Angela Gheorghiu (soprano), Daniela Barcellona (mezzo), Roberto Alagna (tenor) & Julian Konstantinov (bass) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra & Swedish Radio Chorus, Claudio Abbado Warner Classics: 5571682. There is, appropriately, a huge silence, a hush, when the music ends, and then of course the usual bowings and smilings: turn it off before they begin. That doesn’t stop the eternal debate about whether it is a theatrical rather than a religious work. My recording is one of the few times I've disagreed with Karajan's view of a piece. Trawling through them all, Richard Lawrence finds at least three very special Otellos, and some electric conducting. Gramophone is brought to you by Mark Allen Group MA Music, Leisure and Travel Arturo Toscanini (conductor)Music and Arts MACD1269. About Mark Allen Group Sign in to manage your newsletter preferences. What impresses most is the end of the work, where – with no authorisation from the score – he slows up for the final desperate shrieks of the chorus and soprano, giving the impression that we are hurtling down a vast tube to destruction. Verdi conducted, and then took the work on tour to various European cities, where he usually conducted it in concert halls – including the Albert Hall in London – rather than churches. Has anyone heard both of them? It's hard not to relish Verdi's uniquely terrifying and theatrical take on the Requiem Mass; here are our thoughts on the finest recordings available. Verdi’s reputation has undergone many rises and falls since the 1870s, but the Requiem has never been out of favour, and continues to be one of the most popular of religious works. Corydon Singers/English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Matthew Best in 1987 Hyperion CDA66292. Verdi Requiem have a great recording from Philips conducted by John Elliot Gardiner Cheers Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Gramophone is part of Best recording of Verdi's Messa da Requiem for headphones? Fauré Requiem is beautiful as well. Recorded in 2011, the Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Regio di Parma, in the lovely eponymous opera house, really do sound authentic. Verdi Requiem discography. At the end of January 2001 there were performances of Verdi’s Requiem all over the world, to commemorate the centenary of the composer’s death. The sight of his gestures, both graceful and desperate, seems legitimately to add to the overwhelming effect of his deep understanding of and passion for this great work, and the soloists are on top form. But it is the sight of Abbado, exhausted and shattered by the piece he has just so marvellously controlled, that makes the final, devastating impression. Listen free to Giuseppe Verdi – Requiem - Live Recording (Requiem (1996 gala performance), Dies Irae (1996 gala performance) and more). Year ... Live recording made on 24, 25 and 27 October in the Avery Fisher Hall, New York City Gramophone (January 1982) … Claudio Abbado (conductor)Angela Gheorghiu (soprano), Daniela Barcellona (mezzo), Roberto Alagna (tenor), Julian Konstantinov (bass); Swedish Radio Chorus, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir/Berlin PhilharmonicEMI Classics 492 6949 (2001). The mezzo Daniela Barcellona, who has the lion’s share of the Dies irae, is on sumptuous form, with the Lacrymosa perfectly rounding off the complex emotions of the vast sequence. Verdi’s Requiem – The best recordings…. 500,000th Hit: November 2006 Wolfgang Mozart: Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 (1791) In all of sacred music, there are few works that rival the writing of Mozart’s immortal, incomplete Requiem: the mystery of the Introit, the fire of the Dies Irae, the brilliance of the Confutatis, and the majesty of the Rex Tremendae.Mozart’s work simply operates on a higher plane than any other examples in this genre. So powerful and balanced. He is … He revered Manzoni more than any of his contemporaries, and was spurred by his death to write a complete Requiem, though one which differs in several ways from the text of the Catholic Requiem Mass. Buy CD or download online. List. I'm looking for a good recording of Verdi's Requiem. You can unsubscribe at any time. It's hard not to relish Verdi's uniquely terrifying and theatrical take on the Requiem Mass; here are our thoughts on the finest recordings available. Caballe is in, still, good form (it all went downhill after that) and Domingo is also in great form. Of Georg Solti’s two recordings of the Verdi Requiem, I slightly prefer this later one, though I realize that this isn’t received wisdom. | One soon screens out the residual hiss and a surprising amount of detail emerges, even though the chorus in particular can seem distant and there is a bit of blare at climaxes. Much is made of how quickly or slowly certain conductors take the Requiem, but Böhm's is perhaps one of the most even-handed. In his vision of this work, Henri-Georges Clouzot sees ranks of choristers – from heaven or hell – with Price and Cossotto framed by the sopranos’ hands and grey silk wraps beneath like angels’ wings, double basses angled heavenwards, Karajan’s quiff with a life of its own, his profile at home among all those Roman (and Milanese) noses. Verdi was deeply by the death of the novelist Alessandro Manzoni in 1873. "ingemisco" performed by Luchetti is a stunning hi-lite, and I'm a bass-baritone! By entering your details, you are agreeing to Classical Music terms and conditions and privacy policy. Was it a period or modern performance? PS: DA, I see that the Karajan is on-sale at Amazon. Verdi's Otello: a guide to the best recordings Richard Lawrence Wednesday, January 31, 2018 The past eight decades have seen many recordings of this tenor-led operatic masterpiece. Such a debate is futile because there is no reason why a theatrical work shouldn’t also be religious, or vice-versa: JS Bach’s Passions are religious works with a strong, even violentdramatic/theatrical element and force. We've all been waiting for this recording to come … Tenor Roberto Alagna manages to find the right, but different, tones for his two wonderful solos, ‘Ingemisco’ and ‘Hostias’, and bass Julian Konstantinov, sounds menacing but avoids melodrama. The Dies Irae sounds particularly lethargic -- it's like God forgot about the apocalypse and took quaaludes beforehand. Yuri Temirkanov conducts a broad but tense account, and the soloists contrive to sing as part of the collaborative effort, rather than as stars, though two of them – mezzo Sonia Ganassi and tenor Francesco Meli – are certainly that. Its first performance was in the inconspicuous church of San Marco in Milan. MusicWeb International‘s Ralph Moore makes our new Verdi Messa da Requiem recording (digital video and audio, CD/DVD/Blu-Ray) a Recommended release! His are readings that combine a positive view and interpretative integrity from start to finish, something possible only in the context of the... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More… The Verdi Requiem – II. As exciting as it is, Solti and the soloists still present a respect and understanding of the text as well, never quite overdoing the theatrics. Save when you subscribe today and get your magazine + CD delivered direct to your door from the UK! Riccardo Muti (conductor)Warner Classics 098 0202. I discovered Verdi's Requiem through this recording, in vinyl, back in the eighties. Sure. Soprano Angela Gheorghiu sings the extremely difficult Libera me exquisitely, and murmurs the last words of the Requiem with appropriate terror. I might want to get it along with one of the other two. This is a list of recordings of the Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901). Toscanini ensures a performance that is always incandescent, and – importantly – he has Jussi Björling as the sublime tenor soloist. Click here to subscribe to BBC Music Magazine, reviews of the latest Verdi recordings here, 9 of the best contemporary female composers, Six of the best… classical works about Scotland. This first recording, from 1979, has a matchless team of soloists, and is in Muti’s most fiery manner. Verdi:Requiem Leontyne Price (soprano), Rosalind Elias (mezzo-soprano), Jussi Björling (tenor), Giorgio Tozzi (bass) Wiener Philharmoniker, Singverein der Gesellscaft der Musikfreunde, Wien, Fritz Reiner on Decca and very close second: Verdi: Requiem Renata Scotto, Agnes Baltsa, Veriano Luchetti and Evgeny Nesterenko 2) But the Telarc is by Robert Shaw who conducted my favorite recording of Verdi's Requiem. Ragged choral work and occasional dead spots notwithstanding – the ‘Quam olim’ and Sanctus seem handled rather than shaped – Clouzot’s and Karajan’s achievement has the authentic sniff of pathos. Many may know De Sabata from his Tosca and Verdi Requiem recordings. The Messa da Requiem is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi.It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist whom Verdi admired.The first performance, at the San Marco church in Milan on 22 May 1874, marked the first anniversary of Manzoni's death. Music and Arts now reissues this set in a new transfer by Graham Newton. One might say, in a hopeless attempt to bring the dispute about Verdi’s Requiem to a close, that it is the converse of Bach’s masterpieces: a theatrical work which is also religious. I have had this recording on 33-1/3 format for many years, but it has worn with use and years. I assume is the last time they sang together. This isn't even close to the best recording, but the story of Rafael Schecter putting on performances of Verdi's Requiem while interned at Terezin during WW2 is just heart wrenching, and adds a different level of meaning for me. Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with the largest catalogue online at Last.fm. s) Buy from Amazon. Flora Willson recommends a recorded version of Verdi's Requiem. 1,000,000th Hit: January 4, 2008. Already have an account with us? He retained the Libera me from his first effort, though with considerable alterations, and Verdi finished his Requiem in April 1874. RCA has re-packaged (again) this Grammy-winning 1977 recording of Verdi's Requiem by Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony & Chorus.Under Solti it is as dramatic and stirring as any of Verdi's operas. The sound is primitive but also undistorted, and the performance is so great that one feels sorry for anyone who can’t enjoy it. The quartet is a wonder to hear. Register now to continue reading Thank you for visiting Gramophone and making use of our archive of more than 50,000 expert reviews, features, awards and blog articles. I have a number of Verdi Requiem recordings, but this one rates tied at … Transferred from what collectors like to call “inside” sources, Music and Arts’ previous edition of Toscanini’s November 23, 1940 Verdi Requiem has long been the best sounding CD release of these justly famous performances. That is, he takes it way---tooo---s--ll---oooo---ww--l-yyyyyyyy (if you catch my drift). I prefer to see it for a reason that some may find questionable, but which seems to me under the circumstances entirely appropriate: Abbado had recently had an operation for cancer, and is clearly fragile, as he was to remain until his death. Bülow soon handsomely repented. Even Toscanini might have given grudging approval. The latter may be my desert island choice despite the dim sound and operatic style. The Decca recording, after all, features Sutherland, Horne, Pavarotti, and Talvela as soloists, and while Sutherland arguably is not the right voice for the part, everyone else is … From the start, the Requiem has divided opinion, with Wagner’s right-hand man Hans von Bülow referring to it as ‘Verdi’s latest opera, though in ecclesiastical robes’, to which Brahms replied ‘Bülow has made a fool of himself. Riccardo Muti may have conducted the Requiem more often than anyone, with widely varying results. Several were recorded and, not surprisingly, they have an unusual intensity. This competition is now closed. The Karajan Verdi Requiem is a great recording, dated from 1972. Verdi: Requiem. It makes soprano Renata Scotto’s final desperate plea to be delivered from eternal death all the more moving, and concludes what may not be the most comprehensive account, but possibly the most thrilling. Gardiner's Verdi Requiem is in a class of its own. As compiled by W. G. 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