London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski conductor
Evelina Dobraceva soprano
Ian Bostridge tenor
Matthias Goerne baritone
Neville Creed conductor (chamber orchestra)
London Philharmonic Choir
Trinity Boys Choir
Royal Festival Hall, London 12 October 2013
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| Wilfred Owen |
A solid evening's work from the LPO under Jurowski, even if it was not as searing as might have been expected. On a first hearing, there was a nagging feeling this work is not more than the sum of its undeniably impressive parts.
There was much to admire, led by Wilfred Owen's moving First World War poetry which Britten ingeniously intersperses throughout the Latin Requiem mass. In the Offertorium there was this stunning undercutting of the Biblical story of the sacrifice of Abram's son:
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so,
but slew his son, -
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.
Very fine indeed were the two poetry soloists Ian Bostridge and Matthias Goerne, with Bostridge leading with his plangent voice and compelling fusion of melody and word. Vladimir Jurowski and Neville Creed directed with clarity and feeling. Elsewhere the LPO chorus were well balanced without really taking flight, while the off-stage boys choir were virtually inaudible at critical moments.
It was left to Bostridge (unforgettable in "Move him into the sun..." and the Agnus Dei) and Goerne to deliver the high points, not least in the closing of the Libera Me and its call to sleep. This work delivers a powerful message of pacifism and Jurowski might have held the final silence for longer than the 20 seconds he chose.
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| Wilfred Owen's poem "Strange Meeting" featured in the Libera Me |
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