MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The Canticles and Folksong Arrangements

"One especially telling aspect of the performance is Bostridge's wondrously clear diction, a trait matched by his colleagues David Daniels and Christopher Maltman. They know that they're singing poetry of high quality, and they pace their delivery very well indeed - in fact, their timing is not so different from what a classically trained actor would use in a public reading. They even manage to make Britten's clumsy word repetitions in Journey of the Magi convincing."
- Matthew Westphal (Andante)

"this disc is particularly valuable for Bostridge's and Drake's account of the Canticles. For sheer vocal character and interpretative intelligence on both their parts it is the equal of any of the others - yes, even that of Pears and Britten."
- International Record Review

Written at intervals between 1947 and 1974 Britten's five Canticles are miniature cantatas sharing a spiritual intensity that derives from Britten's own religious belief. On this new recording Ian Bostridge is the tenor soloist in the ecstatic Canticle I, the sombre Canticle III and the ethereal Canticle V from the end of Britten's life. He is joined by David Daniels in the moving drama Abraham and Isaac, and by Daniels and baritone Christopher Maltman in Canticle IV, a setting of T S Eliot's much-loved poem Journey of the Magi. The disc also includes seven of Britten's affectionate and inventive folksong arrangements, shared between the three soloists.