Recordings
“Budding singers, composers, conductors and producers everywhere take note: this is how it’s done.” Classic FM Magazine
Britten War Requiem 1962
Susan Gritton (soprano), John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Christopher Maltman (baritone)
Wrocław Philharmonic Choir
Gabrieli Young Singers Scheme
Trebles of the Choir of New College Oxford
Gabrieli Consort & Players
Paul McCreesh (conductor)
2014 BBC Music Magazine Choral Award
Paul McCreesh once again assembled the massed forces of Gabrieli Consort & Players and Wrocław Philharmonic Choir to record one of the iconic masterpieces of the twentieth-century oratorio repertoire.
Excerpt: Libera Me
“…the McCreesh War Requiem, taped in the studio by combined British and Polish forces, has the presence and intensity of a live Cathedral performance: it sets new standards for this strangely moving choral work. McCreesh brings astonishing clarity to the work’s musical syntax … Here is a recording worthy of the Britten centenary.”Financial Times
“The latest in Paul McCreesh’s presentations of large-scale oratorios again uses the massed forces of the Gabrieli Consort & Players with the Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir – more than 300 performers in all. The result is another triumphant realisation of a complex, multi-layered work…”Independent
“McCreesh creates a vast crescendo and pauses for an awestruck moment before an incandescent Hosanna, with heart-stopping results. The Gabrielis and Wroclaw Philharmonic Choir are joined by young voices, and it shows in a choral sound of airy, pure brilliance. His New College choristers have the ideal mix of celestial glow and nimble impatience; his orchestra is wonderfully articulate. And the sound picture has the greatest depth and range of all the recordings … the profundity and coherence of McCreesh’s reading sets a new standard for this work.”BBC Music Magazine
Winged Lion / Signum Classics
SIGCD 340
September 2013