Customer Reviews

Bruckner: Te Deum; Mozart: Requiem

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I heard Bruno Walter's account of this piece for the first time tonight, and I must say I was blown away. I always knew that this was an extraordinary work, yet all other recordings I've heard made it seem like something less. Karajans digital recording put me to sleep; Jochums was just missing a little something. I bought Walters account because I loved his recording of the ninth. Now first off I must say, THIS IS NOT A PERFECT RECORDING. It is not for those who are so uptight about sound that they can't tolerate a little hiss or lack of space. It does sound its age (195?). However, I still find it to be a most enjoyable recording and I think sony does wonders with remastering. And Bruno Walters vision is just extraordinary. I've never heard anything like it. This may not be a perfect recording, but it is the best on the market.

Walter's reading of the Mozart Requiem is said to be the classic one. But you'll find several versions from his hand on the market. This surely is the best. It has a far better choir than the Vienna Philharmonic-set (who conducted that awful choir??) and the soloists are magnificent, both Seefried and Simoneau at the peak of their powers. But what classifies this recording as outstanding is of course Walter's conducting. He knew better than anybody what this piece is about. Norrington, Hogwood, McCreesh, Gardiner etc., this is a question of music - music of the highest order - not about being authentic or not.

These are two recordings from Walter's tenure with the New York Philharmonic in the 50's, so the sound isn't glisteningly digital and defined. However, it is more than good enough for me. The performances are tremendous. Bruckner's "Te Deum" has never been more granitically powerful, and the soloists are downright rapturous (Frances Yeend, you go girl!). Mozart's "Requiem" is exquisite, and thankfully Walter achieves a sense of unity between Mozart's sections of the work and Sussmayr's, which many conductor's seem unable to manage.

I have listened to more than two dozen performances of the Requiem, and this is as close to perfect as it gets. The only disadvantage is the sound quality, but it is a minor trade-off.

it's been a long time since i heard it from my collection...many years ago i was very taken by this recording..after hearing it over a local radio station...he does wonders with the orch...how can one feel after hearing the chorus cry out thoses powerful words te deum...i hope the recording companies release more of his masterworks......

I bought this cd for the recording of the Requiem, so no comments on the music by Bruckner.

To say that this recording is 'not perfect' is somewhat of an understatement.... it is in fact absolutely pathetic compared to today's standards. So forget about the 'magic wand' of Sony's engineers and their 20-bit 'SBM': it's not happening! But as remastered 50's recordings come and go, it's fairly reasonable, meaning the intelligibility of the choir (seems huge) is more or less zero, solist recordings are ok and hiss, plops and freq balance have more or less been 'fixed' during remastering (probably at the expense of what depth there was in the original recording) and of course, everything is in mono(!). Just wanted to make that absolutely clear...

Having said that, the performance is very good, interesting, with some very fine solists. I'm a huge fan of Mozart and this Requiem (K626) so having to listen to it through, what appears to be, a bent waterpipe is not a real problem in this case.

Bruno Walter was already 20 when Brahms died, and his view of choral conducting retained all the ceremonial solemnity of Victorian religiosity. This Mozart Requiem from 1956, with excellent chorus and solo quartet, is weighty and forceful. It justifies Beethoven's remark that the Mozart Requiem was a wild and frightening work.

Sheer force of numbers contributes to that effect--we are hearing a full orchestra and a chorus large enough to drown out the orchestra in forte passages. The mono sound is woolly--barely a syllable of the choral text is intelligible--but undistorted. I own an earlier pressing that doesn't include the Bruckner Te Deum and therefore cannot comment on it. But by itself the Requiem is a commadning performance whose grandness is never ponderous or self-righteous.

Bruno Walter was one of the greatest Conductors of the 20th century. He was long famous for his association with Gustav Mahler and his desire to promote the works of both Mahler and Bruckner. In addition to being a champion of Mahler and Brucker compositions, Walter was also more than capable of conducting the standard works by Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms among others. Its a shame so many of the Sony Bruno Walter recordings are out of print, but perhaps Sony will eventually put them back in print.

On this disc, we get both the Bruckner Te Deum and Mozart Requiem, with the New York Philharmonic. Walter's interpretation of the Requiem could easily be the top rendition on disc, but is held back by the sound quality. This disc was recorded before the days of Stereo, so there are times when its hard to understand the words being sung by the vocalists. This is where having the actual text can help you out. However, the Orchestral parts are not as limited by the old mono sound, allowing you to hear the genius of Mozart and the great conducting of Bruno Walter.

The Requiem was one of Mozart's greatest works, even if he died before it could be finished. Listening to Walter's account is a great starting point, but it should also be accompanied by a more recent version in Stereo or Digital, to make the vocal sections much clearer and easier to understand. For this, I would recommend Herbert von Karajan or Karl Bohm on DG or Christopher Hogwood on Decca. No need to limit yourself to one recording of this great Mozart composition, but Walter is a good palce to start.

On the Bruckner Te Deum, Walter again delivers a classic account and my personal favorite. The Te Deum is not recorded as often as the Mozart Requiem, so I confess to having only heard the accounts by Bruno Walter and Eugen Jochum, but it is still an interesting piece to listen to.

This is a remaster of a 1953 performance that may have been a great performance, but not a great piece of audio recording. The distant microphone placement fails to deliver the depth and power of Bruckner's mighty Te Deum.