War Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall review: sincere and theatrical in the hands of Antonio Pappano

When Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was premiered at Coventry Cathedral in 1962 to mourn the destruction and human losses of the Second World War, the three soloists invited to take part were, symbolically, an English tenor, a German baritone and a Russian soprano (though the latter was prevented from participating by the Soviet authorities).

This BBC Proms performance, whether by accident or design, featured an English tenor (Allan Clayton), an American baritone (Will Liverman) and a Welsh–Ukrainian soprano (Natalya Romaniw). Perhaps no Russian soprano was available.