Britten: Spring Symphony; Sinfonia da Requiem; Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra in Bloomington, MN

Sir Simon Rattle
may be gone from the
London Symphony Orchestra
, but not to worry, the archives seem to hold many examples of his long and productive collaboration with that group. Consider this group of live
Britten
recordings from the Barbican in London made between 2018 and 2021.
Rattle
has long had
as a specialty, but he has apparently never recorded the
Spring Symphony, Op. 44
, heard here, and the album is worth one's money and time for this performance alone. The
Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
that concludes the album is often proffered as not only an introduction to the instruments of the orchestra but as one to
's music in general. However, the
Spring Symphony
might work just as well for this. It is not in the top tier of most-often-performed
works, but it is marvelous, with a variety of texts about the season matched to settings that seem to reveal a new facet of
's style at every turn.
holds all the forces, which involve four different choirs and a diverse group of soloists together in a vivid, exciting performance with strong forward motion. The opening
Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20
, stands in sharp, effective contrast to the
. The work was commissioned by the Japanese government in 1939 but was rejected in what might have been a sign of things to come; it is a deeply serious work that had personal overtones for
. This is a fine
album that will remind many listeners of why they fell in love with
's music in the first place and maybe earn it some new fans. ~ James Manheim