Boys from the first recording of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem stage reunion

Fifteen of the boys from Highgate School who sang on the first recording of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem have held a reunion, reports BBC News:

The recording, made in 1963, sold 200,000 copies in just five months (almost unheard of for a classical work) and won Britten two Grammy Awards - but the choristers, from London's exclusive Highgate School, were never listed in the credits.

Last year, Decca Records launched a search for the surviving members, with a notice in London's Ham & High newspaper.

Fifteen of them were able to reunite in Soho on Thursday, to hear a cleaned-up version of the Requiem and relive the "gruelling" experience of recording Britten's masterpiece.

"It was like going through some great storm, a great orchestral storm," recalled Tim Healey, who was 13 at the time of the original recording.

"By the time it was over, I was quite glad it was over - but then you look back and think, 'That was pretty amazing'."

As I blogged last year, one of the boys on this famous recording was John Rutter, now a celebrated composer.

Another, Nigel Law, told BBC News:

"I still remember the first day, which was a washout, thanks to [Russian soprano] Galina Vishnevskaya throwing a completely and utter wobbly.

"It was quite disturbing, hearing this woman scream."

You can find an amusing clip of Britten, who conducted the performance, rehearsing the boys at the top of this post.