BRITTEN: Les Illuminations – en français and in English • BARBER: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
BRITTEN: Les Illuminations – en français and in English • BARBER: Knoxville: Summer of 1915 - Image 2

BRITTEN: Les Illuminations – en français and in English • BARBER: Knoxville: Summer of 1915

£14.00 + P&P

Featuring the first recording of BRITTEN’s ‘Les Illuminations, Op. 18’ sung in English, from a brand new translation by Timothy Adès! Also includes the original French version. Coupled with Samuel BARBER’s dramatic masterpiece ‘Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24’, written just a few years after ‘Les Illuminations’.

Released 14 November 2025
FHR150 Categories: ,

Description

Released on a DigiSleeve CD, as a digital download and streaming including surround sound with Dolby Atmos: 14 November 2025

Benjamin BRITTEN (1913–1976)
1–10. Les Illuminations, Op. 18

Samuel BARBER (1910–1981)
11. Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24

BRITTEN
12–21. – Illuminations, Op. 18
Sung in English (translation by Timothy Adès)
Première recording

Julia Kogan soprano
Britten Sinfonia | Steven Lloyd-Gonzalez

Recorded at the Henry Wood Hall, London, UK, 8–10 October 2023
Recorded by K&A Productions:
Produced and edited by Andrew Walton
Engineered by Debs Spanton
24bit, 96kHz high resolution recording and editing

Press Quotes

‘Kogan acquits herself with credit, and she combines limpid assurance with an idiomatic appreciation of Agee’s fragrant imagery… there’s an entirely new incarnation [of Les Illuminations] featuring an English translation of Rimbaud’s phantasmagorical verse made by Timothy Adès (b1941) – and which, it must be said, fits the composer’s vocal line like a glove… Kogan proves herself fully on top of the technical demands, her contribution evincing both plentiful personality and ample temperament… finely disciplined support throughout from Steven Lloyd-Gonzalez at the helm of the Britten Sinfonia.

Expertly supervised by producer Andrew Walton and admirably engineered by Debs Stanton’ (Gramophone)

‘Partnered by the Britten Sinfonia in fine form under Steven Lloyd-Gonzalez, Kogan is radiantly commanding… she soars wonderfully in ‘Antique’. Timothy Ades’s translations of Rimbaud’s poems are excellent.’ (**** BBC Music Magazine)

‘The nine Arthur Rimbaud poems selected by Britten are readily available in English, but these new translations fit the music, brilliantly so. Kogan’s crystalline diction means that the French originals are beautifully clear… hearing the cycle in English is revelatory. …understated singing is what this work [Barber] needs, conductor Steven Lloyd-Gonzales drawing exquisite playing from the Britten Sinfonia… the performances warmly recorded in London’s Henry Wood Hall’ (The Arts Desk)

‘There have been memorable recordings of this work [Barber] across the decades, and that by Kogan is surely set to join them in terms of the imaginative insight she wrests out of Barber’s setting along with its undoubted vocal allure. Whatever their virtues, few earlier accounts get to the heart of this matter with such acuity’ (Arcana)

‘ flowing English translation by Timothy Ades, who has adapted it so perfectly that it sounds as natural as the original… In ‘Royalty’ and ‘Seascape’ she gives the incomprehensible texts a buoyant grace. Perhaps ‘Beautiful Being’ is the best example of how she makes the English text fit so perfectly with the music. And after the penultimate ‘Parade’s’ crazy text, Kogan turns ‘Depart’ into a lyrical, melancholy finale.’ (American Record Guide)