This performance was recorded live in St John the Divine in New York City, which claims to be the largest Gothic space in the world, and drew upon a chorus of 140, another 140 young voices for the children’s part which Berlioz added later, and an orchestra of over 100. The effect, in a powerfully resonant but welcoming acoustic, is superb, and Berlioz would surely have been thrilled. It is also quite a soft acoustic, so that his marvellous orchestral combinations blend easily without losing the distinctiveness that is one of the prime characteristics of his scoring: an example is the manner in which the calls of “Sanctus!” sound through the woodwind arpeggios in the “Tibi omnes”, something not easy to achieve and missed on some recordings; and again, the clarity of the vocal counterpoint in the “Dignare”. Dennis Keene can afford to take spacious tempos, and does so, with impressive results. He controls the pace beautifully, maintaining the movement in each section but neither losing impetus nor putting a strain on the singers in the necessity of holding so much together. His tenor is John Aler, excellent in the “Te ergo quaesumus”.
This is a record of an obviously powerful occasion, and there should always be that sense in a performance of the Te Deum and in any recording that seeks to do it justice. What makes it difficult to recommend this above other versions is that there is here only 50 minutes of music (without the superfluous “Marche pour la presentation des drapeaux”). The fill-up (of some 23 minutes) consists of Dennis Keene reading a version of his insert-notes with the relevant music sounding in the background. He does it well, but I cannot imagine many people wanting to return often to it.'