Customer Reviews

Faure: Requiem

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Having just completed a dissitation on Faure's Requiem Mass I have had the delightful experience of listenting to many different interpretations of this fine work. Faure intended to show "Death as a comforter" rather than as a terrible event (as seen in the gargantuan masses of Verdi and Berlioz). One cannot flaw the actual composition; although some claim it is far too sweet the darker movements provide an adequate balance. I can't help feeling that those who make the aforementionned criticism have missed the point of this work. The lighter movements (Agnus Dei, Pie Jesu and In paradisum) are not necessarily sweet. The Pie Jesu has wonderful pleading undertones, while the In paradisum is more serene and calming than sweet.

An initial response to this recording, however, may not be entirely favourable. The quality is dated and there are some irritating background noises, bows striking music stands and the like. However, such minor points can be easily forgiven. Cluytens makes a very satisfactory interpretation, bringing out the charm and the desired nature of this intricate, intimate work. The choir is also very good, with none of the usual 'old moaners' as members. They and the orchestra perform with meaningful subtlety.

Where this recording really shines, however, is in the soloists. Fischer-Dieskau is far from operatic and is surely the sort of voice the composer intended. He is calming and even-toned in the Offertorium and commanding in the Libera me. Fans of Victoria de los Angeles may be slightly disappointed; she was not at her best here. There is a somewhat uncontrolled feeling and at some points her intonation leaves a little to be desired. However, she does have a very fine voice with all the serene beauty and ringing tone required.

All in all this is a good buy and is great value. If you're tempted to buy the more expensive version with Cecilia Bartoli and Bryn Terfel you may be disappointed. Although both have very fine voices Terfel is somewhat out of place and Bartoli is more warm than pleading. There are, however, plenty of good recordings of this popular work and it is on the whole a matter of taste. Nevertheless beware of the Giulini, Schmidt, Battle version. Although the soloists have fine voices there is too much wallowing and the work loses momentum, but then again that is my personal taste. Just enjoy this beautiful requiem!

I must say right off the bat that most of this recording is a travesty of Faure's conception, both in the orchestration and in the tempi and resulting expression. The orchestration cannot be helped, since it is only in recent years that it was discovered that Faure's original was for lower strings, brass, organ and timpani only, with many differences (e.g. solo violin an octave higher in the Sanctus), and was then re-orchestrated by someone else.

However, that doesn't make much odds. What is much more important is the inordinately heavy, dragging, lugubrious feel of many movements. What's wrong with that, it's a Requiem isn't it? But a look at Faure's tempo markings reveals that many passages that are played at a dead slow Adagio or Lento in this effort are supposed to be Andante: the effect, rather than a depressive pall of mourning, would be more a serene meditation or remembrance. The louder passages would be less of a trial of endurance, and more urgent, dramatic and human. Cluytens brings a heavy, Germanic, doom-laden Romantic atmosphere which is demonstrably alien to Faure's score; the Richard Marlow/Trinity College choir recording is no doubt much closer to the spirit of the piece.

In addition, the choir is far from the technical standards typical of German and English groups: intonation is frequently sagging and the sopranos are subject to wobble. Even in the famous first opening chords, there is an unsteady first tenor sticking out of the blend.

Perhaps you will think that because this is such a famous and 'authoritative' recording that it is impossible that it should go so wrong in its overall outlook. But let's go through the movements.

The tenors' 'Requiem eternam' a few minutes after the start is 'Andante moderato', 72 beats per minute: Cluytens starts at 56, dismal enough, but after a few pages is down to 50 and even 48 for the cries of 'Christe eleison'! At such speeds it is impossible for the phrases to have any shape or flow or for those outbursts to have any dramatic urgency.

The second movement 'O Domine' is also subject to glacially creeping tempos. The marking is 48 per minute, Cluytens starts the alto entry at 36 and a few pages later is down to 32: rather than a very slow, but flowing, four in a bar, he takes a plodding eight. Once again this kills any possibility of shaping the phrases and of producing any emotional effect beyond the grief-sodden.

Things pick up ('Hostias') with the arrival of Fischer-Dieskau, in one of his most sensitive and lyrical outings: Cluytens' speed is only a few notches below the marking and we hear some rather beautiful phrasing and ebb and flow in the orchestra. With the return of the choir, alas, the tempo is yet more static, almost turning Faure's soaring coda into a plodding counterpoint exercise.

Sanctus is rather more successful, except for the sopranos' apparent inability to pronounce the letter 's' at the end of words. What we get is 'Sanctu, Dominu Deu Sabaoth'... nor do they escape going flat on occasional descending phrases.

de los Angeles' Pie Jesu is not as bad as some have suggested: the wobble in her pure soprano is rarely obtrusive and the only major fault is some rather schmaltzy scooping at the last return of the opening melody. Cluytens actually goes rather faster than the metronome here, but no great damage is done, only a slight diminution of the effect of 'eternal rest'.

With Agnus Dei, the interpretation returns to indomitable slowness and turgidity. For those who care, Faure's marking is 72, Cluytens starts at 55 then later reaches 50 and even 46 per minute: the 'Lux aeterna' really is interminable! As one might expect, the harmonic and melodic sequence of the music becomes fairly incoherent with such a continual ritardation - and apart from that, the syncopated bass figures at the first loud entry are simply lumpen and unrhythmical.

At 'Libera me' the arrival of Fischer-Dieskau presages intelligent music-making, and that is what we get, just the right tempo combining the urgency of the prayer with the dignity of Faure's great melody. But when Cluytens is left to his own devices, he runs hopelessly into the mud. Instead of increasing the tension at 'ventura ira' (the coming of thy anger) in preparation for the Piu mosso (faster) section marked by Faure, he actually slows down. Dies Illa is simply elephantine galumphing with plenty of portentousness but no terror or anger. At the end of this section, competent conductors can gradually drain out the adrenalin before returning to 'Libera me' at the original tempo, but Cluytens has nowhere to go - his 'lux perpetua' is already at a crawl and he can barely raise the energy to get back to the tempo primo, and it is left to Faure's big tune to just about save the honour of the movement.

In Paradisum is actually quite good: the tempo is only slightly lugubrious, the organ figures just about escape the pedantic effect which would set in if any slower, the sopranos stay adequately in tune.

To sum up, this CD is not worth buying, because of the dismal conducting, mediocre choir, the fact that one can easily pick up the original LPs, and the absence of any filler. (On the Trinity/Marlow disc there are, in addition to the Requiem, the Cantique de Jean Racine, four motets of Durufle and one of Messaien, and a mass of Durufle.) Fischer-Dieskau is the one part of it that one could really call 'legendary'. Buy it only if you are a DFD fanatic.

The growing popularity of Faure's Requiem has made it fashionable in some music circles to be slightly superior about it. Revisiting this classic recording (which was first re-issued by EMI in 1989, having been available as a budget LP for over 30 years) reminds me why that is a wholly misplaced reaction. Victoria de los Angeles and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau bring real depth to their solos. The Paris Conservatoire under Cluytens dwells on the luscious instrumental textures at the surface of the work, but there is loss and longing in there too. Faure's Requiem sits on the cusp of religiosity and agnosticism. This classic performance captures its sheer warmth and humanity. No doubt there are better technical recordings - in at least two places there are badly engineered fades that presumably go back to the original master tapes. But if you want the emotion and feeling of this twentieth century classic, here is a fine place to start

I'm just a bit distressed at the comments by the featured reviewer above me, as he obviously knows much, much more about music recording than I do, and much, much more about this particular piece of music. But, for those rank music amateurs like me out there, I give my two cents, and that two cents is that when compared to so many other liturgical pieces from Mozart onwards, this has much to offer. The reason is not hard to see, as the notes indicate that Faure's father died just before he began work on the piece, and his mother died as he was writing it.

And, from a liturgical point of view, this Requium has the amazing property of being short enough to realisticly be used for real funerals. The only problem there is that by itself, it fills a scant 40 minutes. One would have thought EMI could come up with some other Faure material to pad it out a bit.

At any rate, if, like me, you really enjoy liturgical music, this piece and this performance, especially for the Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau solo, is a great find.

Having just finished singing the Requiem with the Syracuse Oratorio Society, I bought this eagerly, loving the music. But this version sounds like it's got a lead weight around its leg. The unbelievably slow tempi make this much more dirgelike, even in the bright shining passages. A real disappointment.

Play this. Enjoy this. It will simultaneously soothe and uplift you. A beautiful recording of this heavenly piece. One of the nicest things about this CD is that the Faure is the sole piece on it. Trying to follow this Requiem with anything else would be senseless.

I have multiple recordings of this work, but this one with the two baritone solos performed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is my favorite. Fischer-Dieskau renders lilting solos with delicate almost silky musicianship. His music is truly art with complete and elegant control of tone, diction and power.

I performed these solos a few years ago and I had purchased a different recording and tried to use it to inspire and polish my rendition, but that one was bombastic and too-full of power, but was clearly more craft than art. Near the end of my preparation I found this recording and used it as my inspiration for improving my performance. I wished I had found it much earlier!

Highly recommended.

Continuo revisando algunos titulos de esa gran serie que es EMI Great Recordings of the Century, aue a precio medio y remasterizadas saca al mercado algunas de las maximas referencias en algunas obras concretas.
De referencia tambien es esta version del 'Requiem' de Faure, que cuenta con el lujo de un DIETRICH FISCHER DIESKAU centradisimo y capaz de sacar ya sea dulzura o ya sea crudeza en su canto segun lo requiera cada momento de la obra. Su labor en esta obra es francamente muy dificil de superar. VICTORIA DE LOS ANGELES es otro lujo para el 'Pie Jesu', que canta con una dulzura y una interioridad dificiles de mejorar: Su voz parece realmente la de un angel.
Al mando de la Conservatory Concert Society Orchestra (mencion especial al solista de organo, que realiza una gran labor) ANDRE CLUYTENS (que aparece mucho en esta serie de EMI GROC y suele hacerlo con Victoria de los Angeles, como en esta ocasion) extrae toda la dulzura y la sutileza de esta genial partitura, contando con un coro absolutamente maravilloso.
Una gran version que ahora gracias a esta remasterizacion (fantastica como todas las de esta serie, dicho sea de paso) vuelve al mercado a un precio al alcance de todos los bolsillos. Si estan interesados en esta obra, esta es una version que no deberian dejar de escuchar

This is one of those peices that I've obsessivley sought out perfect recordings of. And this is the one.

The orchestra is beautiful, astonishing, transporting, miraculous. This recording alone was enough to establish Cluytens as a major conductor and master of the early 20th century French repitoire.

The Chorus is equally rapturious, sonorous, clear.

The soloists: Fischer-Dieskau is brilliant, better than any other in this part. His mellow tone will float you away like a feather over a central-heating vent. I could spend hours writing about the wonder of his voice. Victoria de los Angeles sounds like a goat on this record, but her performance grows on you. Really. And she's only in one movement.

You have to have this recording in your classical library. Buy it now.

This is truly a splendid recording. I cannot get the music in this cd out of my head. The soloist and "goat" did a wonderful job. Victoria... was a bit heavy on her solo and at "Dona eis" she was a bit sharp. I appreciate how you could hear Puig-Roget at the organ. I feel sorry for the clarinetist and flautist because they sit on their butts all the time doing nothing. I have a dover score to this and I feel I have learned alot about the newer classical music.