Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
War Requiem, Op. 66 (1961)
Rehearsing the War Requiem*
Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano); Peter Pears (tenor); Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)
The Bach Choir; London Symphony Chorus; Highgate School Choir; Melos Ensemble
Simon Preston (organ)
London Symphony Orchestra/Benjamin Britten
rec. 1963, Kingsway Hall, London. Stereo/*mono
Texts included
Decca 485 3765 SACD [2 discs:131]
In 2013, prompted by the centenary of Britten’s birth – and possibly also with an eye to the impending centenary of the start of World War I – several record labels issued or reissued recordings of War Requiem. I myself reviewed five recordings. The previous year I had reviewed a Dutch live recording conducted by Jaap van Zweden Summing up that recording, I commented that “The hegemony of Britten’s own Decca recording is unchallenged”. For all the merits of many other recordings, I continue to believe that to be the case. In the intervening decade I can’t remember offhand any new recordings of War Requiem but now there is a new and potentially exciting development concerning the Britten recording.
During 2022 and 2023 Decca reissued all four instalments of their celebrated ‘Ring’ cycle conducted by Sir Georg Solti. They went back to the original tapes, remastered them and made the results available individually in a de-luxe SACD edition. The results were revelatory, as my colleague, Paul Corfield Godfrey and I discovered when we reviewed respectively Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. Now they have given the same treatment to Britten’s own recording of War Requiem.
This re-release marks the 60th anniversary of the original recording. The self-same package, including a disc of rehearsal extracts, has been made available twice before. In 2006 Decca issued it, using a 1999 remastering of the recording; I reviewed that release. Then, in 2013 the recording was issued on two CDs accompanied by a Blu-ray Audio disc; the latter disc did not contain the rehearsal element. That release was given detailed scrutiny by Dan Morgan, who described the Blu-ray sound as “a revelation”, though he regarded the CD version as “a retrograde step” (review).
Decca’s documentation for the new SACD release includes a detailed essay by Dominic Fyfe, the Label Director at Decca Classics, who has acted as Reissue Producer for War Requiem and also for the ‘Ring’ cycle, Fyfe explains that the 2023 transfer is a new high definition 24-bit transfer, made at a sampling frequency of 192 kHz; the sampling rate of the 2013 transfer was 96 kHz. Furthermore, the Decca team have had access to “the very latest suite of noise reduction tools”.
I listened to this new release in two ways: detailed listening to the whole work on SACD was followed by A/B/C comparison between the CD (2013 iteration), Blu-ray Audio and SACD. Always I listened to the versions in that order. As I did when evaluating the recent release of Götterdämmerung, I listened to all three versions using the same player, a Marantz UD7007, and made no alteration to the playback controls. In that way I did my best to ensure a level playing field. I had already heard some passages from the SACD a few weeks ago in the MusicWeb International Listening Studio but, obviously, I was keen to experience the sound on my own equipment.
In playing the complete work, I noted that, from the start, the SACD is mightily impressive. In the ‘Requiem æternam’ there is excellent definition of the choir’s muttered initial phrases while the ominous orchestral accompaniment grumbles away underneath the voices. When the boys’ choir first sings, they make a strong impression, even though their voices are really well distanced. I thought that I detected a very slight edge to the violin tone but either this was momentary or my ears adjusted because I didn’t experience this during the remainder of the work. In Peter Pears’ first solo ‘What passing bells?’, I like the great clarity with which both his voice and the instruments of the Melos Ensemble can be heard; in fact, that comment applies to all the episodes involving either of the male soloists. The ‘Dies irae’ is superb. The horns and, especially, the trumpets have a thrilling presence, most of all in the lead up to the ‘Tuba mirum’ and during that section. Galina Vishnevskaya is vividly heard at ‘Liber scriptus’; she takes no prisoners, hurling out the phrases. To be honest, Vishnevskaya is not my favourite soprano (her Slavic pronunciation of ‘tremens sum factus’ in the ‘Libera me’ is very much an acquired taste) but there’s no denying her commitment, her formidable breath control and the sheer force of personality she brings to the soprano part. Also, as his comments in the rehearsal extracts make clear, Britten was greatly impressed. ‘Be slowly lifted up’ is a terrific experience. The voice of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and the sound of the accompanying timpani fairly explode into life at the start. Fischer-Dieskau’s singing of this Owen setting is full of power and menace, especially as revealed in this new transfer. We’ve heard the dramatic power of Vishnevskaya in the ‘Liber scriptus’ but a different, highly expressive side to her art is on display in ‘Lacrimosa’ though, rightly, her voice is still dominant. The artistry of Pears makes ‘Move him into the sun’ memorable. But as well as the dramatic plangency of his voice, one can discern all the detail of the accompaniment. Finally, as the Sequence ends, despite the softness of their singing, every vocal line is distinguishable as the choir delivers the ‘Pie Jesu’.
The boys make a splendid showing in ‘Domine Jesu Christe’. Their singing is confident, even assertive. Their projection is excellent and I particularly admired the way the lowest of the treble lines is articulated; in the past the lower voices hadn’t struck me quite as forcefully as is now the case. There’s superb definition in the choral fugue on ‘Quam olim Abrahæ promisisti’ and that’s also true of the soft reprise after the two soldier-soloists have sung ‘So Abram rose’. This Offertorium section features all the various performers with the exception of the soprano soloist and it’s a choice example of how the recording differentiates brilliantly between the various groups of musicians. Vishnevskaya is terrifically imposing at the start of the Sanctus but I mean no disrespect to her intense, dramatic delivery when I say that even the memory of her voice is eclipsed by the huge outburst at ‘Hosanna’; this is an immense moment – as is the case at the end of the Benedictus – not least because the LSO brass section makes such a proud sound. I’ve heard many tenors sing the ‘Agnus Dei’ but Peter Pears is sans pareil; there’s something about the plangent timbre of his voice that fits the music so well. Once heard, his delivery of the final rising phrase ‘Dona nobis pacem’ is unforgettable. The fragile beauty of this movement is beautifully conveyed by the SACD sound.
The concluding ‘Libera me’ is unforgettable. When we auditioned the recording in the Listening Studio, I commented that the London Symphony Chorus and the Bach Choir sounded like ‘shrunken souls’ in the opening pages; I meant that in a wholly complimentary way. The SACD conveys the chillingly ominous writing for the percussion as never before. This dead march is pregnant with tension and Britten builds the music up with marvellous control. The climax (tr 17, 6:14) is apocalyptic and the diminuendo that follows is no less shattering; in sound this vivid one has the sense of a graphic explosion followed by a descent into something akin to a nuclear winter. In the Listening Studio, I voiced a concern that just maybe the voices of Peter Pears and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau were a bit too present as they sang ‘Strange meeting’. The Studio equipment is very analytical and on my own kit I experienced no such reservation; everything is in proportion. The setting is intensely moving and on SACD you can hear every soft strand of the accompaniment, so sensitively provided by the Melos Ensemble. In the final ‘Let us sleep now’ we hear for the only time in the work all the forces brought together. Decca’s recording conveys great detail but also gives a wonderful sense of the overall ensemble; it’s a profoundly moving conclusion.
As a performance and as a recording, this is a formidable achievement but how does the new transfer compare to the 2013 iteration? I listened to several samples which constitute, I think, key parts of the work.
Firstly, I listened to the opening ‘Requiem æternam’. The CD sound was good but I experienced nothing like the hushed definition I remembered from the SACD in the choral sound. The BD-A disc was better, but the SACD offered a further significant enhancement. I moved on to the start of the ‘Dies irae’. Again, the CD produced satisfactory results, especially in terms of the orchestra, though the definition was not especially impressive when the choir sang quietly; frankly, their sound was a bit muddy. Matters improved with the BD-A which gave a greater degree of clarity to the quiet choral singing as well as increased impact from the orchestra at ‘Tuba mirum’. The SACD, however, swept all before it. There’s terrific definition to the choral sound at all dynamic levels and, as you’ll have gathered from the comments earlier in the review, the ‘Tuba mirum’ has massive impact. Indeed, in that episode, the sound is so clear that you can almost hear the bass drum and timpani rolls as individual drum strokes; it’s supremely exciting.
Next, I listened to ‘Liber scriptus’ The SACD is the winner once again. Not only does the new transfer make Vishnevskaya sound utterly commanding – the BD-A is very good here, but not quite at the same level – but also the quiet, agitated choral writing at ‘Quid sum miser’ registers most clearly on the SACD. I’d judge that the there’s not much to choose between the CD and the BD-A in this passage. By now, my preference was pretty clear cut but I made one or two more comparisons. In ‘Be slowly lifted up’ Fischer-Dieskau’s voice and the timpani make a strong impression on both CD and BD-A; however, when I turned to the SACD the sound seemed to leap out of the speakers. Then, I went to ‘Strange meeting’. On CD, the sound of Peter Pears’ voice is soft and otherworldly; the BD-A offers a bit more presence on his voice but is pretty close to what the CD offers. Some listeners may prefer that presentation; it makes the voice of Pears – and, later, Fischer-Dieskau – seem withdrawn and ghostly, which is not inappropriate. However, the extra degree of vocal presence – and the increased audibility of detail in the hushed accompaniment – brings its own rewards. In the final ‘Let us sleep now’ the definition that the SACD brings is an out and out winner. So, in sonic terms, over the course of the work the new transfer in its SACD incarnation wins hands down. (For the avoidance of doubt, I should say, because a colleague asked this question while I was preparing the review, that the SACD offers stereo sound only; there is no surround sound layer.)
Decca also offer the rehearsal disc which was included in the 2013 package. This consists of a number of extracts recorded, without Britten’s knowledge, during the sessions. Most extracts were made in the recording hall though one or two short samples were recorded in the control room. A single LP was presented to Britten in November 1963 on the occasion of his 50th birthday. He received it politely but it emerged subsequently from authoritative sources that he was not at all happy that he had been recorded without his knowledge. There the matter might have rested, with the extracts confined to a solitary LP (all the tapes had been destroyed). However, in 2013 the Britten Estate sanctioned a commercial release in view of the documentary importance. It’s certainly very interesting to hear Britten at work. The musical element in the rehearsals is rather in the background because the whole point was to pick up the composer’s voice using a single microphone near his rostrum. I don’t know what remastering has gone on in 2023 but my comparisons with the 2013 CD indicated that the sound is now crisper and clearer. I noticed that on the disc the following wording appears: “Special Limited Edition”. That wording is absent on the disc that contains War Requiem itself and may hint at a future release of just the music.
The presentation of this set is absolutely superb. The large booklet – if you can call it that – is lavishly illustrated with photographs, mostly in black-and-white and mainly taken during the Kingsway Hall sessions. There are also reproductions of a number of the technical sheets that the Decca engineers used during the recordings. One of these is particularly valuable as it shows engineer Kenneth Wilkinson’s diagram for how the microphones were to be laid out; it indicates where the various performers were to be positioned. There’s also a very useful note by Dominic Fyfe about how the new transfer came into being, and there’s a substantial extract from John Culshaw’s 1981 autobiography Putting the Record Straight. Finally, there’s a facsimile of the original booklet, including texts, translations and a commentary on the work. Everything is housed in an LP-sized box which has given Decca the chance to go back in time; the look of the box is exactly how I remember the original LPs. Decca have not stinted in any way on the documentation.
But all this leaves the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. I’ve checked three leading UK online retailers where the listed price ranges (to the nearest pound) from £82 to £98; is it worth splashing your hard-earned cash? (Downloads appear to be significantly cheaper, though there does not seem to be a digital booklet.) The SACD sound is absolutely superb and represents a significant advance on what we could experience from the 2013 transfer, even in BD-A form. You can hear the music – and the magnificent performance – as you’ll never have heard it before. When I bought the CD/BD-A version in 2013, I thought I’d never hear War Requiem in better sound than that which the BD-A offered; Decca have proved me wrong. Who knows what audio enhancements may lie in the future, but I think it will be some time before the achievement of Dominic Fyfe and his team is surpassed. If you esteem War Requiem as much as I do and if you also admire this great performance then I think the price is justified as a very special treat.
Anyone who knows this landmark recording will recognise already how great was the achievement of Benjamin Britten and his performers. However, what this 2023 transfer now truly reveals for the first time is the sheer scale of the achievement of John Culshaw and his technical team headed by engineer Kenneth Wilkinson. The stunning realism of SACD sound makes this set a new revelation.
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