Thrilling moments, terrific theatre, intimacy & transcendence: Sir Antonio Pappano conducts Berlioz's Requiem at BBC Proms with London Symphony Orchestra

Berlioz: Requiem - Sir Antonio Pappano, London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus - BBC Proms (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)

Berlioz: Grande messe des morts (Requiem); Julien Henric, London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus, conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano; BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall
Reviewed 15 August 2026

Thrilling moments and great visual theatre in a performance that combined grandeur with control and clarity, creating some remarkably intimate, austere moments and real transcendence at the end

Berlioz's Grande messe des morts (Requiem) might seem to have been made for the Royal Albert Hall. Certainly there are few venues in London to contain it, though I remember a memorable performance with Sir Colin Davis conducting the London Symphony Orchestra at St Paul's Cathedral in 2012 [see my review].

On Saturday 15 August, it was Sir Antonio Pappano conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in the work at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms with the London Symphony Chorus (chorus-master Mariana Rosas) and BBC Symphony Chorus (chorus-master Neil Ferris) with tenor Julien Henric in his Proms debut. (Was it his UK debut too? Possibly).

Whereas Sir Colin Davis put the four brass bands in the dome and allowed the acoustic of St Paul's Cathedral to do its thrilling worst, at the Royal Albert Hall Sir Antonio Pappano was more interested in clarity. And a remarkable amount of clarity can be achieved in the venue if carefully handled.

Berlioz: Requiem - Sir Antonio Pappano, London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus - BBC Proms (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)

The massed timpani (ten players in charge of 19 drums) were placed in an arc behind the orchestra. Behind them came two of the extra brass ensembles, with the other two at the back of the choir. This meant that Pappano had a remarkable degree of control over his ensemble, but that we lacked the real spatial effect that Berlioz planned for his dramatic work.

Another point to bear in mind is that the massed brass and timpani only really contribute to three movements. Berlioz's conception of the Requiem is not one of blood and thunder, and much of it is contemplative. For many of the movements, Pappano and his forces brought an austere clarity to the piece with a definite sense of presence to Berlioz's striking passages made from just two or three ideas, each strongly drawn. What I missed at the Royal Albert Hall was the sense of bloom that a resonant acoustic like St Paul's brought to the work (and I must admit that that experience definitely depended on where you sat!)

Berlioz wanted an orchestra of 140 and a chorus of 200, though I suspect we got rather more singers than he wanted, but we need to offset that against the issue of modern orchestras being loud. Certainly, in terms of balance Pappano and his forces did not disappoint, whether in the quiet moments or the loud ones and the loud ones were suitable overwhelming. Exactly what Berlioz wanted, I suspect.

The work opened with the orchestra, quiet yet very present. The chorus's initial entry had a lovely combination of floated tone and strong, pointed accents. There were moments of urgency and power, but the overall feel was quiet intensity until the finally thrilling 'Requiem aeternam'. And then the 'Kyrie' was remarkably spare. Throughout this performance I found myself using the words 'spare' and 'austere' rather a lot in my notes.

Berlioz: Requiem - Sir Antonio Pappano, London Symphony Orchestra - BBC Proms (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)

The 'Dies Irae' began in a similar manner, developing to wonderfully strong choral counterpoint, with Pappano pushing on with some urgency. With the positioning of the 'off-stage' brass in visible sight, the sound of them was very present and very thrilling. Both the sight and sound of that first moment in the 'Tuba mirum' when the timps start going was tremendous. Yet you were aware that Pappano had things on tight control. There was a lovely mysterioso quality to 'Mors stupebit', and whilst 'Liber scriptus' was thrilling, it was here that I wanted more antiphonal effects for the extra brass. The tenors and basses produced some lovely hushed tone in 'Liber scriptus', with Berlioz again astounding with his control of such few forces. 'Rex Tremendae' was full and grand (all those horns - eight in total) but then surprisingly intimate and throughout this movement Pappano made the most of the contrasts. He was able to draw some remarkably quiet and controlled singing from his chorus. In 'Quaerens me' the chorus was intimate and largely unaccompanied, quite a triumph, with some austere counterpoint. Then the 'Dies Irae' sequence concluded with a remarkably operatic 'Lacrimosa', the extra brass joining at the end to create music of thrilling complexity.

For the 'Offertorium' the focus turned to the strings, with Pappano encouraging them to provide some strong phrasing, and developing a terrific build up. In the 'Hostias' the lovely choral tone was contrasted with some positively Brucknerian trombones (from the extra brass) including some wonderfully farty moments.

Berlioz: Requiem - Julien Henric - BBC Proms (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)

In the 'Sanctus', Julien Henric provided some fine grained tone and elegant style, along with superb projection. This contrasted with vigorous counterpoint in the 'Hosanna', and then in the repeat of the 'Sanctus', Berlioz introduced eight pairs of cymbals (!) to created that shivering whoosh (apologies, I am sure there is a technical term for it). The 'Agnus Dei' was low key with warm hushed choral tone and those Brucknerian farting trombones again. Then as the orchestra joined in, Pappano ensured wonderfully precise placing of the chorus.

The final chorus beginning 'Te decet hymnus' had a warm slow to it, with moments of thrilling drama and moments of intimacy, leading to something like real transcendence at the end.

Listening to this modern instrument performance, I did have some various thoughts as regards achieving a more authentic sound. What pronunciation of French would Berlioz have expected? And what instruments. I know that he wrote extra brass ensembles in Les Troyens for groups of saxhorns (something John Eliot Gardiner did in his performances in Paris in 2013). Would Berlioz have used those for the performance of the Requiem?

Berlioz: Requiem - Sir Antonio Pappano, London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Chorus - BBC Proms (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)

The concert is available on BBC Sounds for 57 days. There were no TV cameras present in the hall, alas, so we cannot relive the visual theatre.

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