The name of
Peter Pears
comes up most often in connection with that of his partner (creative and personal)
Benjamin Britten
, but his creativity was not laced with
Britten
's. He recorded some wonderful
Schubert
song cycles, unorthodox but highly expressive. He commissioned music from various contemporary composers; just a portion of them are heard here. This release by tenor
Robin Tritschler
and expert accompanist
Malcolm Martineau
is anchored by
's
Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Op. 22
, but the rest is given over to other composers, and there are several little-known gems. Sample some of the miniatures, like
Geoffrey Bush
Songs of the Zodiac
or the
Five Chinese Lyrics
of
Arthur Oldham
(not to mention
Richard Rodney Bennett
's 12-tone setting of the traditional
Tom O'Bedlam's Song
). Best of all,
Tritschler
manages to suggest
Pears
' singing without seeming to reproduce it. Several of the composers force the singer into the high register than
handled so comfortably, and
pulls off these difficult passages well. Yet his voice is of a different sort that
', more rounded, richer, less edgy. There is never a feeling that this album is a historical exercise; rather, it investigates a tradition that has turned out to be rather deep.
Signum Classics
' church sound is not ideal, but listeners have been flocking to this fine release, and placed it on classical best-seller lists in the summer of 2024. ~ James Manheim