BWhatever Queen Victoria had in mind for her great amphitheatre of the “arts and sciences”, no event celebrates the Royal Albert Hall better than a grand graduation ball: massed voices and children’s choir, soloists, full orchestra, organ, arena packed with standing walkers, every seat in the auditorium occupied. Whether planned or logistically, the performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem – performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Chorus, the BBC Symphony Chorus and, tucked high in the gallery, the Tiffin Boys’ Choir conducted by Antonio Pappano – fell halfway through the 2024 season. It was a sharp wake-up call. In the sleepy dog days of mid-August, we can almost forget that the Proms are finite: now just three weeks away. Nothing should be taken for granted about this monumental series of concerts, which will spread its wings to Bristol (this weekend), Newport, Belfast, Aberdeen and Nottingham before the Last Night finale.
The War Requiem (1962) was first heard at the Proms a year after it was composed. It had been written for a different venue: the consecration of Basil Spence’s new Coventry Cathedral, built after its 14th-century predecessor was destroyed by German bombs in November 1940. Britten took to heart the new building’s combination of ancient and modern, Gothic arches and tracery alongside the smooth sandstone folds and piping. In response, he wove the Missa pro defunctis (Mass for the Dead) with poems by Wilfred Owen, who had died in the First World War. The result, evoking the volleys and explosions of war, is a highly personal version of a requiem, its anti-war message powerful and its musical impact gripping. The work was not always well received. Britten’s tonal style was out of step with his times. (It’s hard to imagine how twee it must have sounded in the early 1960s, when people were interested in the Beatles at one extreme and John Cage and Stockhausen at the other.)
The enormous numbers, including main and chamber orchestra, present every imaginable challenge of balance and coordination for performers and conductor (normally two, here only Pappano, who needed no help). The structure of the work shifts from communal to private. Choral voices and soprano (Natalya Romaniw) sing the Latin Mass, representing the voices of mourning back home. Tenor (Allan Clayton) and baritone (Will Liverman), accompanied by the chamber orchestra, are two soldiers. Clayton, capable of the most gentle, ethereal performance, sang “Move him into the sun” with utmost restraint, his excitement and volume increasing as the speaking soldier realizes his friend is dead.
When Romaniw launched into her ‘Lacrimosa’ refrain, a repeated, weeping fall sung from high in the orchestra, two worlds collided in an anguished dirge. Liverman, making his Proms debut, was effective in his dialogues with Clayton, particularly in their farewell duet ‘Let us sleep now’, followed by the serene ‘In paradisum’. Countless moments stand out: sinister brass fanfares, muted drum rolls, eloquent solo string quartet, grandiose choral outbursts, beautifully drilled children’s voices. It’s worth listening to again (on BBC Sounds) or watching on iPlayer. The camerawork is quite confusing, but it gives you the idea and gives you enough leisure to experience the Albert Hall’s acoustic mushrooms from many angles.
Last week there was even more Britten, in a smaller amphitheatre: the 300-seat open-air theatre used by the lively Waterperry Opera Festival in Oxfordshire, which has just finished its seventh season. The young team that runs it is justifiably proud of its statistics: 32 different productions since 2017; 17,500 visitors, 456 artists on staff. The emphasis on young talent with internships and training gives the event an atmosphere of infectious, hands-on energy. A new production by The rotation of the screw made convincing use of the theatre’s stepped aisles and stone arches, as well as the fading light, to create the ghostly uncertainties of Britten’s 1954 opera, based on a novella by Henry James.
The production was conducted by Waterperry’s musical director Bertie Baigent and directed by Rebecca Meltzer. The production used few props and the excellent cast showed great confidence in playing the scene up close and with deft physicality. Some aspects of the story were developed in more detail than usual: the sinister relationship between Quint (Robin Bailey) and Miss Jessel (Siân Dicker); the erotic undertones between Quint and the boy Miles; the complex involvement of the housekeeper Mrs. Grose (Georgia Mae Ellis); the fears of the governess (Charlotte Bowden).
The two children in particular, teenagers Beth Burdge (Flora), a member of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and Ivo Clark (Miles), who has performed at the Royal Opera House and English National Opera, are among the best I have ever seen. Next year’s festival will be announced in the autumn. It is attached to a chic garden centre that coolly and unconcernedly tends its wares after dark. It is tempting to grab a large urn on the way out, but I resisted.
Prom 37: Britten’s War Requiem ★★★★★
The rotation of the screw ★★★★
