Benjamin Britten: Canticles James Way & Natalie Burch

• Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976): Canticle I, Op. 40:
• 1 Britten: Canticle I, Op. 40: My beloved is mine and I am his 08:04
• Canticle II, Op. 51:
• 2 Britten: Canticle II, Op. 51: Abraham and Isaac 17:59
• Canticle III, Op. 55:
• 3 Britten: Canticle III, Op. 55: Still falls the Rain 12:06
• Canticle IV, Op. 86:
• 4 Britten: Canticle IV, Op. 86: Journey of the Magi 11:59
• Canticle V, Op. 89:
• 5 Britten: Canticle V, Op. 89: The Death of Saint Narcissus 08:10
• Priaulx Rainier (1903 - 1986): Cycle for Declamation:
• 6 Rainier: Cycle for Declamation: I. Wee cannot bid the fruits 02:10
• 7 Rainier: Cycle for Declamation: II. In the wombe of the earth 02:23
• 8 Rainier: Cycle for Declamation: III. Nunc, lento sonitu 04:53
• Total Runtime 01:07:44

Info for Benjamin Britten: Canticles

Benjamin Britten’s five Canticles, written for his lover and muse Peter Pears, stand as some of his most intimate and spiritually charged music. Composed across a period of nearly thirty years, they reflect Britten’s evolving response to poetry, religion and the human condition.

Tenor James Way and his duo partner and wife Natalie Burch lead an exceptional line-up of musicians in performances that capture the emotional depth and complexity of these unique pieces. The programme also features Priaulx Rainier’s unaccompanied Cycle for Declamation, written for Pears in 1955 – settings of Donne that, in their intensity and introspection, find common ground with Britten’s Canticles.

James Way, tenor
Natalie Burch, piano
Lotte Betts-Dean, mezzo-soprano
Hugh Cutting, counter-tenor
Ross Ramgobin, baritone
Annemarie Federle, horn
Alis Huws, harp

James Way
is fast gaining international recognition for the versatility of his voice and commanding stage presence. His work spans a variety of music both as performer and artistic director. Having followed his initial passion for baroque music through the young artist programmes of Les Arts Florissants and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment he immediately became in demand as a soloist for conductors including William Christie, Rene Jacobs, Harry Bicket and Trevor Pinnock.

Equally comfortable in later repertoire, James is regularly praised for his interpretations of 20th century music and that of Stravinsky and Britten in particular. His performances include Flute in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Dalia Stasevska at Glyndebourne Festival and also for Garsington Festival & BBC Proms under Douglas Boyd. The Son in Laurent Pelly's production of Les Mamelles de Tiresias (winner of Best New Opera Production at the 2022 Opera Awards) with Robin Ticciati also for Glyndebourne Festival, Holy Fool Boris Godunov with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Jakub Hrůša and Lechmere Owen Wingrave for Grange Park Opera, and a number of performances of Stravinsky Pulcinella with orchestras including the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic with Barbara Hannigan, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra Sinfonica de Milano with Alpesh Chauhan OBE.

This coming season’s highlights include a return to the Göteborgs Symfoniker for Mozart Requiem under Barbara Hannigan, Die Schöpfung with the CBSO under Kazuki Yamada, several performances of Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno Tempo with the Irish Baroque and on tour with Les Arts Florissants under William Christie, Handel Solomon Zadok at the Goettingen Handel Festival with Georg Petrou and with the Gabrieli Consort and tours with The English Concert and Harry Bicket. Recitals this season include collaborations with Julius Drake and Richard Watkins, Lute songs with Elizabeth Kenny and the complete Britten Canticles at Milton Court alongside pianist Natalie Burch. He will also release a new recording of the Canticles for Delphian Records.

In demand as an interpreter of Handel, his performances of Messiah have won praise with orchestras internationally including Handel & Haydn Society Boston, Les Arts Florissants, Freiburger Barockorchester, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Dunedin Consort. His debut as Jupiter in Handel Semele at the Musikverein was the start in a long line of Handel roles including Samson (title role), Acis and Damon Acis & Galatea and L’allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. He performed Zadok Solomon with Harry Bicket & the English Concert at Carnegie Hall, Lurcanio Ariodantewith Il Pomo d’Oro and La Resurrezione with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre.

James has a growing discography including Handel L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie and Stanford Requiem with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, on Hyperion, ‘Songs of Faith, Love and Nonsense,' a disk of Stanford songs recorded with Roderick Williams and Andrew West, Purcell's Fairy Queen with Gabrieli Consort, conducted by Paul McCreesh and King Arthur, which won BBC Music Magazine's Recording of the Year.

James is a former Britten-Pears Young Artist, he is also a laureate of William Christie’s Les Arts Florissants ‘Jardin des Voix’ and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s Rising Stars young artist programmes and was awarded an Independent Opera Voice Fellowship. He was the winner of the Second Prize in the 62nd Kathleen Ferrier Awards at Wigmore Hall. James was a choral scholar at King’s College London under the late David Trendell before studying with Susan Waters at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He continues his studies with Paul Farrington.

Alongside his performing James in demand as coach and voice teacher. He is committed to helping other performers achieve their full potential. As one of only handful of non-clinicians ever, he recently completed a PgCert in Performing Arts Medicine at University College London where he was awarded the Michael Shipley Award for his commitment to performer health and psychology. James is thankful for the support of a Royal Philharmonic Society Enterprise Award for making this study possible.

Natalie Burch
An alumnus of Chetham’s School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Natalie Burch is a dedicated song pianist, programmer and writer, interested in the political and social intersection of music and its audiences. She was Associate Artistic Director of the Oxford International Song Festival in 2024 and has contributed a chapter on the songs of Elizabeth Maconchy to an upcoming Cambridge University Press compendium on the composer’s life.

Recent and future projects include her debut at Leeds Lieder Festival alongside Kitty Whately, a performance of ‘Schwanengesang’ with Roderick Williams at the Oxford International Song Festival and her debut at the Barbican Centre alongside a line-up of emerging talent including Lotte Betts-Dean, James Way and Hugh Cutting. She recently released two disks with Delphian Records: ‘Our Indifferent Century’ and the complete Britten Canticles.

Past performance highlights include Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer and Stephen Hough’s Other Love Songs at Wigmore Hall, performances at the Sage Gateshead, Blackheath Halls and the International Lied Festival Zeist, as well as a concert tour with RPS nominated soprano/composer Héloïse Werner.

Natalie studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where she was a fellow and gained her Masters with distinction under Eugene Asti and Andrew West. She studied solo piano at Chetham’s School of Music and in 2014 graduated with first class honors in musicology from King’s College London with piano at the Royal Academy of Music. She continues her studies with Susan Manoff.

Booklet for Benjamin Britten: Canticles