Britten was writing personally for three muses who had all shared the wartime experience...His incandescent commitment to pacificism and horror at the failure of humanism blazes forth...As you can hear in the revealing out-takes from the rehearsals on this recording, Britten wanted real terror, real hysteria from the singers, and he got it.

among the most magnetic performances of British music ever put on record

Britten conducts with unique authority and all the performers respond with evident and complete commitment. The playing of the LSO is magnificently incisive...even if you already have this recording of War Requiem in its original format I’d urge you to acquire this release also simply for the sake of these rehearsal sequences...this Britten recording has an irreplaceable page in the annals of this wonderful and profoundly moving work.

The merits of this ground-breaking performance is that it so arrestingly conveys Britten's intentions. We're lucky to have not only Britten's irreplaceable reading refurbished, but also his commentary suggested by the rehearsal sequences.