Britten: War Requiem

Britten was a known pacifist, and his paean to the memory of a once-great cathedral in Coventry stands as one of the greatest works of art of the second half of the twentieth century. I normally avoid any and all live recordings out of disgust for audience noise, and the desire to hear perfection achieved (or as close as I can get) from an ensemble spending days in the studio. This live recording is astounding. There is not one note out of place, not one percussion stick accidentally dropped, not one coughing, sneezing audience member; the fact that this was recorded in a cathedral might lead the listener to anticipate too much reverberation, but every technical aspect of this recording matches the playing and singing. The soprano is strong; the baritone is sturdy. The tenor is passionate and note-perfect. The choir and orchestra are in synergy throughout. And last, but certainly not least, the boys' choir provides the necessary ghost-like haunting with their harmonium accompaniment. I have been through many recordings of this piece, most of them forgettable. After all these years, I still cannot find a single thing wrong, not one aspect diminished or out-of-place, with this CD. This is the one to own.

Admittedly, I have not heard any of the other recordings of this work, so I have nothing with which to compare it to; that aside, this work - text, performance, and all - instantly resonated with me.I am biased towards requiems - they are one particular type of work that I seek and collect, and that's how I stumbled across this. The "Dies irae" - always a critical point in a requiem - is quite powerful, and remains the most memorable part of this work.The narration is a bit overly dramatic at times, something that would usually detract from the work for me (especially in a requiem) but here it works quite well. There is a lot of feeling and meaning brought into this work through Britten's own experiences with war - this is decidedly an anti-war piece, and the booklet provides plenty of background, although the narration (excerpts from a poem, I believe) is clear and easy to follow, mingled in with the text of the traditional Latin mass.

If I wanted to buy a recording of the War Requiem today, I would certainly want the remastering of the original with Pears, Vishneyskaya and Fischer-Diskau singing and Britten himself conducting. The boys choirs in that recording are unearthly. This is a respectable effort, but alas no more than that.

Nothing here is all that good--the sound is skimpy and wiry, the provincial German forces have no idea of Britten style, and Gardiner himself doesn't hold a candle to Britten, Giulini, Rattle and other greater condcutors doing this masterpiece. A miss all around.

in Gedenken und zur dunklen Jahreszeit, hochwertige Aufnahme, klarer Klang und eindrucksvoll ausgeführt durch den Monteverdi choir, ausdrucksstark und tief ergreifend, wenn man auch die Geschichte hinter dem Musikstück kennt (Bombardierung der Stadt Conventry im 2.WK durch die Deutschen)