Celebration of Britten set to get off to resounding fanfare

That the actual date is still nine months away, and yet the Yorkshire celebrations of Benjamin Britten’s centenary begin in earnest this week, tells you all you really need to know about how important a year this is for fans of the composer.

Opera North will be staging a series of concerts in celebration of the man some consider to be one of Britain’s greatest composers and The University of Sheffield is staging a whole concert series throughout the year celebrating Britten’s work.

The festivities get underway in the south of the county tomorrow night with the first of a full year of concerts at the University of Sheffield. A Boy Was Born is one of the world’s most celebrated and widely travelled works, will be performed by the Chilingrian Quartet, and will feature a pre-concert talk about Britten by Australian born doctor of musicology Paul Kildea.

It is an impressive opener, but the season will go on to feature a whole host of big names, with Jenny Agutter performing alongside the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra and one of the UK’s leading tenors, John Mark Ainsley, performing with Sheffield’s own Ensemble 360.

The celebrations, with events running from this month until December in Sheffield, will also feature Simon Armitage reading from the works of WH Auden, who played a vital part in Britten’s life – the two men having a passionate relationship which both said inspired much of their work.

Although best known for his role as Trigger in Only Fools and Horses, classically trained Roger Lloyd-Pack will also be reading the poet’s work, alongside one of the world’s most celebrated music ensembles The Utter: Jazz Collective.

Although Britten, born in Lowestoft, had no Yorkshire connections, his reputation is such that a centenary year of celebration is entirely appropriate.

What’s driving the Sheffield leg of the commemoration is the passion of Stewart Campbell.

A former chorister who is now the concerts manager at the University of Sheffield, he is artistic director of the Britten centenary year events.

He says: “Britten’s music has been with me all my life. One of the first big concerts I performed a solo in was Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, when I was a chorister in Southampton. The second opera I ever saw was his Peter Grimes and one of the first CDs I bought was his Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.”

As Campbell grew and his voice broke, he became a tenor and continued to perform the work of his favourite composer.

“This centenary has been on my radar for a very long time and this is a deeply personal programme for me to produce,” he says.

“For me personally, Britten is so outstanding because of his ingenuity in setting text to music. He does this so sensitively and imaginatively – it brings the text to life, something I think is incredibly rare in a composer. His role as an innovator inspires me, he was a real game-changer in twentieth century British music. He brought Britain up to speed with the rest of Europe in terms of musical scope and standards.”

Tomorrow night’s season opener kicks off a succession of events, with the next one just a week away, featuring the Phoenix Piano Trio, who are fast becoming one of today’s leading ensembles. There are two other concerts in May, three in April and in May Simon Armitage will join the department of music students at the University of Sheffield to perform the work of Auden alongside a new song cycle written by student composers and inspired by Britten.

In June Jenny Agutter will be in Sheffield to accompany a performance of A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Britten was asked to compose the music for a short educational film, introducing young people to the wide array of instruments in an orchestra.

As well as the Sheffield University venues, events will be happening all over the city, with other places that will see concerts and stagings including the Winter Gardens, Ecclesall Parish Church, the Crucible Theatre and the Upper Chapel on Surrey Street.

Campbell says: “Britten’s genius is manifested in his extraordinary skill in setting text to music, his revolutionising of British opera, a unique ability to write for children and the masses, his thrilling performances and interpretations of his own and others’ works.

“I’m overwhelmed by the calibre of artists that have agreed to come to our city and perform in this unique festival, and thrilled to be presenting work from the excellent orchestras and choirs from our local community.”

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