Berlioz: Requiem; Boito: Prologue to Mefistofele

Hector Berlioz (Composer), Arrigo Boito (Composer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Robert Shaw (Conductor), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), John Aler (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: John Aler
• Orchestra: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Robert Shaw
• Composer: Hector Berlioz, Arrigo Boito, Giuseppe Verdi
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000003CTJ
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,935 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. I. Requiem Et Kyrie

2. II. Dies Irae

3. III. Quid Sum Miser

4. IV. Rex Tremendae

5. V. Quaerens Me

6. VI. Lacrymosa

7. VII. Offertorium

8. VIII. Hostias

Disc: 2

1. IX. Sanctus - John Aler

2. X. Agnus Dei - John Aler

3. I. Prelude And Chorus - John Cheek

4. II. Instrumental Scherzo And Dramatic Intermezzo

5. III. Vocal Scherzo

6. IV. Final Psalmody

7. Te Deum

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb modern performance of the Berlioz Requiem., December 11, 2003

By 

Bob Zeidler (Charlton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berlioz: Requiem; Boito: Prologue to Mefistofele (Audio CD)

Two hundred years ago today, Louis-Hector Berlioz was born. This is a day for me to comment on a few of my favorite performances of his works, some of them "favorites by acclamation" and others simply those in which I find special merit, enough so that they are frequently in my CD players.

Berlioz's Requiem is, with Giuseppe Verdi's "Manzoni" Requiem, one of the two great dramatic renderings of this text; works that have stood the test of time. If the Verdi work is the more frequently performed and operatic Requiem, the Berlioz is the more "forward-looking" and not at all lacking in its own drama and grandeur.

One needs to go "back into the vaults" to find a recorded performance of this essential Berlioz work that matches Robert Shaw's stunning version in its balance of sublime beauty and visceral excitement, not to mention its spacious sonics, all the way back to the much earlier performances by Charles Munch and Sir Thomas Beecham in fact. And then, of course, one pays a fairly heavy penalty in terms of sonics.

Despite the resources required, the work hardly lacks for "decent" recordings that are more modern than the Beecham and Munch ones, by such esteemed Berlioz specialists as Sir Colin Davis and Charles Dutoit, as well as by James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa and Sir Andre Previn. But "decent" is just not good enough; some of these fail to catch fire in one way or another, and none of them have the choral excellence of this Shaw recording under consideration. Only the Dutoit (in an otherwise curiously unengaging performance) can come close to matching Shaw in terms of recorded sound. (In fairness, I confess to not yet having heard John Eliot Gardiner's recording. It may, in its HIP [historically informed performance] way, be the equal of this Shaw recording.)

Shaw finds the appropriate dynamic contrasts in the work, from the gentlest supplications of the "Sanctus" and "Agnus Dei" to the most violent outbursts of the "Dies irae" and "Rex tremendae." The sound - and the perception of depth and spatial effects - is of demonstration quality, particularly in the "Tuba mirum" section of the "Dies irae," for which four brass bands are disposed at the extreme corners of the recording venue at Atlanta Symphony Hall.

The blazing originality of Berlioz shines through everywhere, not just in the instrumental (and choral) outbursts. The otherworldly effect in the "Hostias" of having flutes and trombones separated by many octaves, to represent the immensity of the distance from Heaven to Hell, is captured perfectly, right down to the trombones' pedal-tone growl (just one of many Berlioz innovations). John Aler, arguably our very best "American French tenor," is splendid in the "Sanctus," and the Shaw chorus, needless to say, is one that is seldom - if ever - topped.

John Aler can also be found on a Delos recording of another Berlioz work in a similar vein, the Te Deum (conducted by Dennis Keene), a recording I recommend highly. Regrettably, Robert Shaw never committed the Berlioz Te Deum to disc; it would have made a perfect filler. (This might be because of the special antiphonal "call and response" requirements between orchestra and organ that Berlioz takes pains to specify. Aler/Keene had the benefit of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for their recording, a perfect venue for the work.)

But the two fillers in this boxed set - the Prologue to Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele and Verdi's Te Deum - which earlier filled a Telarc LP - are nonetheless excellent "fits" for the Berlioz Requiem.

I can remember, a quarter-century ago, when Norman Treigle "owned" the role of Mefistofele while he was at the New York City Opera (an ownership that was subsequently taken over by Samuel Ramey upon Treigle's unfortunate death by suicide). If John Cheek isn't quite the match for Treigle or Ramey, he doesn't miss by much. And the ASO performance and Telarc recording quality are pretty much assured of shaking your rafters just as well as the dramatic parts of the Berlioz work will.

The Verdi work is equally fine, but not nearly as cataclysmic as his "Manzoni" Requiem or Berlioz's own Te Deum.

The age of these performances (1984 for the Berlioz and 1979 for the fillers) doesn't show a bit. And neither does Berlioz the composer, 200 years old today.

Bon anniversaire, M. Berlioz!

Bob Zeidler

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly magnificent!, June 1, 2003

By 

MartinP "MartinP" (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berlioz: Requiem; Boito: Prologue to Mefistofele (Audio CD)

A while ago I gave my opinion of Dutoit's recording of the Berlioz Requiem on this site, and took the opportunity to sing the praise of this magnificent work - extensively so, and I won't repeat myself here. But every time I hear it, it again seems to grow in stature. In fact, I feel this work is so profound that it is more than worthy to stand alongside those other very greatest choral works in history, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Bach's Hohe Messe.
And this recording must be the best one made of it (there really ought to be many, many more to choose from, though!). That Shaw knows how to get the best out of a chorus we knew, but frankly I haven't been unreservedly happy with his handling of the orchestra in some other recordings (Mahler's Eight seems a relevant case in point). However, no such reservations here. Details are meticulously moulded, tempo's perfectly judged, and dynamics closely observed (though a little more 'swell' would have been welcome here and there). Rhythmic articulation is stunningly crisp both in chorus and orchestra (notice the choral singing in the Kyrie!). John Aler is the perfect soloist in the Sanctus, giving an unforced, deeply dignified reading of a piece that too often is allowed to veer towards the operatic - and this Requiem certainly isn't opera!
To top things of all these glorious sounds are caught in the best Telarc fashion, with completely natural perspectives and a thrillingly spacial feel to the four brass bands - not only in the Tuba Mirum, but in their quieter parts elsewhere too. Details remain clearly audible when textures thicken. All in all, a recording that allows full and unhampered immersion in this deeply moving and at times overwhelming masterpiece. I would still like to here John Elliot Gardiner's take on this work, as I did after hearing the Dutoit, but I doubt he can do very much better than this.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hi Fidelity High Jumps, April 27, 2001

By 

MR EVAN WILLIAMS (EPPING, N S W Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berlioz: Requiem; Boito: Prologue to Mefistofele (Audio CD)

I have been collecting the Telarc classics for a few years and always found their sound quality excellent. I came across the Berlioz Requiem and was not disappointed: I was blow-away. From a technical sound-engineering perspective the recording has no peers; it combines the warmth of string tone with a full and rich wind sound coupled when called on for a rasping disonance of brass and percussion. The purist will relish the menacing lower strings in the Dies irea - Prosa and the way Shaw pulls the Atlanta Symphony faster and slower to make his point. The Andante Maestoso is truly terrifying with combined brass choirs (4 of them)in addition to (amongst the rest of the orchestra) 12 french horns 16 Timpani, 4 Gongs and 12 Cymbals. The Atlanta Chorus is suitably amplified for the occasion and performs without an hint of an American accent cutting across the Latin verse. With such large orchestra/choral forces arrayed it is not surprising that intonation suffers, particularly at the Piu largo, also Shaw's use of accented timpani and bass drum entries at this point is, at first disconcerting. The affect does grow on one after a few read throughs however. In summary: A must have.