These recordings
have been released previously, as
a CFP
Twofer, and the Requiem
has also appeared individually.
Past reactions to the Requiem
have been somewhat mixed, with
some fans claiming it as their favourite
version, others finding it rather
pedestrian. I can appreciate why
EMI continue resurrecting it as
a big-name part of their catalogue,
but while there are many good things
in it, I wouldn’t spend much time
arguing its case as a first choice.
Mozart’s Requiem
is one of those pieces on which
you don’t want to have to compromise
in a recording. It’s either an inspirational
rendition of an elusive, unfinished
– even flawed masterpiece, or it’s
just another disc which will sit
on your shelves gathering dust.
Welser-Möst’s opening is coloured
by a rather sour clarinet, whose
buzz-saw tones affect the whole
sound of the orchestra once your
ear has latched onto it, about 11
seconds into track one. The choir
is fine, if sometimes a little too
shouty for my taste. Take the men’s
entry 21 seconds into the Dies
irae or the opening of the Confutatis
maledictis and you’ll hear what
I mean. The balance tends to drown
out the orchestra as well, so that
there is precious little detail
from either in the big tuttis. The
soloists are generally fine, and
Willard White is also part of one
of my favourite recordings of this
work, coming across rather more
effectively with John Eliot Gardiner
on Philips. Della Jones can be a
bit overly-dramatic, hacking out
the notes which go over her break
point 1:50 into the Tuba mirum.
The ensemble work in the Recordare
is nicely done as elsewhere,
and the soloists do balance and
blend with each other rather than
fighting for supremacy.
There are many
nice things about this recording,
but with so many others which offer
so much more I can’t gather too
much enthusiasm. My own favourite
is still that of the 1986 Gardiner
on Philips, but this does have the
leaner sound of his baroque specialist
instrumentalists and Monteverdi
choir. If you are looking for a
budget ‘non-authentic’ recording
of the Requiem you could
do far worse than that of Rafael
Frühbeck de Burgos on CFP,
and don’t be put off by that 1964
recording date – those old analogue
recordings are sweet as a nut. Either
that or you could opt for the more
up to date Morton
Schuldt-Jensen on Naxos.
The Great Mass
in C minor also faces stiff
competition, and again one of my
favourites from the catalogue is
my reference with John Eliot Gardiner
on Philips. This competitor is topped
off by the sublime singing of Sylvia
McNair, and while both Edith Wiens
and Dame Felicity Lott are both
very fine singers, I find their
comparatively over-ripe vibrato
a little on the heavy side in this
music. This style does however fit
in with Franz Welser-Möst’s
large-scale vision of the score,
and is unlikely to bother anyone
looking for a modern instrument
performance on a grand scale. Indeed,
I found myself warming more to the
performance of the Mass over
that of the Requiem in this
set, so if this is your priority
you might want to give this set
more of a chance. The organ helps
‘glue’ the choir to the orchestra
in the Mass, but once again
I found myself straining to hear
what is really going on in the orchestra
when the choir is in full cry. Have
a listen to the Gratias agimus
tibi section of the Gloria
and see if you agree – it’s
a grand sound to be sure, but what
exactly is it we are hearing? The
dynamic contrasts in the Qui
tollis are very fine, but while
there is a good energy in the Cum
Sancto Spiritu the whole thing
sounds rather generalised and could
have done with rather less soggy
articulation. It takes the brass
and winds a little while to wake
up in the Sanctus as well:
that first ‘reply’ to the choir
is a bit on the crumby side, but
with the organ enriching the picture
this and the final vocal ensembles
of the Benedictus are fittingly
grand.
I don’t want to
be unfair, and it’s good to have
a big-boned budget alternative for
these works on the shop shelves.
If I was still walking the floor
in your local outlet however, I
wouldn’t be shoving it under your
nose or playing it at suspiciously
loud volumes over the department’s
speakers – well, maybe the Mass,
but not often, not really. ...
Dominy Clements