From the first notes of Les illuminations, where the violin and viola exchange their wild barrage of fanfares, it's apparent that this is likely to be an exceptional recording, and that expectation is fully realized in the outstanding performances of these four relatively early works by Benjamin Britten. In the readings by Jean-Marie Zeitouni, leading the Québec-based Les Violons du Roy, there is no hint of preciousness; the group's raw athleticism shows off the music's feral intensity, a quality too rarely heard in ...
Read More
From the first notes of Les illuminations, where the violin and viola exchange their wild barrage of fanfares, it's apparent that this is likely to be an exceptional recording, and that expectation is fully realized in the outstanding performances of these four relatively early works by Benjamin Britten. In the readings by Jean-Marie Zeitouni, leading the Québec-based Les Violons du Roy, there is no hint of preciousness; the group's raw athleticism shows off the music's feral intensity, a quality too rarely heard in performances of Britten, but which obviously captures something essential about these scores. The abandon with which Zeitouni and the orchestra attack the fugues at the end of Prelude and Fugue for 18-Part String Orchestra and Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge makes the music sound dangerously daring, and the playing in Les illuminations is thrilling in its spontaneity and nuance. Soprano Karina Gauvin brings a ferocious commitment to Les illuminations, revealing an astonishing power in...
Read Less