Royal Albert Hall, 10 November 2013

Fifty years ago there might have been some concerns raised if Britten’s War Requiem had been performed on Remembrance Sunday. Doubts were voiced about its pacifist overtones and the mixture of war poetry with the Latin mass upset some listeners.

It is difficult to empathise with those views today, particularly when the work is as smoothly and poignantly performed as it was last night.

Rather than the juxtaposition of verse and mass setting, it was the seamless flow from one to the other which impressed. The long passage running from Be slowly lifted up through the Lacrimosa to Move him into the sun had an inevitability and pain to it which was heart-stopping.

Moreover, the text carried with a clarity rarely heard when the work is performed in a cathedral. Allan Clayton’s tenor solos cut like steel through the vast spaces of the hall and his hushed delivery of One ever hangs was as fine as one could imagine. Roderick Williams characterised the more overt poems with skill and was very moving when he came to I am the enemy you killed my friend.

Sabina Cvilak has the top for the soprano part but her placing by the organ made her rather too distant. Recalling the cutting edge of Galina Vishnevskaya, one was aware of that Britten was writing for a more forceful voice.

The Crouch End Festival Chorus joined the BBC Symphony Chorus, both in fine voice and obviously enjoying the work. The boys of Westminster Abbey sang well but seemed a little too distant, the altos almost disappearing at times. Semyon Bychkov kept all his forces under sensitive control and the chamber orchestra had real bite.

A memorable performance and a fine tribute for Remembrance Day. BH