<<  -- 3 --  Robert Anderson    HOPE AND FEAR

Britten had heard the première of the Berg in Barcelona, and there is more than a whiff of Spain in his opening movement. He starts with wondrous originality, capturing attention at once with sounds of mystery and imagination [listen -- track 3, 0:01-1:27]. Like Berg, Britten reserves the resolution of the work's tensions for the final movement, a set of variations that explore orchestral and solo resources to the utmost, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Paul Watkins on top form. Daniel Hope, however, is at his most flamboyant, the orchestra most angry, and Britten most challenging at the launch of the Vivace [listen -- track 4, 0:00-0:51].

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