Customer Reviews

Fauré - Requiem · Orchestral Music / Hendricks · van Dam · Plasson

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Faure's Requiem is known as the requiem that envision's life after death with grace and peace. Surely Faure looked upon death with a very French Catholic perspective. This performance and recording capture this essence perfectly. Plasson is long-time conductor of the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse and as such he is the curator of one of the only remaining "French" sounding orchestras. Vocalists are multinational but each is a superb singer cast for their role. Barbara Hendricks, who soprano highlights Pie Jesu is among the highlights. For those of you who've heard this performed by a local church or on one of the recordings where an organ or small orchestra is behind the chorus, this recording may surprise you with its lushness. For me, it's just right. The recording is nice too, with microphones set back in what's obviously a cathedral, or large hall. If you have a large stereo, turn it up. It's recorded with a wide dynamic range. The low organ notes will rumble so you feel them more than hear them, which is as it should be. Highly recommended.

At the low price of $6.98, I purchased this Gabriel Faure collection for the hauntingly beautiful Pavane and Sicilienne works only, and ended up enjoying several other selections included as well. While this is not the best Faure CD, for the price it is a good CD to add to a classical music CD collection, and with many other favorites at similar prices, one can afford to add a few more and receive free shipping as well.