Celebrated tenor Mark Padmore and the Britten Sinfonia present a program featuring some of the most beautiful English music for voice and orchestra ever written. The centerpiece is Benjamin Britten's magical evocation of twilight and nightfall, the Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Op. 31, for which he is joined by the dulcet tones of Stephen Bell on French horn. Completing the disc are Gerald Finzi's song-cycle Dies Natalis, with it's ecstatic mood reflecting a child's wide-eyed wonder at the world, and Britten's fourth and final orchestral song cycle, the poignant Nocturne, Op.60. Long associated with the great Peter Pears, Padmore makes this music his own in stunning performances that welcome comparison to any singer, past or present. "There's no denying the affinity and rightness of this music under Padmore's voice. We really were driven 'almost mad with ecstasy,' secure in his musical architecture and tonal control." - the Arts Desk, UK, concert review.
