Nadine Benjamin’s discography
Announcement of Upcoming Album Release
I am delighted to announce the album release on 25 August 2023 of Peter Warlock’s
Maltworms and Milkmaids: Warlock and the Orchestra
Ben McAteer and I sing with the BBC Orchestra and the BBC Singers, conducted by David Hill.
“This important release by EM Records, including no fewer than seventeen world premiere recordings, contains all of Peter Warlock's music which involves the use of an orchestra.”
More info and preorder here.
Purchase Emergence here.
Reviews:
“Benjamin and Panizza achieve near perfection … This release is highly recommended.” (Journal of Singing)
“Nadine Benjamin’s renditions of 20th- and 21st-century musical settings of poems by Emily Dickinson are a great tribute. The singing is beautifully controlled, with care for the text. [Four stars] ****” (BBC Music)
“This Dickinson programme is built around Copland’s classic Twelve Poems (1950), but his successors, Luigi Zaninelli (b1932) and Juliana Hall (b1958), belong to the same tradition. Hall’s cycles, To Meet and Flower (written for Benjamin in 2009) and In Reverence (1985), deserve wider airing. Benjamin’s clear diction and beautiful singing are backed up by her pianist’s committed playing.” (Sunday Times)
“The recorded sound is very good, and the booklet offers good notes and full texts. This disc is a real winner, especially for the Hall songs, which should be performed more often.” (MusicWeb International)
“A wonderfully sung and played recital by two worthy artists who have assembled a fine combination of styles of high-quality art songs. I finished the feast quite well satiated, and you will surely, as well.” (Fanfare)
Purchase Nadine Benjamin: Love & Prayer here.
Review:
“Recorded at Studio Two at Abbey Road Studios with Kamal Khan conducting the NB Opera Ensemble, it is the first such album recorded by a British Black soprano. The repertoire on the disc focuses on Italian opera, with Verdi at the core, with arias from Tosca, Norma, Il trovatore, La traviata, Un ballo in maschera, Aida, Otello, La bohème and Le nozze di Figaro, plus Schubert's ‘Ave Maria’.
The opera arias are accompanied by reduced orchestrations for 14 piece ensemble (with Kamal Khan accompanying Nadine Benjamin on the piano for the Schubert). This gives the disc quite an intimate feel, whilst giving us something more than arias with piano accompaniment…
Technically there is much to admire in all these arias, and in each, there is enough character to intrigue and suggest what it might be like to hear Benjamin in the complete [roles]. She sings with lovely gleaming tone, with a fine combination of phrasing and diction. She and the ensemble create a nice sense of intimacy with some superb solo playing.”
Love and Prayer - Puccini, Bellini, Verdi, Mozart, Schubert
Orchestrations by Francis Griffin
Nadine Benjamin (soprano)
NB Opera Ensemble
Kamal Khan
Recorded at Abbey Road Studios
Read the full review here.
Purchase Retrospect Opera’s The Boatswain’s Mate, featuring Nadine Benjamin, here.
Review:
“Nadine Benjamin sings sweetly and purely as Mrs Waters…” - Neil Fisher (Gramophone)