Page 424 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

5 September 2022

Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975)

Morning Heroes – A symphony for orator, chorus and orchestra (1930)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
War Requiem, Op 66 (1961)
John Westbrook (orator)
Liverpool Philharmonic Choir
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Charles Groves (Morning Heroes)
Elisabeth Söderström (soprano); Robert Tear (tenor); Thomas Allen
(baritone)
Boys of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford; CBSO Chorus
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Simon Rattle (War Requiem)
rec. July 1974, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, 23-24, ADD (Bliss); February &
March 1983, Great Hall, University of Birmingham, DDD (Britten)
Texts not included
Presto CD
WARNER CLASSICS 5059092 [2 CDs: 143]

Reviewing this coupling back in 2007 when it was issued in EMI’s British
Composers series, Rob Barnett offered this sage advice: “You would do well
to track this set down before it too disappears from the scene.” Happily, the
set has now been restored to the catalogue, thanks to Presto Classical who
have licenced it for their ever-expanding list of on-demand discs. It contains
one recording with which I’m very familiar: I bought the Groves recording
of Morning Heroes when it was first issued on LP and its remastered CD
version has long been in my CD collection. However, though I’m sure I’ve
heard it before, Simon Rattle’s recording of War Requiem is one I’ve never
owned.