Benjamin Britten was a very great opera composer; but he was a remarkable song writer as well. And of course he was a fabulous accompanist as exemplified by some remarkable Schubert recordings he made with Peter Pears.
Nicholas Phan gave us great pleasure yesterday evening in both Schubert and Britten. He is a very gifted Lieder singer - not a very commercial proposition these days alas - but he has developed a most interesting career exploring a wide repertory extremely intelligently. He will be back in Chicago in April for the Evangelist in the St John Passion with John Nelson. That should be worth taking trouble to go to.
Meanwhile you can hear Nick's way with Winter Words and a collection of other Britten songs, including the delightful folk song arrangements, on his recently issued CD. It has been very warmly received, justifiably so.
I will be at Beyond the Score this afternoon. You should be too!!
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