BaL 30.03.24 - Britten: War Requiem

[LMcD]

If I remember right this one did well when La Tribune took on the War Requiem—they don’t have qualms about including the occasional DVD version although of course the panel only get the sound thereof.

https://www.radiofrance.fr/francemus...ritten-5288969

I presume that are good reasons for also excluding BBC Music Magazine recordings from BaL, but when the featured work was Mozart.s K361 a number of Forumistas, including myself, chose as their favourite Anthony Halstead and the Wind Soloists of the OAE.
(This is a rare example of the BBC not using a programme to promote its own products).

[oliver sudden]

I presume that are good reasons for also excluding BBC Music Magazine recordings from BaL, but when the featured work was Mozart.s K361 a number of Forumistas, including myself, chose as their favourite Anthony Halstead and the Wind Soloists of the OAE.
(This is a rare example of the BBC not using a programme to promote its own products).

There are probably members who actually know something about this, but I have a feeling the BBCMM CDs probably exist in a contractual zone where they don’t count as ‘commercially available’…so I imagine the BBC wouldn’t want to blow their own cover!

[Pulcinella]

There are probably members who actually know something about this, but I have a feeling the BBCMM CDs probably exist in a contractual zone where they don’t count as ‘commercially available’…so I imagine the BBC wouldn’t want to blow their own cover!

The BBC must know that they often end up in charity shops, but they do indeed say on them: Not for resale.

I (foolishly) hadn't associated the text in the way of realising that the soprano sang only in Latin (I wonder if Britten, who wrote the part for Vishnevskaya, made that a conscious decision to avoid any possible linguistic infelicities: presumably he thought that DFD would cope with the English words, and that the poems were better suited to just the two male soloists).
Interestingly, in light of CallMePaul's comment, the BBC MM CD EIF performance appears to be 'correctly' tri-national: Olga Guryakova, Mark Padmore, and Christian Gerhaher.

[oliver sudden]

I imagine the idea of having a German baritone sing “I am the enemy you killed, my friend” absolutely alone in that context must have been pretty important to Britten. And frankly I take my metaphorical hat off to him for it.

I wonder if the Russian/English/German lineup might not be so important for today’s performance in terms of the specific nationalities, though… there are castings on record that make more reference to their specific settings, aren’t there?

[Pulcinella]

I imagine the idea of having a German baritone sing “I am the enemy you killed, my friend” absolutely alone in that context must have been pretty important to Britten. And frankly I take my metaphorical hat off to him for it.

I wonder if the Russian/English/German lineup might not be so important for today’s performance in terms of the specific nationalities, though… there are castings in record that make more reference to their specific settings, aren’t there?

Me too.
Not sure I understand your comment after the ellipsis, but agree about relative (non)importance nowadays. Poignant in 1962 though.

[oliver sudden]

Oh sorry, I meant that I thought there were more recent recordings where the casting made reference to recent conflicts in the area where the performance was taking place.

[Pulcinella]

Oh sorry, I meant that I thought there were more recent recordings where the casting made reference to recent conflicts in the area where the performance was taking place.

That's an interesting observation!

[LHC]

The BBC must know that they often end up in charity shops, but they do indeed say on them: Not for resale.

While you might be lucky enough to find a copy by chance in a Charity Shop, they are not available commercially either as CDs or downloads, so it seems perfectly sensible to exclude them from consideration from BAL.

It would be a very strange BAL that chose a BBCMM CD in 1st place with the instruction to go searching in charity shops to try and find a 2nd hand copy.

[Pulcinella]

While you might be lucky enough to find a copy by chance in a Charity Shop, they are not available commercially either as CDs or downloads, so it seems perfectly sensible to exclude them from consideration from BAL.

It would be a very strange BAL that chose a BBCMM CD in 1st place with the instruction to go searching in charity shops to try and find a 2nd hand copy.

It would indeed, and it would be even more annoying for many than choosing one that's download only.


There happen to be some currently available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Britten-%E2%80%8E-War-Requiem/dp/B012LIJHWK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3PQXP11LT5KL4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Pdf O9MtpCiLTXUSsDZSkQw.ZHwwVLNR2mj84ve1oZfM1KQPQCSwcF 2A4Kcff_ozLYw&dib_tag=se&keywords=Volkov+war+requi em&qid=1710152824&s=music&sprefix=volkov+war+requ i em%2Cpopular%2C85&sr=1-1

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Many thanks to Pulcinella for starting this and several other BaL threads in recent weeks.

I have the Britten/Decca recording and the Rattle, both of which are very fine, but the Hickox is us there with the best, capturing Heather Harper's voice still in fine form, despite being recorded three decades after she did so at that first performance.

[Pulcinella]

Britten (Decca), Rattle (EMI; two incarnations: one as the 2CD set coupled with Bliss' Morning Heroes, the other in the 37CD Collector's Edition), and Hickox (Chandos) here, as well as the BBC MM recording, which I'm currently spinning.

From memory, it is Rattle who builds up the tension to the absolutely shattering climax at rehearsal figure 116 (where the ad lib organ enters: the final terrifying Libera me, the only fff marking in the score, I think) best. Almost unbearably moving.

[LHC]

Somewhat to my surprise, I find I only have the Nelsons recording on Blu-ray. I thought I had the Britten, Hickox and Rattle on LP, but realise they must all have been in my mother's record collection rather than my own. I might have to rectify that.

[LMcD]

The BBC must know that they often end up in charity shops, but they do indeed say on them: Not for resale.

I (foolishly) hadn't associated the text in the way of realising that the soprano sang only in Latin (I wonder if Britten, who wrote the part for Vishnevskaya, made that a conscious decision to avoid any possible linguistic infelicities: presumably he thought that DFD would cope with the English words, and that the poems were better suited to just the two male soloists).
Interestingly, in light of CallMePaul's comment, the BBC MM CD EIF performance appears to be 'correctly' tri-national: Olga Guryakova, Mark Padmore, and Christian Gerhaher.

Thank you for putting me straight in this matter. Some charity shops sell 'not for resale' items, while the more law-abiding offer them free but politely suggest a donation.

[Barbirollians]

This seems to have come round again quite quickly . Didn’t Hickox win last time just shading the composer on grounds of sound quality ?

[Goon525]

This seems to have come round again quite quickly . Didn’t Hickox win last time just shading the composer on grounds of sound quality ?

It’ll be interesting to see whether that still holds good given the very high quality recent remastering by Decca. Almost as impressive as they’ve achieved with the Solti Ring.