Recently Heard: War Requiem

[ellyssian]

Benjamin Britten: War Requiem

Bo Skovhus, baritone; Luba Orgonasova, soprano; Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor
Jurgen Lamke, organist
Tolzner Knabenchor, The Monteverdi Choir, NDR-Chor, NDR-Sinfonieorchester
Conducted by John Eliot Gardiner

An excellent and deeply moving performance. Admittedly, I have not heard any of the other recordings of this work, so I have nothing with which to compare it to; that aside, this work - text, performance, and all - instantly resonated with me.

I am biased towards requiems - they are one particular type of work that I seek and collect, and that's how I stumbled across this. The "Dies irae" - always a critical point in a requiem - is quite powerful, and remains the most memorable part of this work.

The narration (well, baritone & tenor vocal parts, really; as they're in English it has the feel of two parts being narrated) is a bit overly dramatic at times, something that would usually detract from the work for me (especially in a requiem) but here it works quite well. There is a lot of feeling and meaning brought into this work through Britten's own experiences with war - this is decidedly an anti-war piece, and the booklet provides plenty of background, although the narration (excerpts from a poem, I believe) is clear and easy to follow, mingled in with the text of the traditional Latin mass.