Letter from Florida: Stéphane Denève & New World Symphony on impressive form in Britten’s War Requiem

Britten: War Requiem – Stéphane Denève, Ian Bostridge, Roderick Williams, New World Symphony – Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami

Britten: War Requiem; Christine Goerke, Ian Bostridge, Roderick Williams, New World Symphony, Stéphane Denève, Florida Singing Sons, Girl Choir of South Florida, Master Chorale of South Florida; Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, Florida
Reviewed by Robert J Carreras. 15 March 2025

A matter of reconciliation: Robert J Carreras in Miami is impressed with Stéphane Denève and New World Symphony in Britten’s War Requiem

Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem is not meant to be enjoyed; it is meant to be suffered through. After all, it was in this spirit that Britten left the relative safety of his new home in the states and returned to England, in all its fractured remains, after the Blitz. He must have known the trying times that awaited. His contribution to the catalogue of the musical mass for the dead recreates the darkest of conditions in World War II. We return with Britten to the British Isles for madness and mayhem.

On a cloudless and sunny September 7, 1940, and for 57 straight nights, a German aerial assault tormented Great Britain. Throughout the eight months that followed, Hitler menaced overhead, as the only remaining hope seemed far away across the Atlantic, and as yet noncommittal towards the war effort.

In those long, dreadful 267 days, it is estimated that 40,000 long tons of bombs hit the Isles. More than 43,000 civilians were killed. Every night, as many as 150,000 souls sought shelter in London’s underground tube system. Electricity and gas, food and water were in short supply and rationed. By the time Britten returned in 1942, the prevalence of American servicemen on the streets of London must have been a very welcome sight to the British.

Britten: War Requiem – Christine Goerke, New World Symphony – Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami

Malapropos as it is to describe this performance as impressive, and enjoyable in that regard, it is also a matter of reconciliation. It is a reconciling of the sepulchral mood and of the sheer musical tenacity. Perhaps more than anything, Britten also meant War Requiem to be an act of willed reconciling, an act of willed healing.

The quality of musical structure and presence on display by New World Symphony (NWS), as conducted by Stéphane Denève, and the other forces compiled necessitate raves. War Requiem has smashes and striations, screams and supplications, starts and stops and everything in between; it has brief episodes of relief, but laying underneath and mostly, it is a driving force of desolation and devastation, understood as leaving human lives in its wake. As a matter of its parts and as a whole, this performance was impressive.

Denève did appear to sweat more with NWS than, say, when he leads Cleveland Orchestra, but the results are no less satisfying. It was easy to forget that this is an orchestral academy and not some major orchestra in Vienna. For this performance, it is suitable to speak of the latter and NWS in the same breath.

Ian Bostridge is no stranger to Britten’s vocal music. He has performed the tenor part in this War Requiem alone well over 50 times, and still he exhibits none of the conceits that can come with familiarity. The British tenor’s interpretive acts are mostly reserved, much as is expected of a veteran of 20th century stylistic music and Lieder.

Bostridge does allow himself the odd venturing into risky poetic license territory; his ugly and strange noises are of a pained and resistantly disillusioned soul. These have become a part of Bostridge’s vocal makeup.

Bostridge also stretches the boundaries of character-building, now by putting on a wraithlike persona. (I’m glad not to have been near the person who dropped a program in the rows directly in front of him). Any human being might become something unrecognizable in a kill-or-be-killed situation. Zooming out, Bostridge’s sense of the score and text have not changed much since his recording of this part in 2018.

Roderick Williams made his stateside debut just across the street here in Miami, at the opera house in Il Barbiere di Siviglia as Figaro in 2010. His lyric voice showed well in that role and works well in Britten’s musical milieu for the baritone in War Requiem, a part he has undertaken frequently. Williams turned in a creditable performance in this part, as the known stranger and enemy killed in the great beyond. His voice mixes well with Bostridge’s and they are apt narrative and musical partners.

Christine Goerke is not a stranger to Britten either, nor one to his War Requiem. To find Goerke recorded in this part we must go back to 2005 (Richard Stillwell was the baritone!) on Gothic Records. She exhibits a present and accented affinity for this part and was in good vocal form for this performance.

Goerke is up to Britten’s often declamatory and more often volume demands, with the full weight of the orchestras and choruses gaining on her. Given that Goerke is a frequent Turandot and essayist of the heavy German repertoire, this role causes her little in the way of strain or hardship.

Choral collaboration is an undergirding and essential part of the requiem as an art form. Brought together here were the Florida Singing Sons, the Girl Choir of South Florida, and the Master Chorale of South Florida, with chorus master Brett Karlin. These singers exhibited the kind of textual exactitude and musicianship that can only be achieved through rigorous preparation.

In the end, Hitler failed to erode Britain’s will – her will to persevere, and later her will to heal. “Little does he know the spirit of the British nation,” the British bulldog was a megaphone of resolve to the everyman Brit. Britten returned to Britain, and after the Blitz, Britain returned to herself – willed to reconcile the past in order to enjoy the future. Keep calm and carry on indeed.

Britten: War Requiem – Stéphane Denève, Ian Bostridge, Roderick Williams, New World Symphony – Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami

The New World Symphony (NWS) is an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida. Founded in 1987 by Michael Tilson Thomas and Lin and Ted Arison, NWS has helped launch the careers of nearly 1,300 alumni worldwide. In fall 2022 Stéphane Denève was named Artistic Director of the New World Symphony.