Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-91)
Requiem, K626 (completed Vad). Vesperae solemnes de Confessore, K339
- Laudate Dominum. Ave Verum Corpus, K618.
Bozena Harasimowicz-Haas
(soprano); Katarzyna Suska (mezzo); Ole Hedegaard (tenor); Ole Støvring
Larsen (bass); Chorus Soranus; Torunska Orkiestra Kameralna/Knud Vad.
Classico CLASSCD288
[DDD]
[58'10]
Crotchet
Knud Vad has valiantly proposed an alternative performing version of the
Mozart Requiem. Vad took Süssmayr as a starting point and worked
with modern Mozart scholarship to come up with the text for the present
recording, concentrating particularly on the
Sanctus/Benedictus/Hosanna.
Vad's version will not change your life, but it would have been fairer to
give it a better chance than this. The chorus is recessed and lacks power
throughout (the Rex tremendae is but one casualty). There is some
scrappy orchestral playing, and the timpani are muffled where they should
be precisely defined. The soloists make up a well-balanced quartet when singing
together and are collectively by far the best single element, although in
Tuba mirum the tenor's entry lets down the bass soloist's good work.
The soprano, Bozena Harasimowicz-Haas, is the star. Her voice is supple and
well focussed. It is fitting that she is allowed to shine by herself in the
Laudate Dominum. It was an unfortunate choice to end the disc with
a choral piece, the Ave Verum Corpus in a stodgily recorded, dull
performance.
Reviewer
Colin Clarke
Performance
Recording
