Customer Reviews

Berlioz: Grande Messe des Morts

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This performance has been in my tape library for years and was finally transferred to CD Rom. I have not listened to the Audio release per se.

This is a powerful performance that dispells the idea that Sir Thomas concentrated in lighter works. The BBC performance is emotionally charged and well thought out. All though it was performed towards the end of his life the last "official recording" was the HMV performance of Ein Heldenleben. If anything the Requiem would have also done him justice. Beecham was an excellent Berlioz conductor with recordings of many of the overtures, "Harold in Italy", and the Symphony Fantastique - to name a few.

The sound (at least on my CD) is quite acceptable considering that it is doubtful that the BBC went all out for the "state of the art" at that period. Nevermind the coughing and hacking that preceeds and follows each movement; it merely adds to the fact that this is a live performance. The Dies Irae leading to the Tuba Mirim builds up to the point where you *know* that you have finally reached judgement day. The chorus and orchestra, not to mention the four brass bands and sixteen timpani are of high quality with an excellent sense of dynamics throughout the performance.

Thankfully the BBC has permitted this performance along with the memorable concert including the Beethoven 7th to be released on Audio. One can now hope that the equally powerful performance that Beecham did of the Beethoven 9th will also be released (if it hasn't all been all ready).

Those who admired Beecham must include this in their collection. Those who want an outstanding performance of a magnificant work despite the fact that it is "live" should also include it in their collection. Unlike so many recored performances that can be spliced and "put together" a live performance has a magical quality that canned music simply can not equal.

Over the years I have accumulated several recordings of the Berlioz "Grande Messe des Morts." I learned the work via its first recorded performance, a WW II Paris reading conducted by Jean Fournet (Columbia LPs). Then along came the celebrated Charles Munch/BSO account (RCA LPs), followed by Hermann Scherchen's (recorded for Westminster LPs at Les Invalides, where the Requiem was premiered). I knew of this "live" 1959 Beecham account - it circulated in the private tape "underground" - but the sound was reportedly dreadful and I never acquired a copy.

Now, thanks to BBC Legends, this magnificent Beecham account is finally available in EXCELLENT mono sound. It was Beecham's final concert in London's Royal Albert Hall, and the sense of atmosphere is palpable. From the very opening phrases, this is a simply spellbinding performance. Beecham's meticulous orchestral weightings give us the Berlioz "sound" in spades, and the Royal Philharmonic plays its hearts out for him (just listen to those lusty brass outbursts!). The choral work is first rate (preferable, I think, to the New England Conservatory Chorus under Munch), and the tempos strike me as perfectly judged (unlike the rather eccentric Scherchen's). Richard Lewis sings beautifully in the Sanctus, even though I slightly prefer two other tenors here (Leopold Simoneau with Munch, and Georges Jouatte in the Fournet set). And just listen to the Agnus Dei (from about 4:30 into it): if this doesn't bring tears to your eyes, nothing will.

As Requiems have a way of reminding us, life is too short. If I could have just one recorded performance of the Berlioz Requiem, then let it be Beecham's.

Highest recommendation.

The Berlioz Requiem has become such a staple as a sonic spectcular that it seems improbable to buy a radio broadcast in mono from 1959. BBC Legends released this Beecham performance in tribute to his last public appearance in Albert Hall and, of course, his deified position in British musical life. A lot is lost in the dated sonics, which strongly favor the chorus. But for its era the sound is clear and detailed, with sufficient bass, and the chorus is among the best on records for clear enunciation of the text.

One notices also that these men and women sing as if the Requiem was deeply personal for each of them. The words are dramatized even in the quietest passages, which does a lot to give the performance its emotional impact - you'll never hear more courageous tenor singing as they cry from the soul. Beecham may have been a self-taught conductor, but he had an innate musicality that tells in his shaping of the vocal lines here--one never feels that the music is sagging or a bit threadbare, which is too often the case. His overall manner is urgent and expressive, another huge plus. The Royal Phil. plays very well although not in the same league as the BSO or Berlin Phil. in their recordings under Ozawa and James Levine respectively. In all, what we get is a gripping performance that transcends its sonic limitaitons once you get into the spirit of Beecham's musicmaking.

From the first sounds of the audience anticipating the start of this performance to the final solemn 'amen,' I was transported by the conducting, playing, and singing of this performance of Berlioz'Requiem. This was one of Beecham's last performances before his death and whether any premonition of his mortality went into the performance one can never know but the effect of this performance is profoundly moving.

The Requiem is the first succesful work of Berlioz, and it was scored for a huge ensemble. For exmaple: 8 Bassoons, 12 Horns, 16 Trumpets, 16 Trombones, 6 Tubas, 16 Timpani, 10 Cymbals, 4 Gongs, 20 Violoncello, 18 Contrabassi!!! And a choir of hundreds! Really grand scoring...

And it performed amazing by Royal Philharmonic Orch. and Choir under the baton of Beecham, who is the founder of this orchestra. Beecham was an admirer of Berlioz, he was conducted it many times, but only this occasion was recorded, with excellent mono sound. It was recorded in 1959 and in Royal Albert Hall, and it was one of his last concert. The tenor soloist is Richard Lewis is wonderful at Sanctus solo, one of the best performance of that solo in records. And brass section is really "brassy" especially in Tuba mirum movement, which comes "attaca" after Dies irae, and brass, men's choir with vast percussion ensemble are impressive, powerful. And Lacymosa (which the most drammatic mov. of whole Requiem) has a sensitive atmosphere, really worth to listening.

This recording is excellent and highly reccomended.

There is probably not much point in disputing who was the 'greatest' orchestral conductor of the 20th century, but if anyone ever wanted to know why I place Beecham on that high eminence I would be likely to point to this recording by way of partly justifying my opinion. This is a live performance from near the end of Sir Thomas's career. It was recorded by the BBC in London's Albert Hall, and that is interesting because in previous years Beecham had wittily criticised the Albert Hall for excessive resonance, but it seems that an earlier performance given in the Royal Festival Hall had been unsuccessful on account of the dry acoustics there, so the Albert Hall came into its own. The 1959 sound has of course been digitally remastered, and there is a short note telling us how difficult this process is, so it is comforting to reflect how many sound engineers can overcome the problems. As we have it here, the sound-quality is admirable, and for a work containing some of the most spectacular orchestral effects in all classical music nothing less would have been good enough.

Berlioz divides the text of his Grande Messe des Morts into ten sections, the separate texts taken from a shortened and rearranged version of the Latin Requiem Mass. It is a pity that the words are not provided here, but if you have the score of Verdi's Requiem to hand you can with only a little effort extract Berlioz's selections from the full text set without deviation by Verdi. In this day and age I can see no difficulty from a liturgical viewpoint with Berlioz's procedure, and from an artistic angle his transposition of texts is often very effective, notably when he recalls part of the opening introit, together with a reference to the Communion prayer Lux Aeterna which otherwise he does not set at all, in his final movement. This gives me the opportunity to say how clear the choral enunciation is - you can hear what they are singing without difficulty if you know the basic words -- and that in turn comes back to the performance. It is the Royal Philharmonic Chorus this time, with a number of vocalists approximately equal to the maximum instrumental forces (taking the Tuba Mirum and the Hostias into account), and split evenly into male and female voices. To get it as right as it is here everyone and everything have to be just so - acoustics of the hall, the remastered sound, the direction and of course the actual performers. Beecham had been known to say, with that engaging modesty of his, 'they make the notes and I make the music', but surely when there is so much praise to go around we can distribute it more evenly.

I'm sure the composer also deserves a little credit for the choral sound. He did not admire Handel but Beecham most emphatically did, and the incomparable choral sound that Beecham attributed to Handel may have been ringing in the ears of this great Handelian as he worked his magic in such a different context. There is only one solo, and Richard Lewis carries it off admirably. When it comes to the orchestral writing Berlioz fears comparison with nobody, and I was thrilled in particular by the effect of the eight trombones and two flutes (if I recall accurately) in the Hostias first and later in the Agnus Dei - and of course by the four brass bands in the Tuba Mirum. I say 'of course' but I'm not sure I have any right to say that because, incredible as it may seem, the Tuba Mirum is often downright dull and pompous in performance.

The difference here is a matter of Beecham vs others. The setting of the Tuba Mirum by Berlioz influenced Verdi when he came to it, and beside Verdi's fierce energy Berlioz can sound rather leisurely. Beecham's tempo is absolutely perfect, and what he provides is a great sound-panoply worthy of not just Verdi but of Michelangelo as well. Indeed Beecham's handling of the tempi throughout is masterly beyond ordinary mastery. Take a look if you will at the tempo directions for all ten movements and you will see that there is likely to be a problem. The ten markings are all much the same, and in a work of this length tedium is an obvious danger, but a danger you would never suspect from hearing this account. 'Of what length?' you might ask. Well, 78 minutes, fitting a single cd like a glove with no wasted capacity. Cd's did not exist in Beecham's time, but he was a child of the gods.

I gather that Beecham's career ended with a performance of Strauss's Ein Heldenleben. I know the performance, and what a fitting monument it makes, along with this great Requiem shortly before. As well as this Mass for the Dead, Beecham's friend Delius had given us his own Mass of Life as his greatest, indeed very great, composition. If possible, Beecham's account of that is even further beyond comparison than this performance is, despite some slight backwardness from the chorus in the opening section. Get to know it as well, if you don't already. There are not many interpretative musicians who could be described as being for all time, but I sense that we have one here.