Mozart: Requiem

Herbert Von Karajan (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 1, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GBY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,232 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best performance of Mozart Requiem, December 24, 2000

By 

Javier GB (Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Requiem (Audio CD)

After studying several Mozart-Requiem performances I realized that this one is the most inspired and the closest to the Mozart rithym and sensibility. Better performed even than others directed also by Herbert v. Karajan. You can listen to other Mozart-Requiem versions, but once you listen to this one, you will not want another!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Recording of Mozart's Requiem, September 10, 2005

By 

Mćstro Marc - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mozart: Requiem (Audio CD)

This Requiem not only is one of the greatest of all choral songs, but the quality of this CD I found to be better than any other. An example of it's quality can be found in the Sequenzia: Rex Tremendae. Many of the recordings of this section have made the brass instruments sound warped and tin-like. This recording makes them into a smooth harmonizing bass-line that allows for the violins to send shivers down your spine with Mozart and Süssmayr's glorious song of death. Also in the Offertorium the section of "Quam Olim Abrahae" is one of the best I have heard for the same reasons that the Rex Tremendae is. The only thing I would say is bad about this album is that poor Wolfgang Meyer didn't play the organ loud enough for me to enjoy it. I have heard at least 35 different versions of the Mozart's Requiem currently and this is the one that I prefer the most to hear.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Both Thrilling and Underwhelming., November 24, 2006

By 

Edward R. O'Neill "edwardoneill" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mozart: Requiem (Audio CD)

I can't claim to have heard as many version of Mozart's requiem as others writing here. I have this one, Herreweghe's version with the sublime Sibylla Rubens and the always-interesting Ian Bostridge. And I have Zukerman's version on SONY with the divine Arleen Auger. I'm still deciding which I like best, but I know this von Karajan recording is my least favorite.

Don't get me wrong. This Requiem seems nice enough. It's definitely of the "thrilling" variety--lots of pow and majesty. Makes you more in awe of death: if fear is a spiritual emotion, this fearful version is very spiritual indeed.

But it does seem bent on wowing you. And it has other flaws. I love soprano Wilma Lipp as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, but her intonation here is truly strange. It calls my attention and takes it away from the music. Anton Dermota and Walter Berry were two of the best singers of the period, but I can't say they do notable work here.

To my mind the digital remastering is just fine. You certainly can't tell that the recording's as old as it is, although it may be too squeaky clean on the same account.

I went out of my way to find this recording--for von Karajan, Dermota and Lipp. But in the end I was underwhelmed.

It's a bargain, and it's thrilling, after its own version of Mozart. But ultimately for me it leaves something to be desired.