Tír Na HiFi

So, to follow on from the Faure thread...

One of my favourite pieces, THE requiem for a lot of people! About which no doubt I will learn a lot here, given my knowledge of its history is limited to the gibbering mess (entertaining as it was!) that was "Amadeus"

From memory I can definitely recount three versions I have at home, and much like Diapasons affection for his first Faure, my first copy remains my favourite...

(you'll have to excuse the lack of cover art, operating from phone here!!)

Von Karajan on DG, with the Berliner Philharmoniker

Wilma Lipp, Hilde rossel-majdan, Walter Berry, Anton Dermota and Wiener Singverein

Beautifully paced, not too bombastic, conveys all of the emotion a requiem should without veering into maudlin!

^^ my personal view of the MR seems to be a little unorthodox in these parts, but as with all music by Mozart & Haydn, I'm not a great fan of large-scale versions, played by orchestras better suited to Bruckner than composers from the Classical era. I used to own both the Karajan and the Bohm versions on DG however disposed of them, in favour of these two:





I think I'll leave it there for the time being, because this large scale/ HIP debate has been talked about often enough between us. You will have some differing opinions posted in due course, which of course I entirely respect, but I personally like to hear such works performed in a manner remotely approaching how Mozart and Haydn would have recognised them, with period instruments and period size orchestras...

Yeah, I find that version slow and ponderous, and the uber-warbly vibrato pees me right off.

Next up is Nikolaus Harnoncourt with the concentius music wien on Apex,

Rachel Yakar, Ortun Wenkel all I can remember off the top of my head!

Very disappointed in this one, I usually like Harnoncourt but I find the "staccato" (correct me if that's the wrong term) or clipped presentation extremely jarring, I find it really detracts from the majesty of the piece.

Diapason wrote:Yeah, I find that version slow and ponderous, and the uber-warbly vibrato pees me right off.

I can understand the "über-warbly" being an issue, but for me the slow and ponderous aspect is right where a requiem should be pitched! (granted you wouldn't play it at a wake!!)

Diapason wrote:Yeah, I find that version slow and ponderous, and the uber-warbly vibrato pees me right off.

Karajan can have a tendency to be slow, stodgy and ponderous in large scale choral works, but that can mostly be accounted for in the legacy he inherited from Klemperer at the Berliner, and the prevailing artistic view of the day; this is exactly how my Grandfather would have expected to have heard his MR through his gramophone player. That said, Karajan's MR doesn't drag its heels as much as his Brahms EDR, which is a very liesurely affair!

on a slightly different note jaybee, if you like the MR and were wondering where to go next, then the logical next step would be to listen to Mozart's earlier Mass, the Great in C... I have two versions of this glorious work:





both of these are to be highly recommended, however I noticed that Gardiner's is presently very cheap and has an array of fine soloists:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mozart-English- ... 990&sr=1-2

thirdly, my second favourite, as mentioned above by Jared

John Eliot Gardiner, bonney, otter, monteverdi choir

A period-ish version, very restrained but obviously massively accomplished (its a stellar cast after all!!)

If I'd never heard The first Karajan I'd probably throw all other versions away and defend this one to the hilt...!!!

They currently run at about 50/50 in plays recently...

(although most of my sacred music is taken up with Vivaldi's complete cycle on Hyperion, but that's a whole other story!!)

Jared wrote:on a slightly different note jaybee, if you like the MR and were wondering where to go next, then the logical next step would be to listen to Mozart's earlier Mass, the Great in C... I have two versions of this glorious work:





both of these are to be highly recommended, however I noticed that Gardiner's is presently very cheap and has an array of fine soloists:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mozart-English- ... 990&sr=1-2

Another great favourite of mine Jared; I have the Gardiner, and it was hearing Harnoncourts version led me to try his Requiem!!

This is my own personal favorite of Mozart's Requiem. Small forces and wonderful choir along with Emma Kirkby.



I also have the Karajan version but I've never liked it.