Benjamin Britten War Requiem

This performance is a revelation. Philip Reed, in his authoritative note, points out that, unbeknown to many, Britten and Giulini had a mutual respect for and an admiration of each other’s work. Here they combine to give a performance that is a true Legend, as this BBC series has it. Giulini’s reading is as dramatic and viscerally exciting as any I have heard. The music leaps from the page new-minted in his thoroughgoing, histrionically taut hands, the rhythmic tension at times quite astonishing. For instance, the sixth movement, ‘Libera me’, is simply earth-shattering in its effect, every bar, every word, every instrument sung and played to the hilt – and so it is throughout, with the live occasion added to the peculiar, and in this case peculiarly right, acoustics of the Albert Hall adding its own measure of verite to the inspired occasion.

Rattle’s performance gives us a fascinating view of a masterpiece – we feel that he has approached the music afresh on its own terms, without being influenced by tradition. He has the advantage, as Britten did not, of a choir and orchestra with the music in their blood, so there need be no concerns on grounds of musical accuracy. His pacing of the work overall is masterly in his projection of the overall structure; the drama of earlier parts of the score such as the Dies Irae is not allowed to overshadow the final cataclysmic climax in the Libera Me, which is devastating in its power. In the Owen setting, “Strange Meeting” which follows is sung with great concentration by both Tear and Allen, emphasising as Britten intended the personal cost of conflict and its futility.

Britten‘s War Requiem: 50th anniversary in Coventry. 2012 brings the 50th anniversary of the premiere of Britten‘s War Requiem, one of the most powerful pacifist statements in music. The first performance took place in 1962 in the newly consecrated Coventry Cathedral, built alongside the ruins of the old cathedral, left as a sombre reminder of the wartime bombings. On 30 May 2012, 50 years to the day, Britten‘s masterpiece returns to the cathedral, performed as at the premiere by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and vocal soloists from three once warring nations. The anniversary performance is conducted by the CBSO‘s Music Director, Andris Nelsons, featuring the Canadian soprano Erin Wall, English tenor Mark Padmore singing the role written for Peter Pears, and German baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann.

Celebrating the work of Benjamin Britten, this album combines three of the composer’s enduringly popular, yet vastly distinctive works. Sir Simon Rattle leads us on an unexpected journey through this diverse collection of masterpieces.