Search - London Symphony Chorus, Choir of Eltham College, Ian Bostridge :: Britten: War Requiem

For his first LSO Live recording, Gianandrea Noseda is joined by three of today's most widely acclaimed singers for a magnificent performance of Benjamin Britten's choral masterpiece. Premiered 50 years ago, the War Requiem saw its composer unite many of the themes that ran through his music and beliefs. Britten had been commissioned to write a work for the re-dedication of Coventry Cathedral, which had been destroyed during devastating bombing raids on the town during the Second World War. As a young man, Britten had written many choral works based on religious texts before achieving fame as a composer of opera. He was also a pacifist and a conscientious objector during the War. Using the Latin mass of the dead, interspersed with texts by war poet Wilfred Owen, he created a work that both mourned the dead and pleaded the futility of war. Leading the London Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Chorus, Noseda is joined by soloists Ian Bostridge, Simon Keenlyside and Sabina Cvilak.