Britten: War Requiem

Britten: War Requiem

Britten: War Requiem
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Performer: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Composer: Benjamin Britten
Conductor: Benjamin Britten
Performer: Melos Ensemble of London
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Simon Preston
Performer: Galina Vishnevskaya
Performer: Peter Pears
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2006-05-16
Music Label: Decca
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Requiem Aeternam
  2. What Passing-Bells For These Who Die As Cattle?
  3. Dies Irae
  4. Bugles Sang
  5. Liber Scriptus Proferetur
  6. Out There
  7. Recordare Jesu Pie
  8. Be Slowly Lifted Up
  9. Dies Irae
  10. Lacrimosa Dies Illa
  11. Move Him Into The Sun
  12. Domine Jesu Christe
  13. So Abram Rose
  14. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
  15. After The Blast Of Lightning
Music CD 2
  1. One Ever Hangs
  2. Libera Me, Domine
  3. It Seemed That Out Of Battle I Escaped
  4. Let Us Sleep Now... In Paradisum
  5. Requiem Aeternam: Rehearsal
  6. Dies Irae: Rehearsal Of The Opening Section
  7. Dies Irae: Discussion In The Control Room
  8. Dies Irae: Rehearsal Of End Of Movement
  9. Offertorium: Rehearsal
  10. Sanctus: Rehearsal
  11. Sanctus: Discussion In The Control Room
  12. Agnus Dei: Discussion In The Control Room
  13. Libera Me: Discussion In The Control Room
  14. Libera Me: Rehearsal
  15. Libera Me: Rehearsal Of Closing Page

Music reviews of Britten: War Requiem

Music Review: How has the "War Requiem" fared on records?
Rating: 5 Stars

Britten's premiere recording of his masterpiece, the War Requiem, is an acknowledged classic, but in the 47 years since we've had quite lot of choice among other recordings. Here's a rundown of the versions I know. I think they are all the major ones:

The greatest enthusiastic is deserved for Richard Hickox's 1991 War Requiem on Chandos, the best studio version in the decades after the composer's recording. The conducting is powerful and heartfelt, the chorus exemplary, the soloists -- Philip Langridge, John Shirley-Quirk, and Heahter Harper -- all distinguished Britten performers who were closely associated with him; I'm extremely glad they got the chance to set down their performances, which run second only to the Decca soloists'.

Turning briefly to other competitors, John Eliot Gardiner's set on DG, recorded with a German orchestra and his own Monteverdi Choir, has ugly, shrill sonics and soloists not well attuned to the pathos of Owen's poetry. Simon Rattle on EMI is much better but feels underplayed to me, despite excellent forces all around. Robert Tear and Thomas Allen are outstanding vocalists, and they enunciate the poetry better than anyone else, but Rattle's gentle, elegiac tone makes for little drama. I suppose he eschewed outright anguish on purpose.

Kurt Masur with the NY Phil. (Teldec) is much too cautious, despite the excellent duo of Thomas Hampson and Jerry Hadley in the male solo parts. A budget issue from Naxos recorded at a summer festival in Scotland, directed by Martyn Brabbins, is quite powerful and direct, with particularly excellent choral work but too-literal soloists. A live reading under Giulini on BBC Legends finds Peter Pears singing with even mire passion than on the premiere recording -- it's a nearly great performance despite so-so broadcast sonics. Finally, 2008 saw a German performance under the veteran but ordinary Helmut Rilling (Haenssler), who can't quite rise to the occasion. Even so, his male soloists, Christian Gerhaher and James Taylor, are attractive, one of the most lyrical pairings on disc. Tayor's light tenor manages to be quite poignant at times. Also worth noting are the excellent chorus and vivid SACD sound. No rival version can compete sonically. If only Rilling were more menacing and less tame in places.

This narrows the choice down to Britten and Hickox, both with the London Sym. Both also have excellent sonics, though Chandos's digital engineering is more close-up and impactful. It adds to the forceful drama of Hickox's interpretation, contrasted with the more mournful tone of Britten's. If you want maximum excitement, this is the recording to get. In the solo parts, I recognize the unique position Peter Pears occupied in Britten's music, but for beauty of voice, he's bettered by Langridge for Hickox, who's nearly as sensitive and poetic.

Between the two baritones, I have no hesitation preferring Shirley-Quirk over Fischer-Dieskau. Britten was making a pacifist point by picking a singer from Germany in the post-Nazi era, but F-D's command of English can't compare to Shirley-Quirk's, who also blessedly lacks F-D's bark. Neither soprano is ideal, Vishnevskaya being too piercing (as Slavic sopranos tend to be) and Heather Harper, although graceful and sincere, past her prime.

On both sets the LSO plays magnificently, and the various choirs, adult and children's, are exemplary--but again, Hickox's dramatic thrust and the closer miking from Chandos give more visceral impact to the choruses in his recording. I've tried to impartially summarize each version, and overall I am glad to own both. If you wanted only one? My choice would be the Hickox, for the reasons already stated.
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