Every recorded performance of Britten’s War Requiem has drawn the best from its interpreters – no wonder, considering the greatness of the work – so that each is its own justification. This new one is no different. With his background in East Germany, Leipzig in particular, during a time of turmoil, Masur is as well equipped as any in spirit, never mind musicality, to go to the heart of the matter and so he does in a searching, well-prepared and beseeching account of this many-faceted score. Tempos, balance, detail and unity of purpose are evident throughout in his finely honed direction, and his forces, solo (instrumental and vocal), choral and orchestral, are dedicated to Britten’s unique vision in combining three singers, a chamber ensemble, boys and adult choirs and orchestra into a seamless, ideally co-ordinated whole.
Vaness’s highly dramatic and eloquent voicing of the soprano part is in the best tradition of Vishnevskaya (Decca) and Harper (Chandos), respectively dedicatee and first soloist in the work. She shirks nothing in vibrant sound and attack, yet fines away her tone to a hushed piano when needed. Hadley brings a stouter, more Italianate tone to the tenor’s contributions than any of his English predecessors. Though for interpretative perceptions he is not quite in the class of Pears (Decca) or Langridge (Chandos), his is a consistently well-sung and sensitive traversal of the part. Hampson is as ever refined, thoughtful, and with the range to do full justice to the baritone’s offerings, yet he’s a degree less intense and concentrated than Fischer-Dieskau (Decca) and Shirley-Quirk (Chandos).
The chamber ensemble are obviously composed of virtuoso players and the New York Philharmonic are on peak form. While the chorus are as exact and flexible as any – listen to “Quam olim Abrahae” – perfect execution sometimes takes precedence over conveying the sense of their music’s meaning – Hickox’s choir provide an added frisson of immediacy, as in the “Dies irae”. The boys’ choir, well placed, sing beatifically as they should. The Teldec recording is clear, clean and spacious yet never overbearing as can sometimes be the case with the Chandos set. By the end of my listening I was deeply moved by the experience of this reading.
If you have either the Britten or the Hickox you need not bother to change allegiance but newcomers may like to sample this formidably equipped new version before making a decision. That said, the Gramophone Award-winning Chandos will probably claim the edge by virtue of its slightly superior soloists and chorus, and by including two additional works.'