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Benjamin Britten

A Listener's Guide To The Ghosts That Haunt Opera

Don Giovanni (Gerald Finley, left) is pulled down to hell by the ghost of the Commendatore (Alastair Mills) in a Glyndebourne production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Robbie Jack /Corbis via Getty Images hide caption

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Robbie Jack /Corbis via Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

A Listener's Guide To The Ghosts That Haunt Opera

Do you believe in ghosts? Composers from Mozart to John Corigliano have written them into their operas. Take a tour of some famous operatic phantoms.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra At Carnegie Hall

Every inch of the immense Carnegie Hall was filled with musicians as music director Robert Spano leads his Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Benjamin Britten's stunning War Requiem. Melanie Burford/For NPR hide caption

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Melanie Burford/For NPR

Classics in Concert

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra At Carnegie Hall

WQXR Radio

Conductor Robert Spano leads the orchestra and chorus in Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, music written for the 1962 rededication of the cathedral in Coventry, England, destroyed in a 1940 air raid.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra At Carnegie Hall

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High Notes And Clams: The Best And Worst Of Classical 2013

Sarah Joy Miller as Anna Nicole Smith in Anna Nicole by Mark-Anthony Turnage, the final production from the New York City Opera, which closed its doors for good this fall. Stephanie Berger hide caption

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Stephanie Berger

Deceptive Cadence

High Notes And Clams: The Best And Worst Of Classical 2013

A beloved conductor made a triumphant return, an opera singer took a stand and Walt Disney was reanimated by Philip Glass. It was quite a year in classical music, which also brought the closing of a prominent opera company and the continued silence of a major orchestra.

Making Music To Be Useful, And For The Living

A singer takes the stage during the first performance of "Grimes on the Beach," an outdoor production of Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes, on June 17, 2013 in Aldeburgh, England. Bethany Clarke/Getty Images hide caption

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Bethany Clarke/Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

Making Music To Be Useful, And For The Living

Born Nov. 22, 1913, Benjamin Britten went on to become one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, one whose work managed to push boundaries while still remaining tonal. The centennial of his birth is being marked by concerts around the world and a massive reissue of his recorded works.

Making Music To Be Useful, And For The Living

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Consumed By Violence, With Hope For Peace: Britten's 'War Requiem'

Benjamin Britten takes a cup of tea during rehearsals for his War Requiem at Coventry Cathedral, in Coventry, England in May, 1962. Erich Auerbach/Getty Images hide caption

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Erich Auerbach/Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

Consumed By Violence, With Hope For Peace: Britten's 'War Requiem'

For conductor Marin Alsop, discovering Benjamin Britten through his monumental War Requiem has been both easy and complex — a perfect summation of the man himself.

Consumed By Violence, With Hope For Peace: Britten's 'War Requiem'

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First Listen: Benjamin Britten's 'War Requiem'

Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, written in response to the devastation of both World Wars, premiered in 1962. Getty Images hide caption

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First Listen

First Listen: Benjamin Britten's 'War Requiem'

Britten's response to the collective bloodshed of the 20th century remains as vital and visceral as it was when his Requiem premiered more than 50 years ago. It was commissioned for the reconsecration of Britain's Coventry Cathedral, which had been destroyed by a Nazi bomb raid in 1940.

Britten: War Requiem

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album is released.

Concerts

Desperate Beauty: Britten's 'Death In Venice'

Benjamin Britten's final, haunting opera Death in Venice (based on Thomas Mann's novella) finds an aging writer obsessed with one particular kind of beauty that leads to his downfall, in a production from Glimmerglass Opera.

Hear an Audio Introduction to 'Death in Venice'

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Favorite Sessions

The Jupiter String Quartet: Orbiting Perfection

WGBH Radio

The Jupiter String Quartet has been playing together for just seven years, but it's already racked up an impressive collection of awards. The group takes music by Benjamin Britten to the WGBH studios in Boston.

The Jupiter String Quartet in Studio at WGBH

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Music Interviews

Master Cellist, Conductor Rostropovich Dies at 80

Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, who courageously fought for the rights of Soviet-era dissidents and later triumphantly played Bach suites below the crumbling Berlin Wall, died Friday in Moscow. He was 80.

Master Cellist, Conductor Rostropovich Dies at 80

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From the Top

The Festivus Quartet: Everybody's In Charge

Oboist Yuga Cohler, violinist Mann-Wen Lo, violist Christine Hung and cellist Tavi Ungerleider hail from the New England Conservatory Prep Division. The group's unusual name, The Festivus Quartet, comes from a Seinfeld reference. The quartet performs Benjamin Britten's Phantasy Quartet, Op. 2. This segment originally aired on Sept. 20, 2006.

The Festivus Quartet: Everybody's In Charge

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Britten's War Requiem: 50 Years On, Still As Harrowing As Ever

Coventry Cathedral in ruins, November 1940. Britten's War Requiem was written for the church's reconsecration more than 20 years after it was destroyed by Nazi bombers. Central Press/Getty Images hide caption

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Review

Deceptive Cadence

Britten's War Requiem: 50 Years On, Still As Harrowing As Ever

A stellar new recording from the London Symphony Orchestra of Benjamin Britten's masterpiece reminds listeners of a poignant and ever-timely piece of music.

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