"True, 'Our hunting Fathers' is not meant to be beautiful - but nor, for that matter, is it meant to be sung by a tenor. It's a cycle that is best heard sung by a soprano as originally intended ... His [Padmore] savage performance, borderline 'Sprechstimme' at times, unfortunately and most uncharacteristically rides roughshod over several of Britten's meticulous details ... Soprano Christina Landshamer gives a decent performance of the early 'Quatre Chansons françaises', and Ivor Bolton conducts the superb Basel Symphony Orchestra in a stately account of the 'Gloriana' suite".