Mozarts Requiem

[fergus]

This is very well played and sung and it is a beautiful live recording. The performance is obviously on modern instruments and thus the music carries the requisite power and weight where required. Every note is impeccable and the performance is very polished. However, I have always found it to be somewhat lacking in passion or emotion or “soul” in places which is so important in this work. It certainly is not a poor performance in any way and others would no doubt love it. I just never found it to be fully satisfying.

This is fundamentally a Sussmayr version with additional reconstruction by Franz Beyer (1971/79) and Robert Levin (1993).

Incidentally, this live recording was made in Salzburg cathedral to mark the tenth anniversary of the death of Herbert von Karajan.

[fergus]

This is another live performance but this time with a period instrument orchestra. To me, the “open” acoustic on this recording is more evident and more appealing than that on the Abbado recording in the Salzburg cathedral. The textures of the instruments are naturally lighter but the music still has lots of weight with the brass section really standing out in the relevant sections. This performance has a completely different feel to it when compared to the Abbado version. It is texturally lighter and also lighter in tone. It is quite a sensitive yet powerful performance and an appealing one to my ear as I feel that the music moves along more freely here and appears more alive.

The one issue that people should be aware of with this version is the inclusion of over eight minutes of plainchant in the appropriate places for a Mass for the Dead.

I do not know what performance version is used on this CD.

[fergus]

This is yet another live performance, this time however on modern instruments. The orchestra is chamber sized and therefore the textures are quite clean yet still carry the requisite power when required. It is well played and sung (chorally) version. The performance is quite an earnest one and as a result has quite a sense of urgency and drama about it. It is an uplifting performance and the music is attacked and has a certain bite to it. The soloists would not be the strongest that you will hear but the overall performance is a powerful and emotionally engaging one. It would get a strong recommendation from me.

The performance is based on the Sussmayr edition.

[DaveF]

This is another live performance but this time with a period instrument orchestra. To me, the “open” acoustic on this recording is more evident and more appealing than that on the Abbado recording in the Salzburg cathedral. The textures of the instruments are naturally lighter but the music still has lots of weight with the brass section really standing out in the relevant sections. This performance has a completely different feel to it when compared to the Abbado version. It is texturally lighter and also lighter in tone. It is quite a sensitive yet powerful performance and an appealing one to my ear as I feel that the music moves along more freely here and appears more alive.

Great summation there Fergus. I have this recording too and I'd agree with much of what you said.

[jaybee]

put on the Gardiner this morning...

it's very good, but I now remember why it didn't grab first place in my list....

I find the orchestration just right everywhere except for the Rex tremendae and the confutatis...

The extra weight in the Karajan really works in these particular passages for me....

the vocals are much better though, there's a crystalline delicateness to the higher registers that really works for me

[fergus]

put on the Gardiner this morning...

it's very good, but I now remember why it didn't grab first place in my list....

I find the orchestration just right everywhere except for the Rex tremendae and the confutatis...

The extra weight in the Karajan really works in these particular passages for me....

the vocals are much better though, there's a crystalline delicateness to the higher registers that really works for me

I don't have the von Karajan version. I have always been a great admirer of von Karajan but not as a Mozartian I am afraid. I can, however, understand where you would be coming from in terms of extra orchestral weight especially in the Confutatis.
That puts me in mind of something that I was reading recently and the author was considering compiling this work from his favourite extracts of various different versions i.e. The Introit from a particular conductor and, say, the Confutatis from another conductor. I wonder how something like that would sound overall? Probably not very cohesive but perhaps interesting.

I must play the Gardiner version again later.

[fergus]

This is another period performance. I think as an overall performance, in terms of tone, it strikes just the right balance between a devotional and a dramatic reading and in terms of tempo the pacing is just right. The major factor at work in this performance is, however, the splendid choral singing of the wonderful Monteverdi choir and the not insignificant line up of solo singers, in particular Willard White. The singing is undoubtedly some of the best that I have heard in this work. In terms of the orchestration what I particularly like about this version is the brass section; its sound has great bite and it adds great orchestral texture. I find it quite a powerful performance.

This version is also a Sussmayr completion.

[fergus]

This is another period performance as well as another live performance. I find this to be a beautiful version. It is solemn but not overly devotional in tone, leaning somewhat more in the direction of the dramatic for me. The orchestral playing is very fine and very sympathetic and the choral singing is beautiful but I prefer Gardiner’s soloists. In terms of power and impact this performance is very satisfying and it is very polished; it has a great presence but nothing is ever overstated.

This version is a Sussmayr completion.

[fergus]

This is a modern instrument performance but the Nothern Sinfonia is a chamber sized orchestra so the textures are still full but not heavy or muddy. The orchestral touch is light and they play well with a sensitive accompaniment. The choir is also very good and they have a full, weighty sound. The soloists are also very good and are very pleasant to listen to. Hickox’s pacing is somewhat slower in some places than most others that I have heard. One gets the impression that he is trying to let the music breathe. The music never drags and the performance never sags as a result of this contemplative approach in these slower passages. The variation in pacing coupled with the beautiful choral singing makes for a very engaging listen.

I actually own two versions of this performance but neither one indicates whose completion it is.

[fergus]

This is obviously a period instrument performance but the performance lacks no weight because of that. In fact it is quite a powerful performance with great presence. The orchestra plays very well and sympathetically and, once again, we have that lovely texture and bite of the period brass here and there. The pacing is exciting and the music moves along very freely. The tone is devotional and Hogwood gets to the essence of the work. It is a very fine performance which is very enjoyable.
The one issue that I have with it, however, is the use of a boy’s choir. They actually sing very well but they lack a certain weight or body and sound somewhat mono-textural. This is only a small quibble however and the soloists are very fine.

This is a completion by one C. R. F. Maunder of whom I know absolutely nothing other than the fact that he wrote the extensive liner notes. The Offertorium, Agnus Dei and Communio sections definitely all have a different feel to them; suffice to say that I give the nod to Sussmayr!