1.01 - 1.12 Spring Symphony, op.44* [41'31]
1.13 - 1.15 Hymn to St. Cecilia, op.27 [9'46]
1.16 - 1.20 Five Flower Songs, op.47 [10'33]
1.21 + 1.22 + 2.01 - 2.17 War Requiem, op.66# [83'19]
The Monteverdi Choir
*Alison Hagley- soprano; Catherine Robbin- alto; John Mark Ainsley- tenor; Boy and Girl Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral; Philharmonia Orchestra
#Luba Orgonasova- soprano; Anthony Rolfe Johnson- tenor; Boje Skovhus- baritone; Tolz Boys Choir; NDR Chorus; NDR Symphony Orchestra
all conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
Deutsche Grammophon 459 5092 (recorded June 1995 and August 1992#; this CD release 2002)
(CD-rip; flacs,50-page booklet, cover and inlay scans)
Recording venues: Walthamstow Town Hall, London and St. Marienkirche, Lubeck#
Recording engineers: Gernot von Schultzendorff and Ulrich Vette#
Producers: Nicholas Parker and Karl-August Naegler#
This wonderful set is posted here primarily for the War Requiem as the Spring Symphony and Songs, in their original CD release, have already been posted here on MIMIC by friend Davide in one of his monumental posts.
In the War Requiem, Gardiner leads a dramatic performance with precise ensemble in this 'live' recording made during the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Lubeck. (The performance can also be viewed on Youtube but with very reduced sound quality.) Some may find that Orgonasova lacks the conviction displayed by Galina Vishnevskaya, in Britten;s recording for Decca, or Heather Harper, in Richard Hickox's recording for Chandos, but I think few would find any fault with Rolfe Johnson and Skovhus in the settings of Wilfred Owen poems. The Monteverdi Choir and the NDR Chorus combine wonderfully, the Tolz Boys shine and the NDR Symphony's playing is beyond reproach. This remains one of my favourite recordings of the work.
This release is very much enhanced by the inclusion of Gardiner's later and equally invigorating account of the Spring Symphony as anybody who downloaded Davide's post will already know. It's a close rival to the composer's own recording for Decca.
Both works receive fine recorded sound with the church acoustic vividly captured for the War Requiem.
Download from MEGA.