MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


 REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: Crotchet


Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Requiem in D minor K626 (1791) [56:13]
Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
Te Deum (1881-83) [22:53]
Sheila Armstrong (soprano); Janet Baker (mezzo); Nicolai Gedda (tenor); Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone); John Alldis Choir; English Chamber Orchestra/Daniel Barenboim
Anne Pashley (soprano); Birgit Finnilä (alto); Robert Tear (tenor); Don Garrard (bass)
New Philharmonia Chorus
New Philharmonia Orchestra/Daniel Barenboim
rec. 9, 12 July 1971, 4 January 1969, All Saints Church, Tooting, London. ADD
EMI CLASSICS 2127182 [79:09]
Experience Classicsonline


This disc contains two EMI re-releases in the Great Recordings of the Century series.

Mozart’s Requiem has been one of my favourite works since I first heard it as a child, and this recording by Barenboim is difficult to beat. From the opening bars of the Introit, there is a sense of deep contemplation, with the clarinet and bassoon suspensions accompanied by a heaviness in the strings. The choir entry is dark and ominous, continuing the sense of building tension and sorrow. Mozart’s genius in this work comes from its emotional strength conveyed through control of harmony and especially tension. The composer’s vocal writing is spectacular, and the orchestra balances particularly well in this recording. The fugue of the Kyrie maintains the weightiness of the opening, and the rising entries give a sense of splendor and magnificence.

The Dies Irae in this recording is ferocious and full of dark energy, with brass coming to the fore in the orchestral colour. This disc also boasts a star-studded cast of soloists, who provide a stunning Tuba Mirum, opening with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Robert Tear, and later joined by Janet Baker and Sheila Armstrong. These voices are impeccably well matched and make an impressive quartet. The Rex tremendae is rousing and full of passion, while the contemplative recordare is wonderfully phrased with the overlapping solo lines building well-paced dissonances. By contrast, the attacca entry of the Confutatis Maledictis quickly breaks the reverie, providing a great sense of drama and returning the dark energy to the music. The contrasting sections in this movement are extremely well handled, with wonderful juxtapositions of mood and character.

Mozart died after completing just the first two movements, with sketches of the vocal lines with figured bass for the other movements, and only eight bars of the lacrimosa. This recording uses Süssmayr’s reconstruction, which is the most heard despite other composer’s attempts at completing the movement. This is a glorious rendition, with the John Alldis Choir providing a rich and sombre sound. The remaining movements are similarly well presented; the Quam olim Abrahae sections are triumphant, while the Hostias is beautifully calm and tranquil. The joyful Sanctus with its closing Hosanna provides a sense of lightness, while the Benedictus is delightfully presented with some impressive solo singing. The Agnus Dei is poised and elegant, with Mozart’s harmony creating some magical moments. The reprise of the opening in the final movement gives the piece a sense of having come full circle, although the music is seen in a different light as a result of the experience of having heard the whole work.

There are numerous recordings of this Requiem on the market. If I could only buy one, it would be this one, for its combination of rich sound quality, excellent pacing and emotional impact. Barenboim gets to what I feel is the essence of Mozart’s work, supported by an impressive choir, fantastic orchestra and some stunning soloists.

Bruckner’s Te Deum is heard here in its 1969 recording, which was Barenboim’s first recording conducting Bruckner. The C major tonality seems bright against Mozart’s D minor, and Bruckner’s music is conceived on an enormous scale, with large orchestra, organ, chorus and soloists. The harmony in the opening movement shifts in blocks, with large-scale unisons accompanied by moving lines in the strings. This is powerful writing which has an impressive impact. The solo quartet in Te ergo quaesumus is once again impressive, with Barenboim this time working with Anne Pashley, Birgit Finnilä, Robert Tear and Don Garrard. The stunning Aeterna fac emerges with a burst of strength and energy. The last two movements combine more classical-style orchestration and harmony before the reprise of the opening material, the vocal lines holding long sustained notes and unisons in a dramatic final cadence. This is a bold work, heard in a magnificent performance.

Carla Rees 

EMI Great Recordings of the Century review pages

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.