Customer Reviews

Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have to agree that this recording has the best tempos of the Brahms Requiem I have heard on CD. Most of the other recordings, including Robert Shaw's, and surprisingly, even John Eliot Gardiner's, clock in at around 70 minutes. This means that #2 ("Denn alles Fleisch") especially tends to be sluggish. Masur takes a tempo that is just fast enough not to be plodding, but not so fast that the movement loses its inherent dignity.

Another movement that tends to be sluggish in most recordings is #4 ("Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen"). Here, it lilts. It never feels rushed, yet it still has room to breathe.

This recording is almost exactly 60 minutes long. There is still, however, a wide variation of tempo. #6 ("Denn wir haben hie") is especially masterful. It actually starts slower than some of the 70-minute recordings. Then when the fast section comes ("Denn es wird die posaune schallen"), the contrast is remarkable. This is definitely one of the better recordings available of this work, if not the best.

This was my first recording of the Brahms Requiem and has remained so after years of hearing many versions.

The soloists are truly sensitive singers. Hagegard is now my favorite baritone soloist. He is able to make any piece of music dramatic. Sylvia McNair, a silky voice, demonstrates a lot of restraint and power in her interpretaion of this masterwork.

What I truly love is the tempos. As I listen, Masur takes it at exactly what I want to hear. The New York Philharmonic is able to do anything that Masur wishes: they caress, swell, and climax in such a way as to send chills.

The true stars in this recording is the Westminster Choir. The diction is fresh, crisp and clean. The vowels are truly Germanic, and the dynamics are very flexible. This recording is out and out good. This is the best in the series of Masur's live recordings. The coughs and digital watches are non-existant. Try this one out!

I must admit that this is one of the fastest versions of Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem" I've heard but it is also among the best. Masur's choice of tempi seem absolutely right and his command of the New York Philharmonic is as splendid as always. Under his baton the orchestra gives one of its finest live recordings during his tenure as the orchestra's music director. Sylvia McNair's solos are exquisite, replete with much lyrical phrasing and warmth. However, the true stars of this recording are most definitely the Westminister Choir. Those interested in a splendid recent recording of this work will not be disappointed.

I originally purchased this recording simply because Hakan Hagegard is one of my favorite voices to hear. After listening to Masur's astonishing tempi (especially the downright hasty second movement) I was uncertain whether I could really enjoy this performance, Hagegard or no. I subjected this recording to the ear of a trained musician and orchestral director, and began to learn:

Masur's stint with the New York Philharmonic began after the conductor left the more artistically-confining atmosphere of Leipzig, Germany. Directors had little artistic freedom or license to interpret the music for themselves - if the tempo was adagio it was adagio, with no chance of being either adagio con brio or andante. Masur's tempi with the New York Philharmonic was, in effect, a rebellion against the rigidity of Leipzig.

Even within his rebellion, Masur does not simply create new tempi randomly - he interprets the indicated tempi in a different manner. As for the seemingly prestissimo second movement, the original tempo is preserved, but the beat counted in one, instead of in three. When examined at a deeper level than face value, this recording presents an intriguing historical picture and encourages both study and introspection. I believe I can now forgive Masur his rebelliousness, and begin to understand his choices a bit more.

This is my least favorite of four recordings of this monumental work. If you have never heard "Ein Deutches Requiem", you need to. The work is so majestic, that even quirky interpretations such as this one are still well-worth listening to, hence the 4-star rating for even my least favorite. There is a fine line between "refreshing tempos" and "just plain weird", and Maestro Masur has crossed over. Sylvia McNair, one of my favorite voices, somehow manages to make the soprano solo strident and harsh, lacking the gentle "motherly" quality that can make the movement so touching. I prefer the Atlanta Symphony or the Gardiner version, but then, hey, I got 10 minutes to spare.

The German Requiem put Brahms on the map internationally. It is a vernacular funeral rite--equally effective in German or English--that turns its back on the Catholic Requiem Mass, taking its text from snippets of both the Old and New Testament. No one had supplied the Protestant world with its own kind of Requiem, and the work spread like wildfire. Its prevailing melancholy, with fervent bursts of light and hope, also appealed to pious Victorians, all of whom knew death on a personal basis in the century before antibiotics and safe childbirth methods.

I mentoin all of this because Masur has decided to go a step further, to leave Victorian Europe and its earnest piety behind. To do that, he takes speeded up tempi that give the first two movements a tense, anxious feeling. This suits the texts, but it is far removed from the tone deliberately set by Brahms. I wonder if more harm than good is done, even though later movements are not drastically sped up and the soloists, along with chorus and orchestra, are first rate. If you can't feel comfortable with Brahm's theology, and that of his audience, it might be better just to leave the German Requiem alone. I for one had a good listen out of curiosity and then tossed this CD away.