
18 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 4: 'According To The Articles Of War...' (Billy, Claggart)
19 Billy Budd: Act II - Scene 4: Down All Hands!
20 Billy Budd: Act II - Epilogue: We Committed His Body To The Deep (Vere)

Editorial Reviews

Product description

CD

Amazon.com

Richard Hickox leads this first recording of the revised, two-act version of this opera since Britten's own wonderful performance in 1967 (the Kent Nagano-led set on Erato with Thomas Hampson is of Britten's first, four-act edition). Hickox's tempi are a bit slower throughout than Britten's. This fact, along with his cast's superb diction, means that almost every word is discernible. He manages to bring out each character's musical profile and keep the drama tight at the same time. His singers are first-rate. Simon Keenlyside now becomes the Billy for the ages. The voice is beautiful, his involvement complete, his outpourings of love and desperation sincere. Philip Langridge's Vere is in a class with Peter Pears, but his voice is richer and more easily produced. In John Tomlinson's portrayal of Claggart, there is more than just villainy; the sadism and unctuousness that are sometimes missed are apparent--and terrifying. Alan Opie and Matthew Best are stalwart and clear-headed as Redburn and Flint, respectively, and the remainder of the cast--children's and adults' choruses included--is superlative. As usual, the LSO play brilliantly. This Billy Budd is the desert-island pick, whether in the two-act or four-act version. --Robert Levine

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.94 x 5.04 x 1.38 inches; 13.05 ounces
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Chandos
  • Item model number ‏ : ‎ CHAN9826.28
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ January 27, 2007
  • Label ‏ : ‎ Chandos
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00004SUDA
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
16 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

drollere
5.0 out of 5 stars superb performance of britten's great opera
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2010
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britten is widely considered one of the greatest 20th century opera composers (certainly, among the greatest in the english language), and "billy budd" is perhaps the masterwork of his middle career -- six years after "peter grimes", a decade before "midsummer night's dream", and two decades before "death in venice". britten was keen to experiment with different vocal and instrumental combinations across his many vocal and operatic compositions, and "billy budd" is remarkable in two respects: it is scored for an all male cast and chorus, and the solo parts are assigned to six baritones (including the part of billy budd), seven basses (including the villainous claggert), but a single principal tenor (the part of captain vere) -- with four "trebles" (boys) and two minor tenor parts for incidental color. this gives vere's role the quality of a golden thread weaving through the darker and more tumultuous tonalities of his crew. and the tumult emerges both from the conflicts among the crew and from their mission to pursue french warships during the french revolutionary period. the opera provides many unique and savory moments of drama -- the clamorous and clangorous pursuit of an enemy ship in act II, the tense exchanges at budd's trial, the mysterious three dozen orchestral chords that communicate the offstage conversation where budd learns of and is reconciled to the trial verdict, and vere's closing soliloquy. hickox's interpretation is beautifully shaped, the recording is detailed and clear, and the performance by all the cast and by the london symphony orchestra and chorus is absolutely flawless.

two versions of the opera exist: this recording of the three act (2 cd's) version is a closed set (studio) recording of a highly acclaimed stage production. for the longer four act (2 or 3 cd's) version, the live concert recordings conducted by kent nagano or daniel harding are highly recommended.
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mensagrrrl
5.0 out of 5 stars Must have for Britten fans
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2000
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I have seen Phil Langridge do Capt. Vere a couple of times, with two different Budds, each time I was amazed at how audible the audience crying is. The man is simply amazing as Vere. This is the creme of the crop of English opera singers; Dwayne Croft and James Morris might be better vocally but these people are better actors. Great Great opera.
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MarkSteele
5.0 out of 5 stars A Joy
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2009
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Nuanced and beautiful. It was the perfect recording to listen to, libretto in hand, before catching the opera live at the Santa Fe Opera in summer 2008.
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Arthur Maisel
3.0 out of 5 stars Anniversary
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2006
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Yesterday, November 2, was the fifty-fifth anniversary of Benjamin Britten's completion of Billy Budd, and I have been thinking a lot about the opera lately (partly because I read the Melville original to my family as we were driving places this summer and that led me back to the opera). Of the three performances in stereo (conducted by Hickox, Nagano, and Britten), this is the weakest. With probably the best recorded sound of the three---the spaciousness is superb---it suffers in two main areas: First, the tempos are too slow. This means, not that there is a perfect tempo that can be indicated by a metronome marking, but that in any given performance the tempo must convince one of its "rightness"---see my comments about the Nagano performance below. Pop musicians speak about a "groove," and it applies to classical music too. Particularly unfortunate in this regard is the big set piece that opens act 2 ("This is our moment"), which seems to drag and lose steam somewhere in the middle; it's supposed to represent the frustration of the crew's desire to see action, but the music has therefore never to flag until it is left hanging, unfulfilled, at the moment of maximum excitement.

The other weakness is, I regret to say, the singing, particularly of Philip Langridge. He sounds vocally tired on this recording and I suspect that he gamely agreed for some set of practical reasons (scheduling, expense) to go ahead and do it, despite knowing that he was not in his best voice. I saw him do Vere at the Met [7/31/08 actually I saw Pears at the Met], and he was wonderful---and I was even more wowed by his Aaron in Moses und Aron at the City Opera. Simon Keenlyside is a good Billy, but I simply like the others more. John Tomlinson, though, has a suavity of tone that makes him my favorite Claggart.

Vocally, the other two recordings are much preferable. Anthony Rolfe Johnson, the Vere in the Nagano recording, captures some of the spooky vocal quality of Peter Pears in his performance, though it must be said, without the consummate attention to detail. Compare Pears' and Johnson's readings of the last lines of the opera: Pears carries his voice down (portamento) from the last note of "centuries ago" to the first note of "when I, Edward Fairfax Vere, commanded the Indomitable"; Johnson just sings one line, then the next. Thomas Hampson's Billy is also very beautifully sung; he is probably my favorite of the three, but (1) I think it is an almost impossible role to bring off dramatically---though I haven't heard Uppman---and (2) I think the quality of the Vere is more important to the overall impression.

The problem with this recording (the Nagano) is in the tempos, as has been remarked by at least one reviewer. Surprisingly, they are the most in accord with the score---even more so than the composer's performance. In this case, however, everything seems rushed. The only way I can explain it is to say that while the tempos follow the letter of the score, the music doesn't "breathe." I tend to doubt that Nagano's tempos are the result of a desire to get the opera on to two CDs, as another reviewer cynically suggested, but his rendering of the thirty-four chords of the "interview" scene are almost comically fast, though, alas, gorgeously played.

To go off on a tangent, the Nagano recording is the only one of the original four-act version. The main difference is in the big "Starry Vere" scene of act 1, which is much cut back (and in which Vere doesn't actually appear) in the two-act version. This recording does make a case for the four-act version because Billy's last line ("Starry Vere, God bless you!") has a better context with the scene intact. I do have a gripe, however: Britten composed the ending of each act so that the music seems to pick up where it left off in the next---inspired by Berg's Wozzeck (Britten had wanted to study with Berg and once listed him as among his top ten favorite composers). So why didn't the recording company put a decent break between the acts? The link that he composed between acts 3 and 4 seems particularly redundant without some intervening silence.

The Britten performance with Pears is still the best overall, in my opinion, despite some scrappy brass playing and some distortion in the recording. One tiny example perhaps gives a hint of why. Of course, Britten observes his own tempos accurately, but when Vere sings "What have I done?" near the end, Britten lets lose with a whack! on the bass drum---maybe just on the spur of the moment---while the score calls for the drum to be played softly [7/31/08 I mistook the second bass drum hit for the first in the score, so this is not accurate, but the point is still valid]. It's musically absolutely right, and noteworthy as an instance of a composer justifiably disregarding his own marking. A terrific musician first, Britten was not a slave to the score, even his own.
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I Rascible
5.0 out of 5 stars A very clear recording and has the edge over others
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 18, 2016
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I have a number of recordings of Billy Budd, so I have some basis for comparison. The first is a recording conducted by Britten with Peter Pears in the role of captain Vere. It is a compelling account with Pears an anguished Vere displaying his usual slightly thin, reedy tone; not a particular favourite of mine. The other is Nagano's recording with Rolfe-Johnson in the role of Vere. R-J has a more attractive voice, lighter in tone and with little vibrato. Langridge in this recording has a lower voice - less anguished.

Now for Claggart. Tomlinson has probably the most powerful bass in this recording. But Halverson in the Nagano is menacing. Langdon is Britten's Claggart and overall has the edge.

As for the Budds, well Glossop in the Britten is for me the weakest, while Hampson has the most distinctive voice of the three

Britten's performance has more punch than Nagano and the voices are more to fore, perhaps a bit too much so. Overall more dramatic. The Hickcox is by comparison much superior in recorded sound with a more natural sound, though it requires a bit more volume. It is really only when one plays the three recordings one after the other that one appreciates the quality of the Haitink version. The Britten while dramatic has a coarse sound, which is not to say it's not exciting.

All three versions are good, the Britten being dramatic, if less well recorded. But on balance the Hickcox, with Keenlyside as Budd has the edge.
This Chandos recording stands out for its remarkable clarity. You can hear every word, not so common as you might imagine, important when two or more are singing. The production has a strong cast and all, for me, without any irritating tone or vibrato; usually I find there is one or more members of the cast with whose voice I am not enamoured.

All versions are available on Spotify to sample, which I recommend.
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Bev
5.0 out of 5 stars A good recording
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2020
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Used but as new. Excellent conditon and at the price excellent value.
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