CityLife

War Requiem

Amanda Roocroft

TO describe the University of Manchester Chorus’s performance of the War Requiem by Britten as a magnificent achievement in its scale, ambition, organization, devotion and accomplishment would be accurate.

 But it would not convey the whole impact of what was achieved by Marcus Farnsworth and his collaborators.

  The War Requiem has to combine extraordinary beauty and searing, passionate conviction, or its purpose is discarded.  

Those of us who had any part in the early performances of the 1960s will remember its impact as a colossal musical event – a moral one, too – and wonder whether it can mean as much to a later generation.  

Golden glow  

Here was evidence that it can, and it does. Much was due to the soloists, Amanda Roocroft, Allan Clayton and Roderick Williams.  

The warmth and richness of her soprano gave a unique tenderness to movements such as the Lacrimosa and a golden glow to the opening of the Sanctus.  

Clarity and nobility were the dominant marks of the two men’s singing, with a tender quality in duet which brought the final pages of the music to such a moving level.  

The chamber orchestra of university alumni should be congratulated for superb solo and ensemble playing.  

Gentler moments  

But the larger forces made exceptional efforts, too.  

Marcus Farnsworth’s choir training is clearly remarkable: there were many glories in the gentler moments, and if passages such as the Sanctus and In Paradisum left you wishing for even more of what was already there, it’s probably because (like Verdi’s Sanctus) the music seems to call for superhuman power.  

The university symphony orchestra, likewise, was playing with subtlety and dramatic effect of a rare standard.  

The choristers of Manchester and Chester cathedrals were completely off-stage, which was a pity but I take it due to lack of on-stage space. Their contribution was every bit as notable as the rest.  

Drama, dignity and emotion  

The whole was, as it should be, much greater than the sum of the parts.  

The combination of drama, dignity and emotion conveyed was fully worthy of the work.

And that, since it is (it seems to me) one of the greatest creations of the later 20th century, is to say this performance had the stuff of greatness, too.