SHEFFIELD: University Firth Hall

THU 9TH DEC, 2010 19:30

18:45 Pre-Concert Talk - Benjamin Britten's Choice of Texts: Valentine Cunningham (Professor of English Language and Literature – University of Oxford)
19:30: Concert

Mark Padmore (tenor)
James Baillieu (piano)

Benjamin Britten is regarded by many as the most important English composer since Henry Purcell. A composer of wide-ranging talents, Britten found in the human voice an especial source of inspiration, an affinity that resulted in a remarkable body of work, ranging from operas, to song cycles to massive choral works. Born in 1913, he was already composing prolifically from the age of seven, and later went on to study formally at the Royal College of Music. He rapidly emerged as the most promising British composer of his generation and entered into collaborative relationships that exerted a profound influence upon his creative life. Among the most important of his professional associates were literary figures like W.H. Auden, and later, E.M. Forster. None, however, played as central a role in Britten's life as the tenor Peter Pears, who was Britten's closest intimate, both personally and professionally, from the late '30s to the composer's death. A steadfast pacifist, Britten left England in 1939 as war loomed over Europe. He spent four years in the United States and Canada and it is during this period Britten began work on the opera that would establish him as the pre-eminent British composer of his generation – Peter Grimes. His fame secure, Britten over the next several decades would compose a plethora of vocal, orchestral, and chamber music until his death in 1976, by which time he was recognised as one of the principal musical figures of the twentieth century.

The English tenor Peter Pears was born in 1910 and began to develop his singing and acting talents at an early age. He began his professional career with the BBC Singers in 1934. In 1937 he met Benjamin Britten and they embarked on a personal and creative relationship that was to be lifelong. Pears at once began to develop his career as a soloist, making his operatic debut in The Tales of Hoffman before going on to create the title role in Britten's Peter Grimes in 1945. For the following three decades Pears was a key source of inspiration for Britten’s music and an essential vehicle for the composer's vocal and operatic writing, as well as being Britten's partner in the recital duo that won them international renown. Britten regarded him as the ‘greatest artist that ever was’, and dedicated several works to him.

One of Britain’s finest tenors, Mark Padmore has established a flourishing career in opera, concert and recital, and his performances have gained particular notice throughout the world. In the opera house he has worked with many leading directors including work for the Aldeburgh and Bregenz Festivals, the Southbank Centre, the Welsh National and the English National Operas and Glyndebourne. In concert he has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Berlin, Vienna and New York Philharmonics, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. He has given recitals in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, New York and Paris, as well as all the major concert halls in the UK, and has released over 80 recordings.

In addition to forming part of the Autumn 2010 Concert Season, this concert also features in the University of Sheffield's “Gay Icons Project”, a programme of events exploring historically influential and iconic gay men and women across the cultural spectrum. For more information on the project please visit
www.gayiconsproject.co.uk

Tickets: £8, £5 (concessions/staff), £2.50 (students/unwaged)
(There is no admission charge for the talk)

“Padmore is perhaps today’s outstanding interpreter of the repertoire Britten wrote for his musical, and life partner, Peter Pears... [he] lavishes a palette of tone colour to match or even outshine Pears.”
Sunday Times