Benjamin Britten's cantata Saint Nicolas, Op. 42, and A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28, have been paired in concert and on recordings often enough. Both are Christmas pieces of a sort, although Saint Nicolas refers only obliquely to the saint's gift-giving. The Stephen Layton-led readings with the Trinity College Choir from the early 2010s are satisfactory in every way, but this album, released during the 2020 holiday season, stands out, for it might be considered an authentic performance. Britten intended Saint Nicolas for ...
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Benjamin Britten's cantata Saint Nicolas, Op. 42, and A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28, have been paired in concert and on recordings often enough. Both are Christmas pieces of a sort, although Saint Nicolas refers only obliquely to the saint's gift-giving. The Stephen Layton-led readings with the Trinity College Choir from the early 2010s are satisfactory in every way, but this album, released during the 2020 holiday season, stands out, for it might be considered an authentic performance. Britten intended Saint Nicolas for amateur musicians, except for the tenor soloist, the leaders of the string sections, and the percussionists. The main choir (the sizable Crouch End Festival Chorus), gallery choir, boy soloists, and duo pianists here are all amateurs, and they bring a sense of discovery to the work and its narrative quality that's different from professional choir performances. None of this is to say that these amateur musicians are "amateurish"; the Ceremony of Carols from the Crouch End Festival...
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