Customer Reviews

Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem

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Everyone who loves Brahms has a favorite recording of his uniquely beautiful and deeply moving Requiem and the competition among the varying performances is keen. For this listener, still committed to the old Klemperer, von Karajan, and Levine recordings (for varying reasons), this now Grammy award winning CD is in a class of its own. Part of the grandeur of the impact of this Requiem is the fact that it is a true capturing of a live performance, something that at times sacrifices perfect acoustics for immediacy. But here Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic and the Berlin Rundfunkchor in a richly detailed, emotionally satisfying and probing reading of this great work.

Rattle's ability to find the nearly inaudible pianissimos in the opening movement are matched only by his explosive bursts of radiant sound in the big moments. The choral sound is pure and unstrained and the mighty Berlin Philharmonic is sensitive to Rattle's every nuance. Thomas Quasthoff is the baritone soloist, producing his expected lush tone coupled with his communication of the text. Dorothea Röschmann may not erase all memories of Gundula Janowitz's exquisitely effortless solo, but hers is a radiantly beautiful voice, blooming on the top while remaining in the communication of the words. The overall effect of this recording is one of warm and eloquent Brahms and the Grammy award for finest choral performance is well deserved. Grady Harp, February 08

I'm not sure I've ever heard the Deutsches Requiem sound more Brahmsian. That may seem an odd remark, but many recordings make of it a sui generis piece, living in a funerary world of its own. But I hear in this performance from Rattle and the Berliners direct lines into the symphonies and the concertos that I'm seldom so conscious of with other performers. It's there in the melodic and rhythmic phrasing, in the orchestral textures, especially of the woodwind, and in the integration of choir and orchestra.

Like his recent Schubert Great C Major, this is in many ways an old fashioned performance. Tempi are broader than we get from more `authentic' modernists like John Eliot Gardiner, Roger Norrington and the like, textures are richer and warmer, it comes through as an altogether grander work. Brahms determined to write a very untraditional Requiem, not just in his choice of texts but in his focus on the bereaved who are left behind rather than the traditional prayers for the dead themselves. It was, after all, written soon after his mother's death and the central movement, `Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit', is a tender and moving memorial to her. Rattle reflects this humanity in his performance: it is perhaps the most humanist German Requiem since Kempe's wonderful performance with the same orchestra.

I don't want to leave the impression that this is an over-sombre, stodgy performance, though. Far from it. Those moments when the clouds clear and the sun comes out and the music starts to stir with life, movement and liveliness suit Rattle's ability to lift and energise a rhythm well. The fourth movement becomes almost a lilting waltz at times, a heavenly dance if you like. The big fugal passages with their strong undertow of typical Brahmsian pedal points have great energy and thrust. Even the imposing, deliberate tread of the `Alles Fleisch' funeral march always retains focus and purpose.

The performers are an impressive lot. The orchestra again shows itself to be in the very front rank, investing textures with colour and shape, phrasing solos with individuality while remaining consistent with the whole. The choir are exceptional: this is glorious, wonderfully disciplined choral singing. Roschmann is an ideally tender soprano soloist in that central, consolatory movement. Quastoff is eloquent as always, but do I detect just the first signs of wear and tear in the voice creeping in? Is there just a tad more spread to the tone when it's put under pressure than there used to be? It is nevertheless a fine performance. Perhaps neither soloist quite lives up to the perfect ethereal beauty of Grummer or the drama of Fischer-Dieskau on the Kempe recording, but they are certainly good enough to see off most of their modern rivals.

As a performance, the Kempe remains something very special. Among modern recordings, this new one is up there with the very best. Gardiner is worth exploring for a refreshingly brisker cleaner view: but for a more traditional take on the work this new Berlin performance is well worth hearing.

The previous negative reviewer seems lost in his own personal reactions and hasn't given an accurate description of Simon Rattle's persuasive new German Requiem from Berlin. Far from being slow, traditional, and rich-sounding, this performance is 5 min. faster than Karajan from Vienna and 10 minn. faster than the classic Klemperer from London (both on EMI). What overall timings can't reveal is that Rattle takes slow sections slower than usual and fast ones faster. The chorus is smallish rather than employing large church choirs or a body like the Vienna Singverein. The forces under Rattle sound no fuller than Gardiner's Monteverdi Choir on Philips. Textures are similarly streamlined. So much for the objective facts.

And the performance itself? Rattle avoided Brahms's music for twenty years on records and has turned to it late, no doubt out of a sense that his position in Berlin calls for it. One detects a certain lack of religious intensity in the opening movements, which is strongly at odds with Brahms's fervent Protestant intent. There's no lift, no soaring lyricism when harmonies shift upward. The timpani underlying the second movement should sound like the approach of fate--this is a work about death--but here it sounds merely like a drumbeat.

For many listeners the chief attraction will be the great Thomas Quasthoff, a totally convincing singer of Brhams lieder. The Gramophone reviewer grumbled that Quasthoff was having a bad night, but that would be an outstanding night for any other baritone. In fact his voice lacks a certain stability of tone at loud volume here, but he is never less than a passionate, riveting soloist, for me the best to be heard in the wonderful third and sixth movements since Hans Hotter for Karajan in the early postwar years. Rattle follows Quasthoff's lead, giving us freer expression and hushed spiritual intimacy from the chorus--this is the cry of souls coming face to face with mortality on Judgment Day.

I am not a particular fan of Dorothea Roschmann, who nevertheless gets a lot of plum jobs in opera and choral works nowadays. Here she is up against the likes of Schwarzkopf and Battle, whose singing of the Traurigkeit movement is exquisite. Roschmann can't match them for vocal purity, but she is emotionally gripping, which counts for a lot, and Rattle speeds up the movement, making it vocally less teacherous for her. Throughout the German Radio Choir, which I assume is professional or nearly so, sings quite accurately and with pure tone.

In all, this reading is a mixed bag. I don't think I really buy that Rattle is sympathetic to Brahms's religious feelings, but he is certainly skillful at extracting a convincing performance musically, and Quasthoff is a joy.

The Berlin Philharmonic as usual sounds amazing. The choir sounds excellent and the internal balance is very good. Simon Rattle does not take slow tempos in this work. He is swift in some movements and the fuges move with great movement and energy. There are a few spots where I felt the tempo was to swift but he phrases and shapes the performance lovingly. In the big sections he allows the Berlin Philharmonic to play with the muscle and wieght that they so often bring to great works such as this.

A minor problem is in the balance of the solo voices. EMI has the solo voices to close in the final mix. This at times can bring a degree of harsness in their singing that might not be there had the voices been mixed more "naturally" as you would hear in a concert hall. The way companies mix soloist such as singers or instrumentalists is a problem as they tend to over mix the soloist rather then balance the sound somewhat more distance in the final mix as you would hear in the concert hall.

Other than how the solos are to closely mixed in the sound picture this is a very fine performance.

I was prepared to like this Brahms Requiem but am clearly parting company with most previous reviewers. I found it very underwhelming: static and even stodgy, even though I don't much like the friskier approach espoused by the likes of John Eliot Gardiner. For me, this one never manages to progress beyond an over-reverential, all-purpose melancholy which fails to acknowledge those moments when Brahms' quiet, dignified expression of grief is transfigured by a grand and noble determination to outface and rise above the debilitating effects of loss. At times the music must pick up and surge forward and I found myself yelling "Get on with it!" when Rattle doggedly sticks to a plodding jog-trot, particularly in the triumphant anthem following the outburst "Aber, des Herrn Wort" and in the great fugue in the penultimate movement. Orchestra and choir are as good as you might expect from Berlin but they are undermined by Rattle's timid literalism, and the soloists are just plain disappointing compared with more illustrious predecessors. I don't know what has happened to the normally impressive Thomas Quasthoff, but here he is definitely either out of sorts or his voice is beginning to evince disturbing signs of premature wear: the vibrato is too wide, production rocky and his tone sometimes blares. Just compare him with José van Dam in Karajan's 1983 account - actually, there is no comparison; van Dam is infinitely more alluring, more moving - and more subtle. Similarly, Dorothea Röschmann's pleasant, slightly thin voice pales into insignificance against the pure, soaring, angelic sopranos of Gundula Janowitz or Barbara Hendricks. There is not enough light and shade in this performance and it remains stubbornly earthbound; for the real deal in great sound seek out any of Karajan's three accounts, particularly that 1983 recording with the Vienna forces in superb form.

I had the privilege of seeing this performance live in Berlin. It was a life-changing experience. While orchestras around the world have made vast improvements in the last fifty years or so, the Berlin Philharmonic is setting a new level of excellence. Never have I heard such a gorgeous sound (from orchestra, soloists, and chorus), such impeccable intonation, such clarity and accuracy, and all in a true spirit of music-making. At the end of the concert, even after the orchestra left the stage, we all continued to applaud. This was truly a rare moment in music.

Brahm's German Requiem doesn't follow Mozart's or Verdi's Catholic Requiem Mass tradition. It doesn't have a Dies Irae. Although perhaps the 2nd movement, 'For all flesh is as grass', is a kind of Dies Irae - with its haunting melody, and its existentialist truth is conveyed in both the music and words. I think that the 2nd movement was my favourite out of the whole Requiem. I think that Simon Rattle's interpretation, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Rundfunkchor of Berlin, and the soloists, Thomas Quasthoff and Dorothea Roschmann all give a very good performance of this Requiem.

Brahms: A German Requiem is a recording under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle who leads the Berliner Philharmoniker on this emi classics release from 2007. This requiem is just as beautiful as the one composed by Mozart and shows Brahms genius. Richard Osbourne has written the liner-notes which are informative and well-written. The lyrics are available in French, German and English. Truly a masterwork. Highly recommended. 5/5.

I ordered this recording of Brahms's German Requiem on the advice of Amy Kaiser, director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, while we were preparing to perform the piece in January 2011. I now share Amy's opinion that this is one of the most beautiful and moving performances of the German Requiem on record. The diction, by an all-native German-speaking chorus, is THE gold standard for conveying the meaning of the text in a flawlessly idiomatic style. The soloists are amazing. I had to listen to it several times before I was able to sing along on my chorus part without bursting into tears. Worth hearing again & again!

Brahms's Requiem tends to divide opinions strongly. Bernard Shaw, the eminent critic writing in 1891 called the work "colossaly stupid, which has made so many of us wish ourselves dead." I humbly disagree with Mr Shaw and admit to having a great affection for the music, having grown up with the celebrated Klemperer version.

Simon Rattle's live recording with the Berlin Philharmonic seems to evoke varying (and heated) responses. My conclusion about the performance is that it is a proficient rendition, direct and unadorned. Good choral contributions and variable soloists; I found Roschmann's contribution surprizingly attractive while Quasthoff sounds somewhat ill suited for the part. My primary disappointment is with EMI's sound which, while generally adequate, lacks definition in the bass and gives a slightly artificial timbre to the orchestral sound. Klemperer, recorded in the 60's, has a far more natural effect and greater orchestral clarity.

Rattle's fans will enjoy this performance. While Klemperer would be a primary choice, I find Karajan's 1947 Vienna recording (despite a second rate chorus and elderly but clear sound), a most satisfying interpretation. Also hunt out the exceptional Fritz Lehmann/BPO-1955 on DG.