Product Details

• Format: Classical, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Kultur Video
• VHS Release Date: September 23, 1997
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1561270466
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #444,049 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Claudio Abbado's 1982 performance of the Verdi Requiem with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus is not, perhaps, a classic in the league of the 1963 Carlo Maria Guilini recording, but it has a steely, controlling intelligence that never stands in the way of the work's passionate and ecstatic qualities. José Carreras's tenor voice was at that point in its fullest bloom, and Ruggiero Raimondi's bass has a spine-tingling dark lyricism that reminds us that the writing for bass here has much in common with possibly his greatest role, King Philip the Second in Don Carlos. The decision to use Margaret Price and Jessye Norman as the two female soloists is an interesting one--there is less distinction of range between them than is usual, but their particularly characterful voices offer quite enough contrast. The chorus gives the climaxes of the Dies Irae everything it has and is perfectly gentle and still in quieter passages. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mors Stupebit, March 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Verdi - Requiem / Margaret Price, Jose Carreras, Jessye Norman, Ruggiero Raimondi, Claudio Abbado, London Symphony Orchestra (DVD)

An excellent performance and recording taped before an audience at Usher Hall in Edinburgh in 1982. The solists are in top form, and they are properly miked so that they don't sound too distant or too immediate. A choice of six- or two-channel audio tracks is provided. The visuals are solely of the performance, but even they manage not be tedious since the camera focuses mostly on the singers and avoids the deadpan instrumentalists. One flaw of the DVD is in not providing subtitles in Latin or English nor a booklet containing the text. The producers must think everybody who's going to watch this has the Latin mass memorized.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile for the soloists, August 17, 2002

By 

I. Martinez-Ybor "Ignacio Martínez-Ybor" (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Verdi - Requiem / Margaret Price, Jose Carreras, Jessye Norman, Ruggiero Raimondi, Claudio Abbado, London Symphony Orchestra (DVD)

This is not by far the best Verdi Requiem I have seen and/or heard. The negatives leap at you: compressed sound, lack of eloquence, bite and power in the choir, and a somewhat tepid, let's-keep-Apocalypse-tidy Abbado. In short, this is not the Verdi Requiem I'd choose were I to have only one..... But one should not limit oneself to only one, pocketbook permitting, where great masterpieces of music are concerned.

The soloists are superb. In 1982 they were all in their prime. It is a rare privilege indeed to hear Jessye Norman perform a part which lies almost exclusively in the richest and most powerful range of her voice, middle-to-low. I love it. We don't have too many samples of that. It is also a joy to hear Margaret Price, the great Welsh soprano, and arguably the greatest soprano voice to have come out of the UK so far, in top form. She soars with crystal-bright, perfect intonation and minimal vibrato.... Again, she's under-represented on DVD. Her voice contrasts well with Jessye's (though not as stunning a pairing as Caballé/Cossotto under Barbirolli on EMI CD). Carreras sounded even and full in all registers, fresh, and golden throughout. The voice was at its peak before he started abusing it and, of course, before leukemia. Raimondi, even if not a dark base, is, as always, a pillar of strength, musicianship and a moving, noble artist. If one loves singers, that is one good reason to purchase this DVD.

There was around that time a live PBS broadcast of the Requiem with the NY Philharmonic under Mehta with Caballé, Domingo and others. I saw it. I remember Caballé's performance being legendary. A commercial recording of the performance was issued by CBS which edited a slip Domingo made in the Ingemisco (if I recall, he came in early which resulted in a repetition of the "inter oves" phrase....everything handled most professionally and with total aplomb....if you were not familiar with the score you probably wouldn't have noticed it). We are all aware of Domingo's greatness... I hope this does not inhibit the issuance of this live performance on DVD.

I understand Abbado's new performance for EMI is superb but I haven't seen it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fall of the Hall of Usher, August 10, 2002

By 

Bertam A., Workum II (Cincinnati, OH United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Verdi - Requiem / Margaret Price, Jose Carreras, Jessye Norman, Ruggiero Raimondi, Claudio Abbado, London Symphony Orchestra (DVD)

This performance was beautiful; I never have heard Carreras sound better. But I have to dispute those who acclaim the acoustics of Usher Hall. Either that, or the technology of 1982 just falls flat. I listened to the DVD on 5.1 surround sound; there was no reverberation at all, from neither soloists/chorus nor orchestra. The notes just stopped, dead -- CLUNK! From the audience's response, the performance may have sounded better in the hall; on DVD, it's dead.