91Èȱ¬

Benjamin Britten was just 25 when he wrote Les illuminations, a poignant and gripping song-cycle – but, even so, he was still several years older than the poet whose words he set: Arthur Rimbaud, the volatile French libertine who hung up his pen aged just 21.

Either side of Sophie Bevan’s performance, conducted by English National Opera’s Music Director Martyn Brabbins, two epic fourth symphonies by great Britons, each a single movement: James MacMillan’s kaleidoscopic masterpiece, premiered at the 2015 91Èȱ¬ Proms to huge acclaim, and Michael Tippett’s punch-packing odyssey from birth through life to our inevitable end.