Telarc, like most other
companies these days are in the process
of re-releasing CDs made in earlier
times at mid or budget price to obtain
a new lease of life for their products
in the catalogue. The logic is "New
is Best", so re-releases are seen
as new, and the hope is that this will
attract a whole new set of buyers. In
the case of Telarc, they do not even
reissue with a different catalogue number,
sleeve-notes, or even issue dates, simply
send it round again at a lower price
and see what happens.
Telarc is well known
for superbly recorded performances,
and rarely, if ever, have I seen a negative
review of one of their products in this
respect. And so it is here with a recording
that cannot be faulted. If we add to
this, an orchestra and chorus from a
well respected venue under a conductor
who is responsible for some of the most
superb choral recordings available,
Telarc should be on to a winner. And
so they are, up to a point. The main
work, the Grande Messe de Morts of Berlioz
has rarely had a recording which so
effortlessly handles the composer’s
huge forces without strain. The chorus,
superbly rehearsed gives a wonderful
rendition of the score and the soloist,
in John Aler, is as good as they come.
Why then does it seem
that I am not overjoyed with this performance.
Well, it is not that it is bad, it is
just that there are better alternatives
available. Unless you are a hi-fi freak,
I would suggest that you will get a
far better representation of what Berlioz’s
work is all about from Colin Davis’s
Philips recording. There, you will get
relatively poor balancing of the choir,
with the ability to hear individual
voices coming through which somewhat
spoils the effect, but the plus side
is a thrilling emotional response which
the current issue only hints at. Better
still, if recording quality is less
important than the music is the RCA
recording (the first in stereo of the
Requiem) by Charles Munch and his Boston
colleagues (much better than the DG
remake). These two performances distil
the essence of what Berlioz’s Requiem
is all about, and music lovers interested
in experiencing this Mass should make
a point of hearing either of these,
if not both.
The fill-ups do not
substantially alter the equation, although
these are also performed more than adequately
in superb, modern digital sound.
John Phillips
See also review
by Tony Haywood
John Aler, tenor (Berlioz) and John Cheek, bass
(Boito) 