Customer Reviews

Mozart: Requiem, Sacred Music

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

 

 

This is one of those two-fers that combine previously issued recordings that deserve to be heard. Erna Spoorenberg, not Ileana Cotrubas as stated in the track listing above, opens the first disc with the famous motet Exsultate, Jubilate. Her voice is fine and her technique is exemplary, but there is nothing about her voice or performance of this familiar work that make it truly outstanding.

The second disc of the set is given over to the Beyer edition of the Requiem. If you are used to the traditional completion of the Mozart Requiem, this will contain some surprises that go beyond merely the cosmetic. For example, near the end of the Lacrimosa the orchestration is very different, with different violin figuration than the traditional completion, and the Sanctus sports a new ending. The performance seems a little staid in places--the opening Requiem doesn't have a really mournful feel and the Kyrie does not have the urgency of a desperate plea for mercy in light of the coming judgment. The performance catches fire in places, notably in the Dies Irae and the Sanctus, and it is a shame that that level of intensity did not carry through the entire work.

But it is the balance of the first disc that make this CD worth purchasing. The performance of the Kronungsmesse is superb, and the little-known Litaniae Lauretanae contains much beautiful music, including a magnificent Agnus Dei that just demands to be repeated. In her final cadenza, Cotrubas ascends to a remarkable pure and beautiful high D, and her singing throughout is extremely heartfelt and affecting. The other soloists are excellent and they all work together as a true quartet, not just four singers competing for the limelight. Throw into the mix a very fine choir (unfortunately not always the case in some recordings, where the star quality of the soloists is the main concern, even though the chorus is heard far more) and you have a recording well worth purchasing.

My review will not be as scholarly as Altoman's excellent review in which he gave it four stars. I bought this probably 15 or so years ago, wasn't really into masses, but liked Mozart generally, liked Sir Neville Marriner and Cotrubas and so bought it. Probably listened to it three or four times until recently. Now retired for awhile, more time to listen and have been more into masses. Better prepared, I love this double CD. Clearly top quality all the way through! I have to admit that I can't get into the Requiem, but that is because it is a requiem and I'm one of those people who gets upset when his favorite sopranos (as they persist in doing) have affairs with tenors, suffer and die. Not many people who buy this two CD set will be at all disappointed. Maybe if I had Altoman's education I would only give it four stars, but I really like this collection.