City of London Festival: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Choir of St Paul's Cathedral
CBSO Chorus
Albina Shagimuratova (soprano)
Toby Spence (tenor)
Edward Gardner (conductor)
Russell Braun (baritone)

Britten - War Requiem

Marking the 100th anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s birth, we celebrate with his extraordinary masterwork, the War Requiem, performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra who gave its première in Coventry Cathedral in 1962. In keeping with the composer’s original intention to demonstrate a spirit of unity in the wake of the two World Wars, our performance will be sung by soloists from England, Germany and Russia. Interspersing the traditional Latin text of the requiem mass with the First World War poems of Wilfred Owen, this immensely moving work is a powerful evocation of the pity of war and the creativity of reconciliation.