Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

WAR REQUIEM, opus 66

Latin text from Missa pro defunctis
Poems by Wilfred Owen

I Requiem aeternam
II Dies irae
III Offertorium
IV Sanctus
V Agnus Dei
VI Libera me

Galina Vishnevskaya            soprano
Peter Pears                          tenor
Dietrich Fischer – Dieskau    baritone

Boys Choir Sint Willibrordus buiten de Veste
Netherlands Radio Choir
Chamber Orchestra
(Consisting of Concertgebouw Orchestra instrumentalists)
Conductor: Benjamin Britten
Concertgebouw Orchestra
Conductor: Bernhard Haitink

Amsterdam, Concertgebouw, July 3, 1964

SPRING SYMPHONY, opus 44

Part I
I Introduction: Shine out
II The merry cuckoo
III Spring
IV The driving boy (When as the rye)
V The morning star

Part II
V1 Welcome Maids of Honour
VII Waters above
VIII Out on the lawn I lie in bed

Part III
IX When will my May come
X Fair and fair
XI Sound the flute

Part IV
XII Finale: London, to the I do present

Elly Ameling                soprano
Elisabeth Cooymans    contralto
David Johnston            tenor
Max van Egmond         bas

Philips’Philharmonisch Koor
Stedelijk Helmonds Koor
Brabants Orkest
Conductor: Hein Jordans

Breda, Turfschip, November 21, 1971

The War Requiem was written for the occasion of the inauguration of the new cathedral of Coventry on May 30, 1962. G. Vishnevskay, P. Pears and D.F. Dieskau were to sing the premiere, but the soprano didn’t get permission from the Russian government and had to be replaced by Heather Harper. The Dutch premiere took place during the Holland Festival in 1964. The Amsterdam Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest and the Groot Omroepkoor were conducted by Bernard Haitink. The Chamber Orchestra (consisting of musicians of the Concertgebouw Orchestra) was conducted by Britten himself. This recording is special, because the before mentioned artists were performing together for the first time. Nobody knew the radio-recording of this performance still existed, but fortunately we had it in our own archives. The tape was already falling apart, but the restaurateur performed miracles.

The Spring Symphony is a remarkable recording because of the co-operation of the famous vocalist Elly Ameling.

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CD Length and Format:

CD 1 63.00 minutes
CD 2 70.52 minutes

The CDs are in MP3 Format (320 kbps), with Cue Sheets.