Customer Reviews

Verdi: Requiem Mass

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

 

 

This was the best Requiem of its time with the greatest solo quartet of its time. Today to our ears, it sounds dated. That's why I gave it four stars instead of five. This recording has flaws, but they are flaws of grandeur! Caniglia was one the greatest italian sopranos, but the voice turned squally in the top. We know that! But she is a always extremely musical and strong in the middle voice. Gigli was the successor to Caruso. He had one of the most beautiful voices in history with a dynamic range capable of huge fortissimi down to the smallest mezzovoce pianissimo.BUT, he also had mannerisms that would not be accepted today. Stignani is always a rock of strength, singing in tune and on pitch. No one has ever sung the bass part better than Pinza. The dating shows in the chorus parts, where that extremely full climaxes tend to crumble, but remember, Serafin was a brave conductor. He was recording huge pieces like Aida and the Requiem in the Rome opera house, before WWII. The technology of the day simply did not permit a real reproduction of what he and the chorus were doing. Another interesting fact is that this was recorded on 1939, on the eve of WWII. All in all, to me, this is a great recording, with great voices, all of which far exceed the limitations of the technology. I would not be without this recording!

Oh, wow!! This recording is a great example of what's missing in today's opera world: four great singers who sing like it is the last piece they'll ever perform! OK, so M. Caniglia can't always attack high B in PPPP, but how many sopranos truly can? Her chest voice seems almost surreal in today's world of tweety-bird sopranos. Gigli, as always, does whatever he wants with his voice and sounds gorgeous! Both Pinza and Stignani are top notch! While it is easy to criticize the sound, I think that, given when this piece was recorded, sound engineers did a fantastic job! This album should be preserved to remind us of glory days of Italian singing tradition. It is simply impossible to duplicate this today!

Tullio Serafin was the artistic director of the Teatro Reale (Rome Opera House) from 1934 to 1943. This historic recording from August 1939 allows us to hear the kind of music this illustrious conductor created with his Rome forces.

First, a word about the recorded sound. The hissing that normally comes with vintage recordings is really not that bad. After the first minute or two, my ears just stopped noticing it. In general, it does not detract much from the music. The only recording fault I would mention is that the chorus sound is sometimes lost during high volume passages involving the soloists.

At 72'47", this may be the fastest single-CD Verdi Requiem on record (by comparison: Ferenc Fricsay - 75'28", Guido Cantelli - 77'29"). However, I noticed only one or two passages that sounded "rushed" to me (the Amen ending of Lacrymosa and the end of Hostias). Overall, though, I thought the tempo distribution throughout the piece made sense: exciting passages stayed exciting, relaxed passages stayed relaxed.

The soloists, like other Verdi Requiem recordings, were high on name recognition, and in general delivered the goods. You will enjoy the fine trio work in Quid sum miser and Lux Aeterna. But there were a few warts.

Maria Caniglia is a dramatic soprano. But while she certainly proved it in her first entrance of the Kyrie, her chant-like opening to the Libera Me seemed out-of-place (the melodramatic sforzandos in the orchestra seemed to be reminding her that she was supposed to sound scared here). She had some noticeable pitch problems, especially in the Recordare duet and the opening of the Agnus Dei. But her high B-flat (sung without portamento) and high C in the Libera Me sequence were right on target.

Ebe Stignani also has a very dramatic sound. But she doesn't blend very well with Caniglia especially in Recordare and Agnus Dei. She also has a biazarre pronunciation problem: she is always pronouncing "e" like "a". Words like aparebit, sedebit, adn remanebit become a-pa-rah-bit, se-dah-bit, and rema-nah-bit. It's not a problem with the score: the other soloists say the same or similar words without the change. For whatever reason, she is not saying the words correctly.

Beniamino Gigli is a legend, of course, and modern opera fans would be remiss not to hear some of his work. Like Caniglia, he also opens the Kyrie with plenty of dramatic verve. His Ingemisco is a real treat. His powerful high notes sound great even with the dated recorded sound. He swoops a lot between notes, but he always does it tastefully. He's a bit sloppy about following the written score, though, as well as with his (sigh) pronunciation (in-jah-misco?).

Listening to Ezio Pinza's lovely voice really does make for "some enchanted evening." This Italian-born bass has a strong sound, not unlike contemporary Verdi Requiem Italians like Furlanetto and Raimondi. The only passage that didn't agree with me was the opening notes of Confutatis which I felt were a little over-articulated. But that was a minor blemish. Overall, I am sure you will enjoy Pinza's work here.

The Rome Opera Chorus is a solid group. The sound engineering unfortunately tends to push them a bit too far into the background at times. But there are plenty of moments where their fine work is front and center. The opening Dies Irae and the Libera Me fugue (taken at a moderate tempo despite the rest of the performance) provide much to impress the ears.

While my comments have sounded very picky about this recording, I would nevertheless be the first to recommend it, especially to Toscanini fans who are interested in other historic recordings of the Verdi Requiem. The sheer immensity of golden age talent that is present here, made available at Naxos' budget price, makes this an album that any collector will prize.

Texts and translations included. The CD is divided into a VERY generous 19 tracks.

Until I saw this at my local Tower Records, I didn't know you could find a 1-CD Verdi Requiem, let alone one breaking the tape at well under 75 minutes.

That said, while I generally agree with the other comments about the Dies Irae, at the same time I found it just a bit rushed, a bit too fast for nuance. Everything else, though, from the clarity of the sound for a 1939 mono, the quality of the soloists, etc. is great.

Now, it's true that the woman tend to get flat in the upper register, but I have to believe that's primarily an artifact of this being a 1939 recording in a cavernous space, and a mono recording to boot.

That said, I'd take this over a lot of stereo versions of later date.

(Oh, and as to the reviewer who favorably compared this to Karajan? I have the 1970 Karajan. Yuck. Flat, muddy tones, slow tempos even by Karajan's standards. Please don't insult this recording by making such a comparison.)

Many have commented on the soloists (including Enzo Pinza - wow, who knew he could really sing, my recollection for childhood is his enchanted evening from South Pacific), but for me it's Serafin's tempo. For those of us raised on the Soli/Price recording, or Giulini and Christa Ludwig, this one feels clean and sparse - but not rushed. It's all the more poignant, given that this was recorded in the Rome Opera House in 1939, with Europe on the verge of WWII.

As lush and sonically wonderful as many of the newer recordings are, Serafin's interpretation has a musical clarity that others lack. It feels less of an opera, and more of a Requiem.

If you are singing or conducting the Verdi Requiem, you need to listen to this.

Firstly, the recoding quality might throw some younger listeners off. This has been established by other reviewers already, so there's no sense in making a big point about this. That being said, the tempo, especially in the Dies Irae, proves to work on an emotional level. The recording was made on August, 1939 and Europe was on a brink of war (Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939), and so given the timing, the recording has an almost emotional rush toward it, as if building for the impending doom that was WWII. Sometimes this rush detracts from the flowering of a line, as in the Quid sum Miser, but makes the "terrifying" sections feel more....well, terrifying. Another example is in the "arioso" sections, which feel way too rushed, as in the opening of the Libera me and subsequent return later. All in all, required performances for any Requiem-files out there, but then again, you probally already have this so... For others, go buy the Shaw version which is by far the most balanced recording between soloist, choir and orchestra. The soloists bring what can only be described as an Italian quality, which some might not like, but hey, it's Verdi, deal with it. The chorus will sometimes be overpowered, or out balanced, but that was probably more of an engineering thing. I found this in a bargin bin for $4.00 new at a CD Warehouse, which made this an incredibile buy.

Whereas on Amazon.com this famous account gets its due from the reviews hitherto, on the Amazon UK website its low average star rating makes it look like a lemon, having been badly and negatively reviewed by at least three ill-informed commentators who were either unaware or couldn't be bothered to check that this is of course an historic, 1939 recording.

No-one could reasonably suggest that this is the perfect introduction to this music for a novice but at super bargain price for performances of this quality in quite reasonable sound for its era, it's a steal. One soon screens out the residual hiss and a surprising amount of detail emerges, even though the chorus in particular can seem distant and there is a bit of blare at climaxes.

This is perhaps the fastest good performance on record at just under 73 minutes. I do not find it rushed (except perhaps in the the rather breathless "Dies Irae") because a gravitas permeates the interpretation; this is that rare combination in versions of this most recorded of pieces: one which combines reverence with drama. It is comparable in pace and attack to Toscanini's 1951 recording, whereas Serafin's 1959 studio recording is considerably more reflective. The Rome forces are wholly idiomatic and the chorus sounds fully committed.

Although they are far from flawless as a team, the soloists could hardly be more characterful and they are totally authentic in style. Caniglia may have the occasional intonation problem and the odd moment of squawkiness but she maintains a wonderful, soaring, Verdian line and terrific intensity, sustained by a solid lower regsiter. The great Stignani is fearless and assured but mars her delivery with some odd Latin pronunciation, whereby every "eh" becomes "ah" as in "sedahbit" rather than "sedebit"; a curious and regrettable tic. Gigli is of course famously sweet-toned and indulges in his extensive repertoire of reprehensible mannerisms, including aspirates, scoops, glottals and sobs - and his trill is pants. Yet his is a memorable, sincere performance and the voice is intrinsically beautiful. The greatest, near-perfect singing here is to be found in Pinza's grand bass; his flickering vibrato, ability to expand the voice blackly and trenchant low notes make for a chilling, imposing impact.

Every lover of this inexhaustibly absorbing music should own this - and can at this price, especially if it's bought on Marketplace. As an avowed Verdi Requiem nut, I have dozens of recordings and this one is amongst the most compelling.

Now that this recording has been remastered so brilliantly, one can hear the solo and choral voices reverberating in a nice acoustic space as never before, and all concerned sing well. My complaints center around Gigli: though generous of voice, he just sobs and glots too much for me, and his timbre is high and bright which means that he doesn't really sound right in the "Quid sum miser" and "Lux aeterna." Di Stefano (with Toscanini) was more of a "low" tenor and, thus, a better choice. In addition, Serafin does not really "wake the dead" in his "Dies irae": the biting brass and heart-stopping bass drum whacks of the Toscanini performance are missing here. In short, this is about equal to the Karajan version, good but not great.