Reviewed by Steven Whitehead The Choir of King's College, Cambridge under conductor Stephen Cleobury presents Britten's choral masterpiece "Saint Nicolas", along with "Hymn To St Cecilia" and "Rejoice In The Lamb", celebrating 100 years since Benjamin Britten's birth in 1913. The recording features soloist Andrew Kennedy, a former choral scholar at King's College, Cambridge, the renowned Britten Sinfonia, Sawston Village College Choir and Cambridge University Musical Society. The Choir of King's College is one of the world's foremost choirs and unquestionably among the most widely heard. It owes its existence to King Henry VI, who envisaged the daily singing of services in his magnificent chapel which is officially known as The King's College of Our Lady and St Nicholas in Cambridge. This recording of "Saint Nicolas" closely follows the staging and instrumentation of the première of the work at the first Aldeburgh Festival in 1948. Britten called for a tenor soloist (Andrew Kennedy), chorus of men and boys (King's College Choir), gallery chorus of girls (Sawston Village College Choir), orchestra (Britten Sinfonia) and congregation of mixed voices (Cambridge University Music Society). There are historical recordings with which Britten enthusiasts will no doubt enjoy making comparison but for this listener this is a thoroughly enjoyable CD. There is also an SACD in the package which is apparently exactly the same content but recorded in SACD. Unless St Nicholas sends me the necessary hardware for Christmas (hint, hint) I will have to make do with the standard CD version which is, to be fair, of excellent audio quality thanks in part to the famous King's College acoustic; if the SACD is significantly better it must be well worth hearing. However do not let the technology deter you. This is an excellent recording of three important works by one of Britain's finest composers.
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