My knowledgeable compatriot Ian Crisp wrote about the "Dirge" from
Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings:

>I heard the wonderful Ian Bostridge sing this superb work in the Tramway
>in Glasgow about four years ago, and I've never heard better in my life.
>I believe he's recorded it, along with a number of other Britten pieces,
>but I have yet to get hold of the CD.

I heard the recording just recently; it is excellent.  Bostridge manages
to free himself from the stamp which Pears put on this work and it gives
you a totally new view of it.  And I would agree with Ian: it is a superb
piece.  The change of moods throughout, largely due to the choice of poems
which Britten set, allows the performer great scope to display his talents;
Bostridge does it to something approaching perfection.

I must admit that I had a period in which I thought Britten was somewhat
overrated as a composer, but recently I have been listening to his music
more and more and have come to the realization that much of what he wrote
is quite simply magnificent.  And the Serenade must be up there with the
best of his output.  Wonderful stuff.

>>And when is somebody going to mention the most sublime chaconne ever
>>written: "When I am laid to earth," from "Dido and Aeneas"?
>
>Somebody just did.

Eh - must have been me!

Jonathan