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A Britten Festival of Song III: A Time There Was | Walter Hall, Toronto
A Britten Festival of Song III: A Time There Was | Walter Hall, Toronto
The vocal music of Benjamin Britten
Date: May 26, 2013
This concert, the third in A Britten Festival of Song, marked the conclusion of the Aldeburgh Connection’s final season. Our sequence of songs took as a framework Colin Ainsworth’s performance of Winter Words, perhaps the composer’s greatest cycle – the opening words of the last song provided our title. The inclusion of the Canadian Children’s Opera Company enabled us to perform songs written to be performed by the young, and to bid farewell with the final scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Following this, three encores included a surprise for the capacity audience – a moving performance of Britten’s arrangement of “Dear harp of my country” by baritone Gerald Finley. Narrative material included our reminiscences of working in Aldeburgh and with the composer’s partner and muse, Peter Pears (the Aldeburgh Connection’s Founding Patron). At the halfway mark, the audience was greeted by Dr John Evans, former Research Scholar of the Britten-Pears Library and editor of the diaries of the young Britten. After the concert, a splendid reception was given in the garden of 88 Elm Avenue by Frieda and Vern Heinrichs.
| SONG | ARTIST | COMPOSER | POET |
|---|---|---|---|
| At Day-Close in November, Op.52/1 (Winter Words) | Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Hardy, Thomas |
| The Foggy, Foggy Dew | Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Suffolk folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin | anon. |
| Midnight on the Great Western, Op.52/2 (Winter Words) | Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Hardy, Thomas |
| O Waly, Waly | Belluz, Scott, counter-tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Somerset folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin | anon. |
| The Little Old Table, Op.52/4 (Winter Words) | Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Hardy, Thomas |
| Fish in the unruffled lakes | Hatfield, Virginia, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Auden, Wystan Hugh |
| Cradle Song | Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | MacNeice, Louis |
| At the Railway Station, Upway (or The Convict and Boy with the Violin), Op.52/7 (Winter Words) | Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Hardy, Thomas |
| Proverb II (Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, Op.74) | Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Blake, William |
| The Chimney-Sweeper (Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, Op.74) | Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Blake, William |
| The Brisk Young Widow | Belluz, Scott, counter-tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | English folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin | anon. |
| The Choirmaster’s Burial (or The Tenor Man’s Story), Op.52/5 (Winter Words) | Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Hardy, Thomas |
| Afton Water, Op.92/5 (A Birthday Hansel) | Hatfield, Virginia, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Burns, Robert |
| Sonetto XXIV, Op.22/7 (Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo) | Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Michelangelo Buonarotti |
| Beware! | Gibson, Kiyoshi, treble; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth |
| Wagtail and Baby (A Satire), Op.52/3 (Winter Words) | Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Hardy, Thomas |
| Begone, dull care! Op.7/1 (Friday Afternoons) | Canadian Children’s Opera Company, director Cooper Gay, Ann; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | anon. |
| Fishing Song, Op.7/8 (Friday Afternoons) | Canadian Children’s Opera Company, director Cooper Gay, Ann; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Chalkhill, John |
| There was a man of Newington, Op.7/7 | Canadian Children’s Opera Company, director Cooper Gay, Ann; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | anon. |
| A Song of Enchantment (Tit for Tat) | Belluz, Scott, counter-tenor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Mare, Walter de la |
| Proud Songsters, Op.52/6 (Winter Words) | Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Hardy, Thomas |
| Cuckoo! Op.7/3 (Friday Afternoons) | Canadian Children’s Opera Company, director Cooper Gay, Ann; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Taylor, Jane |
| Jazz-Man, Op.7/10 (Friday Afternoons) | Canadian Children’s Opera Company, director Cooper Gay, Ann; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Farjeon, Eleanor |
| When you’re feeling like expressing your affection | Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Auden, Wystan Hugh ? |
| Tiny’s Song (Paul Bunyan) | Hatfield, Virginia, soprano; Belluz, Scott, counter-tenor; Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Auden, Wystan Hugh |
| Soldier, won’t you marry me? | Hatfield, Virginia, soprano; Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Appalachian folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin | anon. |
| Before Life and After, Op.52/8 (Winter Words) | Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Hardy, Thomas |
| Through the house give glimmering light (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op.64) | Hatfield, Virginia, soprano; Belluz, Scott, counter-tenor; Canadian Children’s Opera Company, director Cooper Gay, Ann; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Shakespeare, William |
| Concord is here (Gloriana) – ENCORE | Hatfield, Virginia, soprano; Belluz, Scott, counter-tenor; Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Britten, Benjamin | Plomer, William |
| Dear harp of my country – ENCORE | Finley, Gerald, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Irish folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin | Moore, Thomas |
| Oliver Cromwell – ENCORE | Hatfield, Virginia, soprano; Belluz, Scott, counter-tenor; Ainsworth, Colin, tenor; Sirett, Geoffrey, baritone; Canadian Children’s Opera Company, director Cooper Gay, Ann; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Suffolk folksong, arr. Britten, Benjamin | anon. |