NEWS

Essential Britten has recently been published, to raise the curtain on the Benjamin Britten centenary in 2013.  It is an updated version of John Bridcut's Pocket Guide to the composer, which was published in 2010.

Intended for both enthusiasts and musical explorers, it covers the nooks and crannies of Benjamin Britten's life and music which other books often overlook, with chapters on his cars, his pets, his homes, his ailments.  There is a year-by-year account of his life, and a piece-by-piece account of all his music, capped with collections of witty, affectionate, sometimes cruel quotes: 'What They Said About Britten', and 'What Britten Said About Them'.  446 pages, including the full text of Britten's speech on receiving the Aspen Award in 1964.  £9.99 from booksellers, but £6.49 from this website.

Rostropovich: The Genius of the Cello won a Best Arts Documentary nomination in the 2012 Grierson Awards.  The film has also won a major prize at the Golden Prague TV Festival, and Paul Paragon was recently named TV Sound Recordist of the Year in the 2012 Conch Awards, on the strength of his work on both the Rostropovich film and The Prince and the Composer.

To coincide with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, BBC Worldwide have issued The Prince and the Composer on DVD.  This acclaimed portrait of Sir Hubert Parry, the composer of Jerusalem, by HRH The Prince of Wales is now on sale.

As well as the complete 90-minute film, the DVD includes specially-filmed performances of 'Father Playmate', from Parry's piano suite Shulbrede Tunes, and 'Et misericordia' from his Magnificat of 1897.