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BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976)LIST OF RECORDINGSWorks A to Cby David Barker and Rob Barnett |
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This is not intended to be a complete list, but is an attempt to cover all significant recordings of the digital era and re-releases from LP and video. It represents an updated, extended and reformatted version of a list published on Musicweb by Rob Barnett in 1998. The ubiquity of re-releases, and the lack of information about recording dates makes it impossible to keep track of which recording has been released before. Transient availability is also a plague - Amazon tends to show most of that has been released, and implies that it may still be available even if it has been deleted from the company's catalogue long ago.
So we have done our best. Perhaps not all re-releases are covered, and in some instances, a reader may know that what is described as a re-release is in fact a different performance. Apologies in advance! Certainly sampler discs and themed releases (eg Christmas, Best of English Music) "best of"s do not feature on this discography unless the recording is not available on another disc.
The list has been updated by reference to a number of online sources including:
DVDs releases are designated with a
- review sites (Musicweb, Classics Today, Gramofile, Fanfare)
- selected commerical mail-order companies (Amazon UK, AmazonUS, Crotchet, ArkivMusic)
- major recording label sites (Naxos, Hyperion, Chandos)
and SACDs with
. Entries not marked are CDs.
Links to Amazon UK or Amazon US (via the logo images) indicate availability of the recording through those sources, and were correct at the time of checking (May-June 2006). Of course, this cannot be guaranteed for the life of this update. Current availability of particular recordings is a matter for the enquirer to check.Regarding Collins Classics recordings
The Collins Classics label closed a few years ago, taking with it a significant set of recordings of Britten and other British composers. Since then, the rights to some of the Collins' catalogue have been acquired by Naxos and Harry Christopher's own label Coro (for The Sixteen's recordings). Gradually these labels are re-releasing the Collins recordings.In checking availability for this discography, I have found that Amazon still lists some of the Collins CDs as being available for purchase, through re-sellers allied to Amazon. As a consequence, I have included the links to the Collins releases, as well as those to the re-releases on Naxos or Coro.
Portraits courtesy of the Britten-Pears Library and Edward Morgan.
