This is the third collaboration on disc between
the Gabrieli Consort and Players and the members of the Wrocław
Philharmonic Choir, the unifying force being Paul McCreesh. It follows
their outstanding recordings of the Berlioz
Grand Messe des Morts
(
review)
and Mendelssohn’s
Elijah (
review).
Those two recordings were distinguished not only on account of the excellent
musical performances but also through the scrupulous research undertaken
by McCreesh and his colleagues to use instrumental forces that gave
a good idea of the sounds that would have been heard by contemporary
audiences. Here, by contrast, they turn their attentions to a work that
was first heard just fifty-one years ago.
There are some works that people are wont to say are ‘lucky’
on record. I’m not sure how much luck comes into it; I suspect
it’s more a case that certain works inspire the performers to
give something special and
War Requiem comes into that category.
The catalogue already contains several very fine recordings. Britten’s
own is
hors concours, especially in its most recent incarnation
which includes, as an invaluable appendix, substantial rehearsal extracts
(
review).
The
MusicWeb
Britten discography lists a further 19 recordings - to which must
now be added this newcomer - among which I’d particularly single
out those by Giulini with Britten (BBC Legends), Hickox (Chandos), Andris
Nelsons (
review),
Gianandrea Noseda (
review)
and Rattle (
review).
The live 1967 performance conducted by Ansermet is also well worth hearing,
not least because among the soloists are Heather Harper, much earlier
in her career than when she recorded the work with Hickox, and the late
Thomas Hemsley, who never took part in a studio recording (
review).
So this newcomer enters a distinguished field. One element that marks
it out immediately is the contribution of Christopher Maltman who gives
one of the best, most nuanced performances of the baritone solo role
that I’ve ever heard. It’s surely no accident that Maltman
has a fine reputation as an interpreter of art song; his talents in
that field are much in evidence here. He catches the pathos and melancholy
of ‘Bugles sang’ marvellously, deploying a fine and easy
legato in a most expressive rendition of this part of the score. That’s
an intimate piece but he’s just as successful in the more histrionic
‘Be slowly lifted up …’ which he sings with great
power and authority. In ‘After the blast of lightning’ he
really captures the listener’s attention with some expertly controlled
quiet singing while in his half of ‘Strange meeting’ he
makes use of a telling range of vocal colouring in a tremendous performance.
He’s also a fine partner for John Mark Ainsley in their two duets:
the re-telling of the story of Abraham and Isaac is very well done while
‘Out there’ conveys excellently the sardonic bite of Britten’s
setting.
Ainsley is a highly experienced Britten singer and it shows. His is
a fine reading of the tenor part although I fear I’ve been rather
spoiled by the performances of Ian Bostridge (Noseda) and Mark Padmore
(Nelsons). Ainsley has a different vocal timbre to these two singers;
he doesn’t have the same plangency and edge in his voice but,
like them, he sings with much intelligence and with feeling. He’s
very expressive in ‘Move him into the sun’ and shows - as
he does throughout the work - great care for the words in the tenor
solo in the Agnus Dei: Padmore, however, is unforgettable here, especially
in the poignant final rising phrase. At the start of ‘Strange
meeting’ I look for a vocal timbre that’s more drained of
colour than Ainsley offers but his is by no means a negligible account
of this gaunt music. He brings a great deal to the tenor part overall.
The third soloist is Susan Gritton. She is suitably imperious at ‘Liber
scriptus’, bringing to this passage the vocal power than I missed
in the singing of Erin Wall on the Nelsons DVD. She’s equally
imposing at the start of the Sanctus while in the Benedictus she offers
some excellent gentle singing and she makes a fine contribution to the
closing ensemble. Throughout, her singing evidences great commitment
and this is one of the best things I’ve heard her do, either live
or on disc.
The substantial choir comprises the professional singers of the Gabrieli
Consort, Polish singers from Wrocław and a goodly contingent from
the estimable Gabrieli Young Singers Scheme. Splendid choral singing
has been a notable feature of McCreesh’s Berlioz and Mendelssohn
recordings and it’s just as evident here. I was impressed with
the clarity in passages such as ‘Tuba mirum’ and in the
first, loud rendition of the ‘Quam olim Abrahae’ fugue,
in which there’s excellent definition; the soft reprise of that
material is also well done though I have heard it delivered even more
quietly - by the CBSO Chorus for Nelsons, for instance. The ‘Pleni
sunt caeli’ section of the Sanctus is done as well as I’ve
ever heard it. The sound grows from nothing to a clamorous tumult -
McCreesh builds it superbly, his singers totally responsive - and then
the ‘Hosanna’, resplendent with braying horns, is thrilling.
In addition to the main chorus there’s a crucial part for a small
choir of trebles. The Choristers of New College, Oxford are confident
and completely accurate, as you’d expect. The one reservation
I have is that their sound strikes me as just a little too cultivated
- I’d have liked more edge to the tone - but that’s a subjective
matter. They were recorded separately from the main ensemble, it seems,
which I’m not sure often happens. However, the boys are supposed
to be placed at a distance from the other performers so the separate
recording isn’t an issue in practice. Incidentally, we learn from
the booklet that the New College choir’s long-serving Director
of Music, Edward Higginbottom, turned the pages for the organist - his
organ teacher - at the first performance of
War Requiem.
The instrumental playing is superb. The hand-picked chamber orchestra,
which includes the members of the excellent Carducci String Quartet
in its ranks, offers razor-sharp playing which does full justice to
the piquant accompaniments that Britten provided for the male soloists
- though ‘accompaniment’ is the wrong word; these are richly
illustrative commentaries on the poems in their own right. The one very
minor disappointment is that the timpani are not as forceful as I would
like right at the start of ‘Be slowly lifted up …’
The main orchestra is just as proficient in every department and though
it may be invidious to do any singling out the contributions of the
brass and percussion are unfailingly thrilling. The decision to dub
in the Birmingham Town Hall organ - as on McCreesh’s
Elijah
recording - is vindicated above all by the impact it makes at the apocalyptic
climax in the last movement that precedes ‘Strange meeting’.
In the booklet Angus Smith, one of the tenors in the choir, describes
this terrifying climax (at 6:27) as “a ‘mushroom cloud’
moment”. What a telling phrase and it’s borne out in this
performance.
Paul McCreesh yet again shows himself to have full command of very large
forces. He clearly has the measure of the work and if one didn’t
know just from listening to the performance it’s evident from
his comments in the booklet that he feels this score deeply. His control
is especially impressive - the whole of the Sanctus evidences that as
does his building up of the ‘Libera me’ from its hushed,
menacing beginning to the aforementioned climax. The way he shapes and
steers the long final ensemble in which, at last, all the forces are
united, is deeply impressive. Earlier, and on a much smaller scale,
his direction of the passages involving the male soloists and the chamber
orchestra is, according to need, incisive or poetic - and often both.
Essentially the same recording team has worked on this recording and
on McCreesh’s two preceding large-scale choral recordings and
once again they have produced superb results. There’s great clarity,
even in the most fully scored passages, and the sound has a genuine
presence. The big climaxes really pack a punch but the many quiet passages
are equally well served by the engineers. As is usual with these Winged
Lion/Signum recordings the presentation is first class. The discs are
housed in a hardback book-style case and the comprehensive documentation
includes very good notes and several short personal reflections on
War
Requiem, including several by people who were involved in the first
performance in Coventry Cathedral. There is also a large number of highly
evocative and discerningly selected black and white photographs. Incidentally
English-speaking collectors should not overlook the Polish section of
the booklet because the photographs are different there. The only disappointment
is that each movement is contained in one single track. Among the versions
I have in my collection only those conducted by Hickox and by Jaap van
Zweden (
review)
are presented in this way. All the others offer a number of tracks within
each movement, with each Owen setting separately tracked. That seems
infinitely preferable to me.
This is a very worthy contribution to the Britten centenary celebrations
and it’s also a notable addition to the discography of
War
Requiem. As I said at the outset, there are several very fine recordings
of the work in the catalogue and all those that I’ve heard offer
much to the listener. Britten’s own recording is a mandatory purchase
and I also think that the Andris Nelsons DVD is a very special experience
- and not just for those who, like myself, were privileged to be in
Coventry Cathedral for that 50
th anniversary performance.
However, if you want an audio recording to complement Britten’s
performance then this new McCreesh performance has a great deal to commend
it.
One final thought. I see from the booklet that Paul McCreesh stepped
down as Artistic Director of the Wratislavia Cantans Festival last year
after a six-year stint. The very fruitful Anglo-Polish collaboration
that he spearheaded during that time has already brought us three splendid
large-scale choral/orchestral recordings. I do hope that this recording
of
War Requiem won’t be the last from this source and that
the collaboration will continue.
John Quinn
Britten discography & review index:
War
requiem
