BaL 30.03.24 - Britten: War Requiem

[Pulcinella]

10.30am
Building a Library

Britten: War Requiem

Written to consecrate the newly-rebuilt Coventry Cathedral in 1962, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem was an immediate hit with both critics and audiences. His master stroke was to interpolate settings of Wilfred Owen's searing First World War poems with the traditional Latin mass for the dead. Elin Manahan Thomas shares with Andrew her ultimate recording to buy, download or stream.

Available recordings.
To save time and get the thread going, I've listed only the main orchestra and conductor.

Czech PO/Ancerl (CD)
BBCSSO/Brabbins (CD, D)
LSO/Britten (CD, D; 2023 remastering SACD)
CBSO/Davies (CD) [The 1962 premiere performance]
NDR SO/Gardiner (D)
NPO/Giulini (CD, D)
LSO/Hickox (SACD, CD, D)
Bavarian RSO/Jansons (CD, D)
Leipzig RO/Kegel (CD, D)
Munich Phil/Maazel (D)
LPO/Masur (CD, D)
NYPO/Masur (D)
Gabrieli Consort/McCreesh (CD, D)
LSO/Noseda (CD, D)
Accademia Nationale di Santa Cecilia/Pappano (D)
CBSO/Rattle (PCD, D)
Stuttgart/Rilling (SACD, CD, D)
Washington O/Shafer
Atlanta SO/Shaw (D)
Netherlands RPO/van Zweden (SACD, D)

D: Download
CD: CD (possibly in set)
PCD: Presto CD
SACD: SACD

[Pulcinella]

The BBC MM offering (Volume 21, Number 4) is of a live Edinburgh International Festival performance in the Usher Hall on 3 September 2004, with the BBCSSO under Ilan Volkov.

[oliver sudden]

NPO/Britten is the Giulini on BBC Legends, I suppose?

I reviewed the Ančerl once upon a time. Jolly fine, as I remember. There’s also an Ansermet on Cascavelle which is presumably very hard to find nowadays but which was the first time I heard a recording with Heather Harper in her prime. Also coupled with Suzanne Danco singing Les Illuminations, which is a splendid thing.

[oliver sudden]

Speaking of Coventry in 1962, by the way, I was very surprised a little while back to see that this existed:

https://youtu.be/gG_3ZiSCjZs?feature=shared

[Pulcinella]

NPO/Britten is the Giulini on BBC Legends, I suppose?

I reviewed the Ančerl once upon a time. Jolly fine, as I remember. There’s also an Ansermet on Cascavelle which is presumably very hard to find nowadays but which was the first time I heard a recording with Heather Harper in her prime. Also coupled with Suzanne Danco singing Les Illuminations, which is a splendid thing.

It's listed like this on the Presto site.

• Peter Pears (soloist), Hans Wilbrink (soloist), Stefania Woytowicz (soloist)
• Melos Ensemble, Wandsworth School Boys’ Choir, New Philharmonia Chorus, New Philharmonia Orchestra
• Benjamin Britten

Is Britten the subsidiary conductor, with the main one being Giulini?

PS:

I found this, and the associated review says that Britten conducted the chamber orchestra. I'll amend the original listing accordingly.
Thanks. I should have spotted this myself.

BENJAMIN BRITTEN - War Requiem

Soloists: Stefania Woytowicz (soprano)
Peter Pears (tenor)
Hans Wilbrink (baritone)

• Conductor: Britten, Benjamin
• Conductor: Giulini, Carlo Maria
• Orchestra: Melos Ensemble
• Orchestra: New Philharmonia Orchestra

• Record Label: BBC - 4046-2
• Medium: CD

[smittims]

The Ansermet is excellent and the 2-disc set includes a very rare recording of Ansermet conducting Berg. The Britten, with Heather Harper and Thomas Hemsley, sounds very like the excellent Meredith Davies Prom performance (1963 I think) with the same soloists, of which I had a reel-to-reel tape for many years.

[oliver sudden]

The Ansermet is excellent and the 2-disc set includes a very rare recording of Ansermet conducting Berg. The Britten, with Heather Harper and Thomas Hemsley, sounds very like the excellent Meredith Davies Prom performance (1963 I think) with the same soloists, of which I had a reel-to-reel tape for many years.

(Off topic but the Cascavelle label also had a splendid live Mahler 3 with ORTF/Martinon. A must if like me you are a fan of French colours in this music and much more vivid to my ear than his semi-famous Chicago version. Alas I’ve never been able to get hold of the CD but it can be heard here: https://youtu.be/PUSxe9iJerE?feature=shared )

[LMcD]

I realize that it doesn't qualify for BaL, but find myself returning repeatedly to the DVD of the 50th Anniversary performance in Coventry Cathedral with the CBSO under Andris Nelsons.

[Simon Biazeck]

Speaking of Coventry in 1962, by the way, I was very surprised a little while back to see that this existed:

https://youtu.be/gG_3ZiSCjZs?feature=shared

Stunning! Thank you!

[Pulcinella]

I didn't include the soloists in the listings, but was interested in how many kept the original Russian/English/German trio.
Do people think that this matters/helps?
I will aim to amend the original post if the information is clear on Presto's site (and I have the time/energy), if people think it would be useful.

[oliver sudden]

Stunning! Thank you!

A pleasure! It wouldn’t be a BaL choice for many reasons (a few frailties here and there…some of the tricky violin unison passages replaced with piano!) but it’s an amazing document. Richard Lewis and Forbes Robinson singing Tippett!

(Lovely to see you here by the way. We’ve met IRL: once upon a time I had the great honour of singing Third Seraph in a Monteverdi Vespers alongside you and Ančerl’s War Requiem tenor soloist…)

[Pulcinella]

Streaming the Ansermet just now.
There's a review here:

https://www.audaud.com/ernest-ansermet-collection-britten-les-illuminations-war-requiem-berg-sieben-fruehe-lieder-soloistschoir-of-suisse-romande-proarte-choirorch-suisse-romandeernest-answerment-cascavelle/

Interesting to hear a native French speaker in Les illuminations, too; I prefer a soprano in this work (Harper, Northern Sinfonia, Marriner).

Danco was born in Brussels and grew up in a Flemish background, although French was her native language.

[CallMePaul]

I didn't include the soloists in the listings, but was interested in how many kept the original Russian/English/German trio.
Do people think that this matters/helps?
I will aim to amend the original post if the information is clear on Presto's site (and I have the time/energy), if people think it would be useful.

Only he Britten has this range of soloists' nationalities (Vishnevskaya, Pears and Fischer-Dieskau) but Pappano has Anna Nebtrenko alonside two British male singers. There are quite a few recordings with German baritones including Christian Gerhaher twice. I would be interested to hear Banjamin Appl sing the baritone songs alongside Mark Padmore. As the soprano sings only in Latin her nationality seems less important than that of her male colleagues.

[Simon Biazeck]

A pleasure! It wouldn’t be a BaL choice for many reasons (a few frailties here and there…some of the tricky violin unison passages replaced with piano!) but it’s an amazing document. Richard Lewis and Forbes Robinson singing Tippett!

(Lovely to see you here by the way. We’ve met IRL: once upon a time I had the great honour of singing Third Seraph in a Monteverdi Vespers alongside you and Ančerl’s War Requiem tenor soloist…)

Good grief! I remember it well! Thank you!

[oliver sudden]

I realize that it doesn't qualify for BaL, but find myself returning repeatedly to the DVD of the 50th Anniversary performance in Coventry Cathedral with the CBSO under Andris Nelsons.

If I remember right this one did well when La Tribune took on the War Requiem—they don’t have qualms about including the occasional DVD version although of course the panel only get the sound thereof.

https://www.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/podcasts/la-tribune-des-critiques-de-disques/war-requiem-de-benjamin-britten-5288969