Customer Reviews

Mozart - Requiem / McLaughlin, M. Ewing, Hauptmann, Bayerischen Rundfunks, Bernstein

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful disc, but if you like "period" recordings, this is not the disc to buy. Unlike period performances Bernstein uses a large orchestra and the tempi he chooses are significantly slower than any other recording I've heard. But what stays with me about this performance is the emotional tension he draws from everyone involved. It is very involving for the listener and the electricity of a live performance also comes through.

Mozart's requiem mass is one of the most sad, yearning, powerful pieces of music ever written. In this particular performance, Bernstein conducts in typical fashion, bringing power and emotion to this incredible Mozart masterpiece. If you want a great performance that draws out all the intense feelings of anxiety, depression, and fear from this piece, then this recording is for you. It is definitely one of my favorites. Unfortunately two flaws, which are important in my opinion, prevent me from giving this recording 5-stars. First off, the voices are too loud, so loud that at some points the orchestra is almost obscured. Sure, the voices are the central focus of the piece, but the orchestral score is essential for setting the mood, and a few times the chorus is just too overpowering. Second, the tempos are a bit sluggish, probably not as Mozart would have wanted. I am one who personally prefers quicker tempos for music of the classical period, because it gives it a more authentic flair. This is otherwise a great recording, but for other great ones also try one of Karajan's and the new one from teldec and the Boston Baroque.

This recording is one of the most exciting and emotional performance of Mozart's Requiem I have heard, maybe better than the Bohm's one, with the VPO in 1971 (an excellent performance also). The Introitus and the Lacrimosa are amazing, wonderful, and the very slow tempo Bernstein chose increases infinitely the tension, the drama, and brings you to the top of emotion.

Simply marvellous.

A must for all the music lovers and a excellent choice to compare with Bohm or Karajan.

This is the most emotionally engrossing recording I have heard.

The Requiem is a marvel of intricate interactions between the various voices and instruments, and is clear evidence of the result of musical and intellectual genius put together.

This performace keeps all of the musical threads together while still managing to highlight each one. More than that, it draws you in and pulls you through the music until you emerge breathless at the other end.

Considering how many big-name conductors stumble and fall on this one...Von Karajan and Neville Marriner being two notable examples, in my opinion...it was a delight to hear Bernstein capturing the essence of Mozart's last ouevre. Working with fairly significant forces, Bernstein nonetheless achieves clarity and convinces the listener, for the most part. The Recordare stands out as the most sublime movement on this CD; the Dies Irae, the Hostias, the Benedictus, and the Agnus Dei are also satisfying.

A couple of quibbles; the Introit is a bit slow for my tastes; the opening soloist on the Tuba Mirum is crosses over from emotional expressiveness into melodrama, particularly with his excessively rolled "r's"; and the Lacrimosa, arguably the most beautiful movement of the entire work, is much too slow. What was he thinking here? The tempo he's chosen has caused some of the textual material to come off as completely absurd simply because it's so slow it sounds ridiculous.

My favorite recording of the Requiem continues to be Robert Shaw's, although if you like the kind of thing John Eliot Gardiner does, that version is also not without its deep satisfactions.

A traditionalist might not like this recording due to the fact that Bernstein takes movements like the "Lacrimosa" and dramatizes them a bit more... but I feel that (even though this might not be the most traditional performance of the Requiem, Bernstein does something that no other recording touches...)

Bernstein romantisizes this work... he slows it down!!!!....and I feel that he conducts it in a way that feels more like 19th century romanticism rather then the classically, square approach of the 18th century... I really believe Mozart would have appreciated this rendition because he was a creative thinker!!!! This is a beautiful recording... it meant a lot to Bernstein who dedicated it to the passing of his wife.. it's nearing the end of his own life as well.... If you're a classical purist and you want a more traditional recording of Mozart's Requiem, I don't know if you'll like this recording but that won't stop me from recommending it to everyone!!!

This is the true Bernstein, very serious and well thought throughout the work. He gives us enough time to think about the people that we are trying to memorize in a solemn environment. However, if you just want to keep delightful memories, try Marriner/Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and Karajan/Wiener Philharmoniker.

Few single works in Western music have ever aroused such discussion as Mozart's epic "Requiem" mass, a piece he was working on when he died less than two months short of his thirty-sixth birthday. The work remained incomplete, and Mozart's fellow composers Franz Beyer and Franz Xavier Sussmayr, at the insistence of his wife Costanze, made efforts to complete it. This has given rise to whether this is REALLY Mozart's Requiem, and his alone.

When listening to any recordings of the work, however, it is best to leave the speculating of the work's authenticity to others and just allow the power of the piece to wash over oneself. That's what is achieved in this live 1988 recording made by conductor Leonard Bernstein, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and a distinguished group of vocal soloists--Marie McLaughlin; Maria Ewing, Jerry Hadley, and Cornelius Hauptmann.

Bernstein was often savagely criticized in his later years for his increasingly slow tempos and often over-emotional conducting style. But how can one NOT get caught up in the emotion of works like the Mozart "Requiem"? That kind of emotionalism is what is required for anyone, no matter how big a name, who conducts the piece. And Bernstein is never overly emotional here, just grabbing this work for the powerful performance it deserves to get. The performance itself may be deemed a bit slow at close to 59 minutes, but there have been slower ones even before this (Karl Bohm's 1971 Vienna Philharmonic recording runs to 64 minutes). The vocal soloists are first-rate, as is the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Chorus under Bernstein's direction.

Mozart's "Requiem" is unquestionably one of the greatest single choral works since Handel's "Messiah", and it deserves to be heard, especially when it is through such a stunning, mercurial recording as this one.

Lenny brings massive weight to the Requiem unlike any other I've heard! The expansiveness and power is incredible.

(If you're a purist, you will probably dislike this recording, but then why listen to it anyway if you know you won't like it? Just stick to the "Hoggy", "Gardi" and "Pinni" gang! But leave the heavyweights like Klemp, Karajan, Lenny and those guys out of it).

This is my second favorite Requiem I've heard after the Karajan 1977 version. Bernstein brings a structure to the piece which other conductors often miss, and the musicians play with great feeling and firey intensity.

It's a Requiem tailored for the big boned and manly type. And by the way, it's a live recording...so all the better.

->Get the most recent reissue of it on DG's "entree" label for dead cheap!

I currently own 6 versions of Mozart's Requiem, and I'll review them here.

1. My current favorite is Bohm's: Mozart: Requiem. It possesses all the virtues of Karajan or Bernstein's, with the recording quality enjoyed by Abbado's. Highly recommended. Back-story: I though six versions were enough; then a friend criticized this recording, saying, "Bohm conducts Mozart as if he were Brahms." Well, that, I thought, is exactly the how I like it! If you don't, well, then skip this one, as well as the Bernstein and the Karajan.

2. My former favorite was Bernstein's: Mozart - Requiem / McLaughlin, M. Ewing, Hauptmann, Bayerischen Rundfunks, Bernstein. (It is also availabe in a box set of Bernstein's recordings of Mozart, which I'd heartily recommend to anyone: Mozart: The late Symphonies; Great Mass in C minor; Requiem [Box Set].) I cannot say that this is perfect, but it is the way I like to hear the Requiem: slow, stately, and solemn. I don't think anyone excited about the principles of period performance is going to like it, but I believe if Mozart had the resources available to a modern orchestra, he'd want to hear something like this.

3. About 15 years ago I decided to learn about classical music - not because I actually enjoyed it, but because I wanted to be a cultural person. One of the first recordings that I genuinely loved was Karajan's Mozart: Requiem. I actually prefer the music here to Bernstein's: it is even more beautiful and moving. It hurts me to subordinate this to anything, but unfortunately this recording is older and fuzzier than Bernstein's. The individual singing parts and instrumental lines are much clearer in the Bernstein. If you have a decent modern stereo system, or fancy headphones, you would want to hear the Bernstein at least occasionally for its clarity. Also, to be fair to Bernstein, there are moments where I prefer his version. (Be careful. If you live abroad this recording is also available with a Byzantine icon on the cover. But there is at least one other recording by Karajan of Mozart's Requiem, which is not the same as this one, and I don't own. Pay attention to the names of the soloists and you'll be fine. DG seems dedicated to fooling people into purchasing multiple editions of the same recording.)

4. Abbado: Mozart - Requiem / Mattila, Mingardo, Schade, Terfel, Berlin Phil., Abbado This recording is by far the most clear. If you want to hear the distinct parts, the instrumentation, as if you were standing on the podium, this is the recording for you. It is played faster than I like, but it retains most of the emotional power. Comparing this recording to Bernstein's is very instructive: I'm sure Abbado took fewer liberties, and purists will prefer this one.

5. In Brilliant Classic's Mozart Edition: Complete Works (170 CD Box Set), it is conducted by Nicol Matt and performed by various Dutch artists. The music is not recorded as well as the Bernstein or Abbado above, and it is taken too fast. Yet I still enjoy listening to this one for contrast.

6. Gardiner: Mozart: Requiem / Bonney, von Otter, Blochwitz, W. White, Gardiner. This is a recording only a mother - or a very serious enthusiast of period performance - could love. It is played far too fast, the instrumentation is much too thin. I cannot enjoy this, and I don't think I've sat all the way through it more than twice. (Notice that the enthusiastic reviewers of this one talk about "accuracy" and "authenticity" and so on rather than "beauty" or "power." Well, that's their thing, and I'm glad they have a recording to love. But it doesn't work for me.)

I hope to consider more as my collection grows. If you have a favorite or one that you think I'd like, please let me know in the comments.