Page 427 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

also plays very well throughout. Rattle’s conducting is excellent; this is a
great example of his work in Birmingham at its best. His accompaniment of
the male soloists is expertly judged in every respect. He’s long been
renowned for his ability to bring out the best in large forces, and that’s in
evidence here; the ‘Tuba mirum’, for example is hugely powerful. Two
episodes that stand out for me are, firstly, the ‘Libera me’, in which the
tension is screwed up until the shattering climax. Secondly, the closing ‘Let
us sleep now’ – the only episode in the work that involves the full ensemble
– is expertly judged and controlled, achieving a consoling end to this searing
masterpiece.

When reviewing the Andrew Davis recording of Morning Heroes, I
commented that the Groves recording still sounds well in its 1991
remastering. EMI’s sound for War Requiem also wears its years well. I was
interested to see that the same producer, John Willan was in charge of both
projects. The engineers were Stuart Eltham (Bliss) and Michael Sheady
(Britten). All of these have done their jobs expertly. On sonic grounds,
anyone who wishes to buy this pair of discs can do so with confidence.

When reissuing these performances as a set, EMI did not provide texts,
which is a shame. The original notes were retained: Felix Aprahamian for the
Bliss and Hugh Ottaway for the Britten. Both sets of comments are extremely
valuable, as is the extract from Bliss’s autobiography, As I Remember, in
which he discussed Morning Heroes.

As I said earlier, these two works are completely different, not just in style
and compositional voice but also in what their respective composers set out
to achieve. That said, the two scores express profound sentiments and
complement each other well. Since both performances are excellent, Presto
Classical have done collectors a real service in making them available once
again.

John Quinn