Verdi: Requiem [Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import]

Christine Brewer (Artist, Performer), Karen Cargill (Artist, Performer), Stuart Neill (Artist, Performer), John Relyea (Artist, Performer), London Symphony Chorus (Artist), London Symphony Orchestra (Artist, Orchestra), Colin Davis (Artist, Conductor), Verdi (Composer), London Symphony Orchestra Chorus (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Christine Brewer, Karen Cargill, Stuart Neill, John Relyea
• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra Chorus
• Conductor: Colin Davis
• Composer: Verdi
• Audio CD (September 8, 2009)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import
• Label: Lso Live
• ASIN: B002FJIER0
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,072 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

ClassicalSource.com

'Each of the incisively characterised sections flows naturally out of each other - the slabs of brass in a speaker-bursting 'Tuba mirum' yielding to the nihilistic doubt of 'Mors stupebit' is superbly achieved - and the sheer grief of the 'Lacrymosa' is fantastically well expressed...This is one of the most driven things I've heard Davis do - penetrating, on-the-edge conducting that digs deep into the music's astounding emotional range, and he is rewarded with similarly engaged, idiomatic playing. Try the clear articulation of chaos at the opening of the 'Dies irae'; or listen to the bassoon obbligato in 'Quid sum miser', which has never sounded so bleak ... The four soloists are equally impressive. Christine Brewer, singing with heroic splendour, takes no hostages with the various gifts Verdi presents to her, superlative as she soars into the ether in the 'Lacrymosa', and at her commanding, dramatic best in the concluding 'Libera me'. Karen Cargill (who replaced Larissa Diadkova), a light, athletic mezzo who blends very satisfyingly in the ensemble passages, is very distinguished throughout the 'Dies irae', and hair-raisingly good in 'Liber scriptus' and 'Lacrymosa'. The men are more obviously Italianate and operatic: tenor Stuart Neill never looks back from a stunning first entry in the 'Kyrie'; and bass John Relyea has the authority of the Inquisitor and the darkness of Iago. The two tenor-and-bass arias in the 'Ingemisco' are superb.'

Product Description

Aside from his operas, Verdi is best known for his extraordinary Requiem, written in memory of the Italian writer and nationalist Alessandro Manzoni. The dramatic power of the famous Dies irae and the sublime lyricism of the work's solo passages have led many to describe it as more of an opera than a formal Requiem Mass.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth a listen - if you can stand Davis' vocal obbligato...., October 16, 2009

By 

Ralph Moore "Ralph operaphile" (Bishop's Stortford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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

I came to this recording with much lower expectations than I brought to the new Pappano release, which perhaps partly explains why I found myself enjoying it much more than I had expected. You can find wholly contradictory reviews of this live performance: my fellow Amazon reviewer the Santa Fe listener finds it tepidly "British" in its understatement and Davis' approach uninspired; another Amazon.uk reviewer, Mr Manning rightly complains about the unnatural closeness of the recording, which produces a constricted ambience and, most unfortunately of all, permits us to be constantly on the receiving end of Sir Colin's persistent grunts and groans - an all too prominent feature of all his recent recordings and a right royal pain of a distraction. The Amazon editorial review, on the other hand, writes, "This is one of the most driven things I've heard Davis do". So what is the truth of it? For my part, I found much of this performance really satisfying and certainly not so underpowered. It is true that the chorus sounds far from refined or homogeneous at times - occasionally even a bit ragged with too many individual voices obtruding from what should be an imposing mass of sound - and that there is altogether too much vibrato in the soloists' voices, but these features were probably exaggerated by the closeness of the miking and there are many compensations, not least the excellence of Scottish mezzo Karen Cargill, a last-minute replacement for Larissa Diadkova. I was not previously familiar with her voice, but she is quite a discovery: she has a rich, genuinely Verdian mezzo (not "light" at all, as ClassicalSource suggests) and is certainly far preferable in both timbre and emotional involvement to Pappano's Ganassi. Stuart Neill has a hefty tenor which he lightens effectively at key points, while Relyea's contribution is really distinguished if not as rich as some of his predecessors, such as Siepi or Ghiaurov. Christine Brewer's soprano proves to be a mixed blessing: her entry in the Offertorio on "Sed signifer Sanctus Michael" is magical and some notes are ideally floated, whereas on other, louder notes she becomes acidic. She is perhaps not a real Verdi soprano but her contribution certainly does not constitute a blot on the set even if she could ideally be more involved - and Harteros in the Pappano set is similarly cool, without quite Brewer's vocal distinction. Brewer certainly leaves a very positive impression with the beauty and security of her delivery of the final slow "Requiem" passage in the "Libera me". Finally, some love the way Davis has his chorus whisper at key points, others find it corny; I think it works - just about.

All in all, I can only suggest that you listen before you buy - although this is very cheap and worth the risk if you think you might like it. I do, even if this is not amongst my very favourite versions.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A veddy British Verdi Requiem, long on reflection, short on passion, September 22, 2009

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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

The pile of great Verdi Requiems on records is knee high, so I didn't expect the octogenarian Colin Davis to enter the top ranks. But I'm afraid he doesn't even make it to the middle. His new live version from the Barbican in London is painfully British -- careful, respectful, and half-powered. Clearly he hasn't heard the cliche that the Requiem is actually a great Verdi opera. This is the least operatic version I've ever heard, and the total absence of Italian players and singers is quite telling. The vocal soloists, who are as important as they would be in Aida or Il Trovatore, sing well enough under live conditions, but even if everything were note perfect, there's only a dash of Italian passion.

Bass John Relyea at least makes a brave stab at sounding like Ezio Pinza or Cesare Siepi. The best known of the quartet, chrsitine Brewer, simply isn't a Verdi soprano. Her 'Libra me' is neither a grand diva or desperate supplicant before God. The chorus sings well, but Davis has them use an exaggerated stage whisper in soft passages, as in the 'Libera me' - the effect is corny and melodramatic. Davis himself doesn't seem fired up by the music, which can be driven to almost hysterical extremes and still succeed. His age doesn't cause him to dawdle -- the Dies illa is strong and fervent -- but most of the movements lack emotional involvement.

Almost simultaneously with this release EMI is bringing out its own Verdi Requiem with Antonio Pappano and his Santa Cecilia orchestra and chorus in Rome. Let's see if they win on the home field.