The Burning Fiery Furnace

Synopsis#

The Burning Fiery Furnace tells the story of Nebuchadnezzar (the historical Nebuchadnezzar II) and the three Israelites, Ananias, Misael and Asarias (corresponding Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego), who were thrown into a furnace for their refusal to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold. However, God saves them from death, as the voice of an angel joins the Israelites in a ‘Benedicite’.

Original recording#

Britten himself, along with Viola Tunnard, supervised the first commercial recording of this work, for Decca/London, with the following participants: * Nebuchadnezzar: Peter Pears * The Astrologer: Bryan Drake * Ananias (Shadrach): John Shirley-Quirk * Misael (Meshach): Robert Tear * Asarias (Abednego): Stafford Dean * The Herald: Peter Leeming * Chorus of Courtiers: Graham Allum, Peter Bedford, Carl Duggan, David Hartley, John McKenzie, Clive Molloy, Malcolm Rivers * The Acolytes: Robert Alder, Paull Boucher, James Newby, Stephen Price, Christopher Taylor The instrumentalists were Richard Adeney (flute), Neill Sanders (horn), Roger Brenner (trombone), Cecil Aronowitz (viola), Keith Marjoram (double bass), Osian Ellis (harp), James Blades (percussion) and Philip Ledger (organ). * Conductor: Benjamin Britten

References#

Sources *Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. *Warrack, John and West, Ewan, The Oxford Dictionary of Opera New York: OUP: 1992

External links#

• Britten-Pears Foundation, page on The Burning Fiery Furnace
• Recordings of The Burning Fiery Furnace on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
• , directed and edited by Tony Palmer