Composer: Benjamin Britten
Performer: Netherlands Children’s Choir, Netherlands Radio Choir
Orchestra: Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Reinbert de Leeuw, Jaap van Zweden
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Challenge
Catalogue: CC72388
Release: 2012
Size: 1.2 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
War Requiem, Op. 66
CD 01
01. Requiem aeternam (Introitus and Kyrie)
02. Dies irae
03. Offertorium
CD 02
04. Sanctus
05. Agnus Dei
06. Libera me
This live performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was recorded at a memorable concert in Utrecht in May last year. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir, and Netherlands Children’s Choir are directed by the highly-rated Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden. The soloists are soprano Evelina Dobracheva, tenor Anthony Dean Griffey, and baritone Mark Stone.
Born in Amsterdam in 1960, Jaap Van Zweden began his musical career as a violinist, becoming at 19 the youngest ever concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
In 1997, van Zweden made the decision to conduct full time, and was named the chief conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra where he remained until 2003. In 2000, he added the music directorship of the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague to his credits, a post he held until 2005. Jaap van Zweden began his third season as music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in September 2010. His commitment to the orchestra was recently extended through the 2015-2016 season.
Coventry Cathedral was almost entirely destroyed during a German air raid in 1940, with only the outer walls, bell tower and tomb of the first bishop remaining intact. The new building was completed in 1962 and musically inaugurated with Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem in a performance broadcast live by the BBC. The release of this new recording by Dutch forces coincides with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral on 30 May.
This version of Britten’s War Requiem comes from a live 2010 performance in Utrecht led by Jaap van Zweden and Reinbert de Leeuw, and was released in 2012, the 50th anniversary of the work’s premiere. The conductors are given equal billing, but van Zweden’s name comes first, so apparently he leads the large orchestra and de Leeuw leads the chamber orchestra. The performance is notable for its raw intensity and almost savage depths, which are made even starker in contrast to the moments of stillness and resignation. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir, and Netherlands Children’s Choir have the expressive range and discipline to convey the music’s extremes, from fury to serenity, and to capture its nuanced, subtle ironies. The soloists, soprano Evelina Dobraceva, tenor Anthony Dean Griffey, and baritone Mark Stone, sing with passion and incisiveness; the men’s solos, which are in English, are particularly gripping.
The sound quality of Challenge Classics’ hybrid SACD is exemplary. It’s immaculate, which is rare for live recordings; the balance, always a challenge in this complex work, with its shifts between very large and very small ensembles, is excellent; and the ambience is natural and immediate. There are a number of very fine recordings of the Requiem, but the powerful emotional range and consistently superlative musicality of the performances, as well as the top-notch sound quality, put this version in the running with best of them.