Knowing Britten

The conductor and pianist Steuart Bedford (1939-2021) could not remember a time when he did not know Benjamin Britten. His mother, Lesley Duff, sang with the English Opera Group in the premieres of The Rape of Lucretia and Albert Herring in the late 1940s, and the whole family was closely involved with Britten and Peter Pears for many years. Following his music studies and time on the music staff at Glyndebourne, Bedford joined the English Opera Group, gradually becoming Britten's trusted surrogate conductor. As the composer's health began to fail, he took on responsibility for the premiere performances of Britten's final opera, Death in Venice, including its US premiere at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and the dramatic cantata Phaedra among others. He served as an Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival, 1974-98, recorded the Collins Classics series of Britten works and in 2013, Britten's centenary year, conducted 'Grimes on the Beach' for the Aldeburgh Festival. Knowing Britten is a vivid and insightful account of Bedford's long association with both Britten the man and his music.