MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... 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
RECORDING OF THE MONTH


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos 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: AmazonUK AmazonUS MDT
Sound Samples and Downloads

Luigi CHERUBINI (1760–1842)
Requiem in C minor (1816)
Schola Gregoriana Tübingen/Wilfried Rombach (tr. 4 Tractus only)
Kammerchor Stuttgart; Hofkapelle Stuttgart/Frieder Bernius
rec. 13-15 May 2010, Evangelischen Kirche, Reutlingen-Gönningen, Germany. DDD
English translations of text and essay provided.
Hybrid SACD: plays on all SACD and CD players.
CARUS 83.227 [42:12]

Experience Classicsonline

Born in Ludwigshafen, Germany the conductor Frieder Bernius founded both the Stuttgart vocal and instrumental ensembles featured on this Carus release. The Kammerchor Stuttgart was founded in 1968 and more recently the period instrument ensemble Hofkapelle Stuttgart in 2006. For many years Bernius has been prolific in the recording studio, specialising in sacred choral works. A couple of years ago I reviewed the twelve volume set of Mendelssohn’s Complete Sacred Choral Music that Frieder Bernius had recorded for Carus. With that impressive Mendelssohn survey Bernius proved himself a remarkable conductor in the field of sacred choral works of the classical era.

Cherubini, although Italian-born, spent the majority of his career in Paris. There he wrote a large number of operas mainly in the Neapolitan style but they soon began to seem out of step with the Parisian craze for Italian grand opera. Consequently Cherubini withdrew from composing for a while. From being a virtually forgotten figure Cherubini’s star began to shine after the Bourbon restoration to the French throne and in 1816 he was appointed as Surintendant de la musique for the Royal family. Cherubini became arguably the most influential man in French music with his appointment as director of the Paris Conservatoire in 1822; a post he held until his death twenty years later.

In 1809 Cherubini had been buoyed by the success of his Mass in F which was an unexpected commission by the Prince of Chimay. Cherubini commenced composing a significant amount of sacred choral works including a large number of motets; several masses and two remarkable requiems. The earlier of the two is a Requiem in C minor for mixed chorus; completed in 1816. A second Requiem in D minor for male voices was written in 1836 with the intention of being performed at Cherubini’s own funeral.

This Carus release is a 2010 recording of the Requiem in C minor for SATB chorus, orchestra and basso continuo. The score was composed in 1816 for a memorial service for the former king of France, Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette; who had both been executed in 1793 during the French Revolution.

The Abbey Church of Saint Denis was the established resting place of the kings of France for several centuries. During the Revolution the royal tombs in Saint Denis suffered considerable desecration. In 1815 the partial remains of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were recovered from a public cemetery and brought to Saint Denis for reburial in the crypt. Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor was premiered in 1817 at a memorial concert in the Saint Denis crypt to commemorate the anniversary of the guillotining of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The Requiem in C minor was a great success and soon established a wide circulation in Europe; it was even played at Beethoven’s funeral in 1827. The Requiem in C minor does not employ soloists. It is scored for four-part chorus, orchestra and basso continuo. In the manner of Beethoven with his Mass in C major (1807) Cherubini avoids breaking the various sections of the mass down into individual movements. In addition many people have remarked on the musical debt that Cherubini here owes to the style of Mozart. In this version Frieder Bernius in-between the Graduale and Sequence includes a Tract with the text Absolve, Domine, animas omnium fidelium defunct rum (Forgive, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed). Strangely the booklet notes say nothing of its inclusion. The Tract is sung by Schola Gregoriana Tübingen who are specialists in Gregorian chant, under the direction of their chorus-master Wilfried Rombach.

In the opening Introit and Kyrie the singing of the Kammerchor is reverential with significant poignancy. At 4:54 (track 1) in the Kyrie eleison one notices the gathering tension. Glorious if rather melancholic music in the Gradual is sung with the greatest of respect for the text. There is impeccable and sensitive singing of the Tract - ‘Absolve, Domine by Schola Gregoriana in the manner of a Gregorian chant. Commencing with a brass fanfare and a fearsome strike of the tam-tam, a highlight of the score is the wonderful and exciting performance of the magnificent Sequence. In the line Confutatis maledictis, Flammis acribus addictis’(When the damned are cast away and consigned to the searing flames) I marvelled at the explosive climax at the word ‘maledictis’ (point 5:14, track 4). From 6:36 (track 4), performed with vigour, the Lacrimosa dies illa (On this day full of tears) is moving and expressively sung by the Stuttgart choir.

The Offertorium contains much of real merit. I especially enjoyed the passage Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus (As thou didst promise Abraham and his seed) for its voluble and stirring climax (from point 4:23, track 4). By contrast from 7:31 (track 5) the text Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, laudis officious; (O Lord, we offer You sacrifices and praise) is given a gentle and serene performance by the Kammerchor. Following closely on and increasing in intensity and weight comes the reprise of the passage Quam olim Abrahae at 11:35 (track 5). The Sanctus and Benedictus is a very brief yet imposing movement and sacred restraint imbues the attractively sung Pie Jesu Domine. The final section is the Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi (Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world) depicting pain and suffering before gradually fading away to lie at eternal rest.

Throughout the score the Kammerchor display splendid diction and impressive unity with first class playing from the Hofkapelle on period instruments. Frieder Bernius controls his Stuttgart forces with sensitivity and assurance.

Recorded in May 2010 at the Evangelischen Kirche, Gönningen the recording is warm and generally clear with a degree of blurring in the louder passages. This well presented Carus release has full Latin texts and an essay with English translations provided. The recording is played on period instruments and is a superb achievement for Frieder Bernius and the Carus label.

Michael Cookson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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






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.