Letters from a Life: The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, 1913-1976: Volume Four: 1952-1957 (Selected Letters of Britten)
Letters from a Life  is more than just an edition of letters; it is a vast Britten compendium. (...) there can be no question that it is vastly more successful as biography than the straight (...) works on Britten have been. YALE REVIEW (V)olume 4 is to be welcomed as a fine addition to the series. It does much to rehabilitate interest in Gloriana and the ballet The Prince of the Pagodas and continues to restore a more balanced view of Britten's character and interests.  TWENTIETH-CENTURY MUSIC Britten is presented as a deeply human figure, one capable of great generosity, warmth, and gentle diplomacy (...), but also of raging anger (...) and occasional pettiness (...). Britten's own writing is compelling, the editors' attention to detail is extraordinary, and one is left eagerly anticipating the next instalments in the series.  NABMSA Newsletter A treasure trove of information. AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE This magnificent edition of Benjamin Britten's letters reaches its fourth volume... the annotation continues to be quite superb - meticulous, imaginative, and illuminating...Innumerable moments and items of incidental interest are thrown up in the course of its 600 pages. SPECTATORA superb achievement. (Editor's Choice) CLASSICAL MUSICFull of fascinating material, much of it to be found in the copious notes to the letters written by the editors. TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT (Ian Bostridge)The splendid and extensive editorial annotations...are such a significant feature of these volumes...the reading experience is consistently both enthralling and entertaining. BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWS