Composer: Frank Bridge, Benjamin Britten
Performer: Hélène Clément, Dame Sarah Connolly, Alasdair Beatson
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHAN20247
Release: 2022
Size: 972 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Bridge: Cello Sonata in D minor, H125
01. I. Allegro ben moderato
02. II. Adagio ma non troppo
03. Bridge: There is a Willow Grows Aslant a Brook
Bridge: Three Songs for voice, viola and piano (H76)
04. I. Far, far from each other
05. II. Where is it that our soul doth go?
06. III. Music, when soft voices die
07. Britten: Elegy for Strings
08. Britten: Lachrymae for viola & piano, Op. 48
Hélène Clément, violist with the Doric String Quartet, is the current holder of the viola previously owned by both Frank Bridge and Benjamin Britten. Her ambition, quickly formed once she first played this instrument, has been to create a testament to both composers and to the instrument that binds them together. This recording, in which Hélène is joined by the pianist Alasdair Beatson and Dame Sarah Connolly, is the realisation of that ambition.
Hélène writes: ‘Frank Bridge owned and played the beautiful viola made by Francesco Giussani, in Italy, in 1843. Benjamin Britten was Frank Bridge’s most beloved pupil, and Bridge gave him the viola as a parting gift when Britten had to embark on a ship’s journey to the United States at the outbreak of the Second World War. The composers were never to see each other again. To record the viola repertoire of both composers, producing the very sound that they would have had in their ears, the sound that inspired their love for the instrument and its special language, became a priority for me.’