War Requiem - Recordings

Recordings

The first recording, featuring Vishnevskaya, Fischer-Dieskau and Pears, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Britten, was produced in 1963. Within five months of its release it sold 200,000 copies, an unheard-of number for a piece of contemporary classical music at that time. Recording producer John Culshaw reports that Vishnevskaya threw a tantrum during the recording, thinking she should be placed with the male soloists instead of the choir. The newest CD reissue of Britten's recording includes 50 minutes of surreptitiously taped rehearsal footage at the time of the recording.

Other recordings of the work include the following:

• EMI Classics: Elisabeth Söderström, Robert Tear, Thomas Allen; CBSO Chorus; Boys of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Sir Simon Rattle, conductor
• Teldec: Carol Vaness, Jerry Hadley, Thomas Hampson; Westminster Symphonic Choir; American Boychoir; New York Philharmonic; Kurt Masur, conductor
• BBC Legends: Stefania Woytowicz, Peter Pears, Hans Wilbrink; New Philharmonia Chorus; Wandsworth School Boys' Choir; New Philharmonia Orchestra, Melos Ensemble; Carlo Maria Giulini, Benjamin Britten, conductors
• Chandos: Heather Harper, Philip Langridge, John Shirley-Quirk; London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; Choristers of Saint Paul's Cathedral; Richard Hickox, conductor
• Naxos: Lynda Russell, Thomas Randle, Michael Volle; Scottish Festival Chorus; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Martyn Brabbins, conductor
• Deutsche Grammophon: Luba Orgonasova, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Boje Skovhus; Monteverdi Choir; Tölzer Knabenchor; NDR Sinfonie-Orchester; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
• Telarc: Lorna Haywood, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Benjamin Luxon; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus; Atlanta Boy Choir; Robert Shaw, conductor
• LPO: Christine Brewer, Anthony Dean Griffey, Gerald Finley; London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir; Kurt Masur, conductor
• Klavier: Jeannine Altmeyer, Ladd Thomas, Michael Sells; William Hall Orchestra and Chorale; William Hall, conductor
• Naxos: Christine Goerke, Richard Clement, Richard Stilwell; The Washington Chorus and Orchestra; Robert Shafer, conductor