Search - Benjamin Britten, Kurt Masur, London Philharmonic Orchestra :: Britten - War Requiem / Brewer, Griffey, Finley, LPO, Masur

A More Contemplative War Requiem

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 11/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kurt Masur is well familiar with this Benjamin Britten masterpiece WAR REQUIEM, having performed it often and even previously recording it with different forces (with the New York Philharmonic and soloists Carol Vaness, Jerry Hadley, and Thomas Hampson). This newly released CD benefits from several factors, not the least of which is that it is a live performance with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus in Royal Festival Hall on May 8, 2005, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, that Masur is a peace activist as was the composer, and that the performances has three astonishingly fine soloists.



Almost reverential in nature, Masur elects to stress the languid moments from the opening Requiem aeternam to the extraordinary closing of Wilfred Owen's poem 'Strange Meeting' - the unearthly 'Let us sleep now'. The orchestra responds well to Masur's strong conducting, the chorus is for once not the overwhelming, huge force that buries the orchestra but instead a diction-perfect fine ensemble, and the soloists to a person are truly among the best ever. Much as we have all grown to love Galina Vishnevskaya as the first soprano to sing the work on Britten's own recording, here the soprano solos are in the capable hands and heart of Christine Brewer who gives the finest, richest, most genuinely felt performance of these solos (especially the 'Lacrimosa') on recording. Hers is a voice as radiant and full as any major singer past and present: there is no squalling for the high notes or groveling for the low notes - simply gorgeous tone throughout the wide register of writing. She is splendid.



Gerald Finley gives added meaning to his interpretation of Auden's poetry with his beautiful unstrained voice and impeccable diction. Likewise, Anthony Dean Griffey sings the difficult role written for Peter Pears with ease and again with perfect diction. There is an uncanny resemblance between his voice and that of Pears, a factor that adds a new dimension of drama to this recording.



Yes, there are several excellent recordings of this compelling work and owning more than one is desirable. This particular recording is one of the very finest of the War Requiem and belongs in the collection of everyone's library. Highly Recommended on every level. Grady Harp, November 06"

Masterful in every way: composition and performance.

RENS | Dover, NH USA | 09/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I originally ordered this version of Britten's magnificent and heart-wrenching War Requiem because Gerald Finley is the baritone soloist, given that I rank Mr. Finley alongside Simon Keenlyside top amongst the great baritones of his generation (and perhaps several other generations, too). Waiting for the CDs to arrive, I began realizing that the performance promised yet another delight in the singing of Christine Brewer, whom I've recently heard several times singing in concert with the Boston Symhony Orchestra. I knew nothing of the tenor, Anthony Dean Griffey, and I had a middling opinion of Kurt Masur as a conductor.



The CDs arrived. Gerald Finley does not disappoint. Far from it, he present us with perhaps the finest recorded performance to date of the baritone solos in the War Requiem. Fischer-Dieskau's performance is well known and properly admired, but I've always thought that some of the praise of his somewhat mannered singing related to the sense of occasion surrounding the first recording of the work in the wake of its first performances in Coventry Cathedral. I've cherished the original Britten recording since it first appeared, but for sheer vocal beauty and interpretative insight, I think Finley cannot be bettered - and I say the same for Christine Brewer's singing of the solo soprano part. I've never heard so much detail before, nor have I heard the soprano part so evenly balanced among the other solo voices or clearly audible in the midst of the choirs, as Brewer accomplishes it in this recording. And her voice is free of the unfortunately wide vibrato that distorts the performance of the Russian soprano on the original recording. And, yes, I think that Griffey sings the tenor part with exquisite clarity and sensitivity. He does so at least as well as Peter Pears, with the advantage over Pears that he is in his prime, whereas Pears's voice was by the time of the War Requiem worn and aged even if flawlessly employed.



I continue to be astonished at the spendid sound and accurate singing of all the choral groups and of the range of color and dynamics of the orchestral groupings. Which means that I have to revise my thoughts about Kurt Masur as a conductor. His work with the New York Philharmonic was solid but not exciting. I sense a different conductor at work in this performance. Masur's leadership must have been profoundly inspiring to all involved. All of the more reflective and gentle virtues mentioned by the earlier reivewer are in evidence, and I would add that there is great energy here as well, that the difficult cross rhythms of the Dies Irae and of the Libera nos are perfectly executed to maximum effect, and that whatever the score calls for rangng from pianissimo to fortissimo, what is called for is what we hear. The combination of the various groupings of performers in the closing "Come let us sleep now" is perfect in balance and color and clarity.



All in all, this performance takes the careful listener to new spiritual heights, heights intended by the composer yet perhaps not quite reached so well in his own recording of over forty years ago. I will always treasure Britten's historic recording, but now I will treasure equally Masur's new recording, keeping both on my crowded shelves and listening to both again and again.



I should add that reading aloud to oneself the poems of Wilfred Owen is in itself a deeply moving experience, and I highly recommend the easily available collected edition of his poems offered on Amazon.com. The few poems he wrote before his premature yet heroic death are enough to place him among the great lyric poets of the 20th Century. Oh, that he might have lived into his maturity! But this can be said of so many gifted poets, visual artists, and musicians lost during the war years of 1914 - 1918 and again 1939 - 1945 and yet again during the AIDS epidemic from the early 1980s into the 1990s - and internationally into the present day.



When it was first performed, the War Requiem was criticized by some as not really demonstrative of the best of Britten's writing, not really ranking up there with the Requiems of Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, and Brahms. The passage of time has proved otherwise. One is grateful that the War Requiem will always be with us that we might properly mourn, be consoled, and reflect with both horror and compassion upon the deadly violence we continually inflict upon one another."

Superb War Requiem

David Thierry | Chicago, IL United States | 05/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had only been familiar with the original recording under Britten's wand and I must say this is an outstanding performance. The three soloists can proudly stand with the original performers. The soprano has a richer voice that works very beautifully in the Lachrymosa. No need for nit picking here. Very strongly recommended."