A heartfelt and beautiful performance for our time

Tippett's meditation on inhumanity is as relevant today as at its premiere, writes Christopher Dingle

- Christopher Dingle

Tippett
A Child of Our Time
Nadine Benjamin, Sarah Connolly, Kenneth Tarver, Roderick Williams; London Philharmonic Choir; London Adventist Chorale; London Philharmonic Orchestra/Edward Gardner
LPO LPO0136 65:27 mins

‘The world turns on its dark side’. Tippett would have been entirely happy if his text for A Child of Our Time was now irrelevant. Prompted by the November 1938 anti-Jewish violence in Nazi Germany that came to be known as Kristallnacht, this secular oratorio is a more universal examination of inhumanity. Historic individuals, notably the Jewish refugee Herschel Grynszpan and Ernst vom Rath, the German diplomat whose shooting sparked the horrendous Nazi retributions, become ‘the boy’ and ‘the official’ respectively.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra gave the oratorio's premiere in 1944, and it is clear from this 2022 performance that current principal conductor Edward Gardner more than has the measure of this idiosyncratic, yet compelling work. Tenor Kenneth Tarver is suitably affecting as ‘the boy’, mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly and baritone Roderick Williams draw out the text’s emotional nuances, while Nadine Benjamin soars radiantly. The chorus are the real stars of this work, though, and the London Philharmonic Choir are on top form. They are supplemented by the London Adventist Chorale, who imbue the spirituals with a profound, quiet fervour to cap a performance of devastating, heartfelt beauty.

Tippett knew that, despite everything, ending with hope was essential. It still is. More than 80 years since the oratorio’s premiere, this stirring performance reflects the fact that, sadly, this is very much a work of our time. ★★★★★

M Haydn
Requiem; Missa Sancti Hieronymi
Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge; Academy of Ancient Music/Matthew Martin
Linn Records CKD771 70:26 mins