Britten recorded a great deal of his music for London/Decca. One can turn with confidence to any of these, including the War Requiem. I will not list them here, but I particularly recommend his recording of:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, London 425 663 Peter Grimes, Sir Colin Davis, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Jon Vickers, Heather Harper, et al., Decca 478 5273 5 (formerly Philips)
[VD11] Spring[VD11] Symphony (plus Four Sea Interludes), André Previn, LSO,
Dame Janet Baker, Robert Tear, Sheila Armstrong, EMI 64736 (now
Warner) or Richard Hickox, LSO—Chandos 8855 (plus Welcome
Ode & Psalm 150) reissued as Chandos 10782
The Prince of the Pagodas, Oliver Knussen, London Sinfonietta, Virgin
Classics 91103 (oop, reissued on EMI 49829/Warner with Bartók’s, Miraculous Mandarin)
