Customer Reviews

Faure: Requiem, Op. 48; Durufle: Requiem, Op. 9

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Frankly, this review should begin and end with the advice to listen to the fourth sample offered here "Pie Jesu" as sung by the celestial soprano Lucia Popp. If that doesn't have you nearly weeping and struggling to find the "buy-it-now" button through your tears, you are made of sterner stuff than I.

Who was Lucia Popp? She was a Slovenian soprano, born in 1939 and alas, she went to sing for the angels in 1993. She had a typically bright Slavic soprano, with an almost crystalline metallic tone that served well for many sacred works and also for such pieces as the childlike hymn at the end of Mahler's Fourth Symphony. She was also able to create a warmer, less ringing tone, so could sing anything from intimate lieder to the vocally vicious role of Mozart's Queen of the Night.

And Faure's Requiem? Faure achieved something magical with this work, and the Pie Jesu has to be one of the most wonderful sacred works for solo voice written since Mozart's Exultate Jubilate.

I recommend this recording for not only Popp's sublime sound, but Colin Davis' excellent direction. It is superb.

I've heard or owned about 8 recordings of the French 20th-Century composer Maurice Durufle's deeply moving Requiem. At the risk of sounding like some kind of a "Classical Music Heretic", I find the more popular Faure Requiem to be pleasant, but without the same depth. On the other hand, Durufle's highly underrated Requiem is the true Masterpiece represented here.

Creatively & emotionally, Durufle created something far more unique; there are chilling depths of sadness, higher peaks of ecstatic joy, and many, reflective moments in between, which, Faure's piece just never quite reach for me. Faure took the Centuries-old text of the Requiem; primarily sad and terrifying, and made it something which might comfort the living who remained behind. This WAS a new idea, and while the Faure may have been ahead of its time in concept, the Durufle Requiem goes further. Durufle took this idea of Faure's, daringly fused it with Gregorian chant, 20th-Century concepts, Pentatonic and Medieval musical scales, and combined all this with with every range of human emotion. It may be one of the first Choral works of 20th-Century to reflect upon ancient Medieval Chant. These are a some reasons why the Durufle was so ahead of its time.

Though this recording is nearly twenty five years old now, & was made just before digital recording became standard, it more than makes up for it in its lush performance. Kiri Te Kanawa reaches perfection in the "Pie Jesu" solo, and the woodwinds are clear & strikingly serene throughout the work. The Agnus Dei is superb, with a repeating musical "round" motif which repeats with gentle, plucked strings. To my ears, Durufle created a gentle "Spinning Wheel of Life" with this motif, ending the movement with a peaceful, clear oboe at the end. Very serene, very comforting. Durufle does not stop there, as he does create moments of great fear as in the "Libera Me", but always he follows quickly with Peace, Reflection & Consolation.

Nearly every movement is flawlessly performed. The first two movements will bring all but the hardest heart to tears, especially the last minute when the woodwinds come into focus. And the Lux Aeterna movement at the end, with boys choir & quiet reassuring strings & harp, give a profound sense of Hope.

"Transparency", the ability to easily to hear all vocal scoring, is always difficult to achieve in large choral/orchestral works. Though this Davis recording isn't as "transparent" as the Robert Shaw's Atlanta Symphony large orchestral version, it is still magnificent. In summary, Not perfect, but very, very close. I cannot recommend this more, and recently, I've seen that this recording has slipped out-of-print; so I urge you to pick this version while you still can.

The dynamic range is incredible in Durufle's Sanctus; I cannot adequately describe how Faure's Sanctus touched me spiritually. So much beauty, and such wonderful soloists, all of them are. I especially enjoyed Lucia Popp's rendition of Faure's "Pie Jesu" ... I'm speechless. The Agnus Dei in the Faure was also beautiful -- but wait -- each track on this CD is!

These two requiems are often paired in recordings and I have heard 6 so far. This one is very good indeed. Sir Andrew is really on top of things here and is definately in charge. He takes the pieces to the most operatic level they can go and they are full of drama. The singing is very good. Well you do not get better than Lucia Popp and Dame Kiri. Ever. The Durufle Requiem is the most sublime piece of music. Surprising how some even very well-rounded music enthusiasts have never heard of it. If you like sacred music this is a definate purchase.

This wonderful full-orchestra rendition of Durufle's requiem is one of the finest examples of his lush and complex sound. With the brilliance of Dukas and the panache of Ravel, Durufle takes full advantage of the orchestral range to breathe magical life into the requiem. Unfortunately, though, the choir is not always equal to this admittedly fiendishly difficult score. That said, I don't wish to discourage anyone from acquiring this wonderful recording. It has quickly become one of my favorite Requiems - right up there with Robert Shaw's almost-perfect recording of the Brahms "A German Requiem." A must-have.

This CD definitely stands its ground with the Telarc disc that features the same two compositions -- and this Sony Essentials disc is only half the price! I prefer the soloists on this disc to the soloists on the Telarc disc... and I agree, Faure's Pie Jesu is superbly done by Lucia Popp. Te Kenawa is wonderful, too.

The liner notes discuss the intriguing similiarites and differences between these two masterworks by Faure and Durufle... a fun bonus!

Buying this particular version of the Faure' when it was originally released on vinyl makes me very happy. I like the full orchestrated version of this masterpiece and it always inspires me. I have to agree with composer Virgil Thompson when he said that he may not have been a greatly religious person, but he loved religious music. This is a wonderful release to get if this music is just starting to be a part of your life and much better than the "greatest hits" packages of part of vocal masterpieces such as this.

Craig

The whole CD is incredibly beautiful, but Te Kanawa's rendition of "Pie Jesu" is so powerful. I cry every time I listen to it! I have never heard such intense singing! You won't ever regret buying this CD.

This is the best version of Faure's Requiem I've heard. It was worth hunting down a used copy if necessary to get this out of print masterpiece.

A thoroughly excellent recording.

I'll begin with the well-known Faure Requiem. I was delighted to come across this version of the Requiem. I had another version, but it had a choir including countertenors and boy sopranos, which I hate. The choir sounded like a big mush with the boy sopranos sitting hopelessly on top of it all. This version has a proper choir but its also far better conducted. The Sanctus is superb with the climax as powerful and exuberant as the prelude to it is ethreal and light.

As others have said, the Pie Jesu is excellent and I agree, but it's in the Agnus Dei that this version cuts the mustard. In my view this movement is the pivotal one in the piece, where the pleading earnestness of the choir is matched by glorious orchestral accompaniment. It's one of my favourite all-time movements in any piece. In the version I mentioned earlier, the choir completely copped out of the crescendo at "qui a pius es", (thereby missing the whole point of the movement), but that doesnt happen here. The choir (especially tenors) is perfect and really make the hairs on the back of the neck stand up. The final movement is outstanding too, you really get the feeling of floating up to heaven.

My one quibble with the piece is the baritone: he's too stern and severe. Faure specified "a cantor type" baritone, but this guy's tone is just too dark.

I had never heard Durufle's requiem, and I was intrigued by it. It has a beautiful melodic quality throughout and definately echoes Faures more floaty parts. The real quality of the piece is in its fusion of Gregorian chant with orchestral accompaniment. I generally hate a lot of 20th century stuff, because it tries to be revolutionary and ends up a pain on the ears. No one could accuse Durufle of this. This requiem is a joy throughout, and Kiri Te Kanawa is the icing on the cake