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Mozart: Requiem / Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony [Blu-ray]

Belvedere Edition

Blu-Ray

$32.99 Sep 14, 2018

Mozart’s Requiem may have been written under strange circumstances in the final months of the composer’s life, but the work itself is timeless. Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus give a powerful and poignant performance of Mozart’s masterpiece with an impressive group of solo singers, in a concert recorded live in Munich in May 2017. Even its composer’s death could not halt the success of Mozart’s Requiem. Although left incomplete on his death in December 1791, having been anonymously commissioned, the Requiem was completed by a pupil of Mozart’s, Franz Xaver Süssmayr. By the time it was premiered in 1793, it was already a famous work, shrouded in mystery. But even more mysterious than the story behind it is the magisterial quality of Mozart’s writing, from the ferocity of the Dies irae to the otherworldly grace of the Lacrimosa. Genia Kühmeier, Elisabeth Kulman, Mark Padmore and Adam Plachetka are the world-class soloists joining Jansons and his orchestra and chorus. Padmore was Artist in Residence with the orchestra for the 2016/17 season and his rapport with the orchestra is evident. His ringing, distinctive tenor voice is well matched, too, to Jansons’s eloquent and subtle interpretation. “For him it is not about rhetoric, but more about transcendence,” wrote Süddeutsche Zeitung of Jansons’s conducting – suggesting a transcendent faith in humanity, even in the face of death.

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Mozart: Requiem / Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony [Blu-ray]
Belvedere Edition Sep 2018
Blu-Ray
$32.99

BRAHMS: Deutsches Requiem (Ein)

Chandos

$13.99 Aug 04, 2017

This reissue is a moving experience in itself, and not only for returning to the catalogue a superlative recording of Brahms's masterpiece, not the best known at the time of its release in 1991, but also for the exceptional soloists, majestically accompanied by Hickox and his LSO and Chorus. Gramophone praised the ''fine soloists'', especially the ''resonance and ease'' of the bass-baritone, David Wilson-Johnson. The review also acclaimed the ''sheer generosity of style and sound'' as well as the choir and orchestra, ''excellent and well-balanced, both in themselves and with each other''. Overall, the ''Hickox gives a remarkably satisfying performance''. Despite its large-scale conception, Brahms's Requiem remains the product of a very private world, the personal communication of the philosophy of one man, ''such a great soul - and yet he doesn't believe in anything'', as Dvorak once remarked.

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BRAHMS: Deutsches Requiem (Ein)
Chandos Aug 2017
CD
$13.99

Bottesini: Messa Da Requiem / Martin, London Philharmonic, Joyful Company Of Singers

Naxos

$19.99 Feb 26, 2013

Renowned worldwide in his lifetime and remembered today as a double bass virtuoso, Giovanni Bottesini excelled in every branch of musicianship, but his operas and sacred works were overshadowed by those of Verdi and have fallen into neglect. Composed in response to the death of his brother Luigi, Bottesini’s large scale Requiem combines ecclesiastical counterpoint with formal innovation and the expressive lyricism and dramatic orchestration of operatic models.

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Bottesini: Messa Da Requiem / Martin, London Philharmonic, Joyful Company Of Singers
Naxos Feb 2013
CD
$19.99

Berlioz: Requiem / Mitropoulos, Gedda, Cologne Radio Symphony

ICA Classics

$14.99 Jun 26, 2012

BERLIOZ Requiem • Dimitri Mitropoulos, cond; Nicolai Gedda (ten); Cologne RO & Ch • ICA 5075 (82:22) Live: Cologne 8/26/1956

Having been, for the most part (all but the “March to the Scaffold” and “Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath”), been impressed by Dimitri Mitropoulos’s studio recording of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique with the New York Philharmonic, I was very curious to hear what the famed Greek conductor did with the Requiem. I hadn’t known that there was an alternative performance conducted by Mitropoulos from July 15, 1956, with tenor Leopold Simoneau and the Vienna Philharmonic, nor have I heard that performance (available on Orfeo d’Or 457971), but in listening to this Cologne performance from August all I could think was how absolutely wonderful it is from start to finish.

Granted, the Cologne Radio Choir is no match for Roger Norrington’s exquisitely blended forces in his recording for Hänssler (which I dubbed a Classical Hall of Fame item in the last issue), but in the 1950s there were few choruses that good … Bayreuth, perhaps, and Wilhelm Pitz’s magnificent Philharmonia Chorus, but not many others. Within the scope of radio choirs of that era, the Cologne singers acquit themselves very well. But even more impressive is the sound of the orchestra, the incredible wealth of textural detail that Mitropoulos is able to draw from it, and more importantly, how well it is recorded. For a 1956 mono radio broadcast, the sound on this disc is phenomenal—easily on par with the absolute best high-fidelity products issued by RCA, EMI, and even Decca-London. Just to give you the most crucial example, there is actually some depth to the sound when the four brass choirs enter in the Dies irae , in fact, more depth to the sound than Seiji Ozawa’s digital recording with the Boston Symphony on RCA-BMG.

But even better than the sound is the musical treatment of the score. As much as I like Norrington’s leisurely pacing, which matches so well the depth of sound he is able to elicit from his orchestra, Mitropoulos gives us what I would characterize as the true Berlioz style. This performance is only five minutes shorter than Norrington’s, but it sounds much faster because Mitropoulos never lets the momentum sag. He is continually nudging the beat forward, even in the quietest and slowest passages in the score, with the result that the listener hears much more of the work’s structure without sacrificing quality of emotion or depth of feeling. It’s like listening to Charles Munch’s Symphonie fantastique, Colin Davis’s early recording of Romeo et Juliette, and either the Toscanini or Fischer-Dieskau recordings of Harold in Italy. It’s that good, and it’s in the same style. It’s also astonishing how much hall ambience, and more importantly depth of sound, is captured here considering that this was recorded not in a church or concert hall, but in Studio 1 of the Cologne radio station. Taking all of that into consideration, the sonic results almost beggar belief.

It would take far more room that I have to describe all the stunning moments in this performance, but allow me to pinpoint one: the way Mitropoulos pulls back on the syncopated wind and string figures at the beginning of the Lacrimosa . This has a tautness, and almost a swagger, in the rhythm that I’ve not heard achieved by any other conductor in this work. Another interesting aspect of this performance is to compare its timings to the other Mitropoulos version as well as Norrington. As previously mentioned, this Cologne performance runs only five minutes shorter than the Norrington, but the Vienna version runs three minutes faster than this. Without having heard it, then, I would have to say that I think I’d prefer this recording anyway. I really don’t like my Berlioz Requiem rushed that much, which is another reason I don’t care for the Ozawa recording.

There is but one movement where more space is required, and that is the Sanctus. It is gorgeously sung by Nicolai Gedda in his best early voice—in stereo recordings, only Stuart Burrows is as good and only Leopold Simoneau and Toby Spence come close—but the tenor is up front and center in the soundspace, not recessed in the back as he is supposed to be. It’s a small flaw but a telling one.

Could this, then, be a first-choice Requiem? Yes, but only if you don’t mind monophonic sound and the up-front recording of the tenor soloist. If you do, Norrington is clearly your best choice, and as I said last issue, there are few better than his performance, but this is one of those few. Another small miracle is the fact that ICA has managed to cram 82 and a half minutes of music on one CD.

FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

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Berlioz: Requiem / Mitropoulos, Gedda, Cologne Radio Symphony
ICA Classics Jun 2012
CD
$14.99

Ritzen: Chinese Requiem;Chinese Violin Rhapsody
Marco Polo Apr 2000
CD
$19.99

Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem), Op. 45

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Oct 23, 2020

Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem was initially conceived as a 'cantata of grief' - it was the death of his mother and the desire to create a memorial to his friend Robert Schumann that makes this music so intensely personal. With it's radiant messages of humanity, consolation and comfort, the Requiem caused a sensation and made Brahms famous virtually overnight. The work is heard here with it's 'ad libitum' organ and contrabassoon reinstated, enormously intensifying the depth of tone colors and lower sonorities. For the conductor Ralf Otto flexibility, diversity and transparency of sound have always been essential for his work with orchestras and choirs. Otto believes that understanding the compositional structure of a piece of music is an indispensable prerequisite to achieving intensely emotional expression. The conductor's reputation is based on his gift for interpreting different musical styles, from the Renaissance to the music of today. Since the beginning of his career, he has been a strong advocate for the performance of early music according to historically informed performance practices. His numerous recordings and broadcasts are a testament to his artistic achievements.

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Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem), Op. 45
Naxos Oct 2020
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Verdi: Messa da Requiem / Luisi, Philharmonia Zurich

Accentus Music

DVD

$41.99 Oct 20, 2017

With the "Messa da Requiem“, Christian Spuck brought one of Verdi’s key works to the stage. In a large-scale co-production by the Ballett and Oper Zurich, the German choreographer and director ventured to portray an unusual interpretation of Verdi’s funeral mass in his scenic choreographic production. 36 dancers, the choir and supplementary choir of the Opernhaus Zurich as well as four highly acclaimed soloists joined together under the direction of Fabio Luisi for 13 wide ranging scenes dedicated to one of the most fundamental themes of humanity. Christian Spuck does not seek a mere religious interpretation of the liturgical text. Instead, he is interested in focusing on people who, in their vulnerability and helplessness, are in the search for comfort. In poetic tableaux he deals with basic human emotions and focuses on the feelings of fear, rage, pain, sadness and the search for redemption.

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Verdi: Messa da Requiem / Luisi, Philharmonia Zurich
Accentus Music Oct 2017
DVD
$41.99

Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem / Maazel, Cotrubas, Prey
Sony Masterworks Aug 2004
CD
$11.98

Richter: Requiem… / Valek, Czech Ensemble Baroque

Supraphon

$31.99 Mar 10, 2015

Franz Xaver Richter’s origins are associated with Moravia, but his working life was anything but parochial. Skills acquired in Vienna and Italy raised his employability and saw him engaged in several palaces in Germany in the 1730s and 1740s. He is known to have travelled widely before becoming Kapellmeister of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Strasbourg, dying just before the French Revolution saw the abolition of those ancient institutions in which he had worked for decades.

The mixture of styles in Richter’s work can be heard throughout this programme, from the Pergolesi-like opening of the Synfonia and use of orchestral sonorities from Mannheim to the operatic virtuosity of his vocal writing. Superb playing from the Czech Ensemble Baroque delivers a purity of sound which is pretty much the ideal for our idea of how this music should have sounded in the 18th century – it would certainly he hard to imagine the composer having much to complain about.

The Synfonia con fuga is assumed to come from Richter’s time in Mannheim, and as a ‘church sinfonia’ in everything but name its inclusion here suits very well indeed. The work is more than just a filler, with its vibrant inventiveness and colourful sequences it goes beyond galant frippery while stopping short of C.P.E. Bach’s striking waywardness.

Both De Profundis and the Messa de Requiem are from Richter’s 20-year tenure in Strasbourg, and both works are highly representative of the opulence possible during one of the most significant periods in the cities history. His church ensemble was at that time the second largest in France, and the richness in sound from these works is very fine indeed. Psalm 129, De Profundis clamavi was commissioned for funeral masses, and the symbolism of its C minor key of mourning, resolving finally into a more hopeful C major in the final Requiem aeternam are just two elements in an impressive and often highly expressive work.

The Messa de Requiem was reportedly composed for the composer’s own funeral, and the booklet notes open with a quote from Christian Friedrich Schubart, describing how Richter passed away with the score in his hand. This may or may not be true, but we can hardly disagree with the claim that it “encapsulates the quintessence of his legacy.” With added trumpets and timpani this is the kind of larger scale requiem which it is not hard to imagine in a line leading towards the grand examples by the likes of Verdi. Set pieces such as the operatic soprano solo Quid sum miser and dramatic Confutatis maledictis of the Dies irae are innovative sounding in this context, and the work’s transitional feel is heightened by their contrast with more antique contrapuntal music which Richter took from Johann Joseph Fux much earlier in his career and held onto throughout.

This is a substantial Requiem, and within its high-Classical idiom has plenty of heartfelt and beautifully poignant moments. The power of the work is rendered with the utmost refinement and musicality by all concerned, with all soloists very strong, and soprano Lenka Cafourková ?uricová deserving of mention as the topping to a very unified and superbly balanced musical cake. Supraphon has made this into nicely presented release, the booklet containing all Latin texts and translations into English, German, French and Czech. If seeking beyond the more familiar choral music of Haydn and Mozart results in unearthing these kinds of glories I for one would welcome digging ever deeper into the archives of the obscure and unpublished.

-- Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International

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Richter: Requiem… / Valek, Czech Ensemble Baroque
Supraphon Mar 2015
CD
$31.99

Mozart: Requiem
Convivium Records Aug 2017
CD
$18.99

Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45
Archipel Jan 2012
CD
$10.99

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BERLIOZ: Requiem, Op. 5
SWR Feb 2006
SACD
~~$28.99~~ $14.49

Brescianello: Partitas & Sinfonias for Gallichone / Rebuffa

Tactus

$21.99 Apr 07, 2023

Among the entertainments with which the Bavarian nobles of the 18th century occupied their monotonous and idle daily life, in addition to gambling, tobacco smoking and reading, the mandora and calichon are often mentioned. The latter were lutes, with only 6- (or even 5-) courses of strings, which – being much less demanding than the contemporary German 13-course lute – became among the favourite instruments of the German, Austrian and Bohemian aristocracy, including women, who were generally excluded from professional instrumental music.

The larger 8-course calichon, due to its versatility was widely used as a continuo-playing instrument in chamber ensembles and orchestras, especially in monasteries and among the clergy. It is precisely an original gallichone of 1754 the instrument used by the specialist Davide Rebuffa for the performance of the pieces attributed to Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello, probably composed in Stuttgart after 1737 for a member of the family of the Dukes of Württemberg, at the service of which he spent much of his existence.

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Brescianello: Partitas & Sinfonias for Gallichone / Rebuffa
Tactus Apr 2023
CD
$21.99

Cherubini: Requiem Mass No. 2, Symphony in D major No. 6, Mé
Supraphon Oct 1999
CD
$15.99

Pizzetti: Messa di Requiem; Margutti: Kyrie, Op. 60; Sanctus

Dynamic

$16.99 Jul 19, 2024

The three Italian choral works on this album cast new light on pre-existing musical material. Corrado Margutti's Missa Lorca fuses the words of Federico Garcia Lorca with an evocation of Monteverdi's polyphonic textures to create fascinating sounds, as the two movements from the Mass reveal. Pizzetti's Messa di Requiem, the first of his great choral compositions, offers a wealth of expressive detail notably the use of Gregorian chant in music of huge range and richness. Lorenzo Donati's Sicut Cervus fittingly concludes this selection as it threads music from Palestrina into his piece illuminating the past with vivid new colours.

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Pizzetti: Messa di Requiem; Margutti: Kyrie, Op. 60; Sanctus
Dynamic Jul 2024
CD
$16.99

Lukaszewski: Musica Sacra 10, Requiem

DUX

$19.99 May 16, 2025

Requiem is a personal piece in Lukaszewski's oeuvre, the individual movements of which are dedicated to his friends and loved ones. At the same time, everyone can relate it to the sphere of their own experiences thanks to the accessibility of the musical language used by the composer, emphasising the intimate, contemplative nature of the piece. It is the harmony suspended between the tonality of the major-minor system and the simplicity of the melody, whose task is to follow the text, which plays a leading role, that are particularly noteworthy. The Mass fits into the tradition of a consoling, comforting requiem, devoid of the threat of the Last Judgment. The colour of the work is perfectly matched by the voices of both soloists, who are able to express every emotion - regret, hope, peace - while leaving the listener space for their own emotional reactions. Despite the definitely religious nature of the composition, you can also interact with it on the level of sincere admiration for the beauty of Lukaszewski's musical language, for an elusive aura between mystery and certainty.

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Lukaszewski: Musica Sacra 10, Requiem
DUX May 2025
CD
$19.99

Music For You - Mozart: Requiem / Carlo Maria Giulini, Et Al
Sony Masterworks May 2002
CD
$11.98

Johann Philipp Kirnberger: Sinfonias - World Premiere Record

Haenssler Classic

$20.99 May 01, 2026

Kirnberger Symphoes: World Premiere Recordings "His early acquaintance with the great school of Sebastian Bach, as well as his perspicacity, which enabled him to discover at an early stage the depth and incalculable richness in the works of this great master, unfathomable to so many others, and which had endeared him to this school, an institution which also demanded high precision and refinement in it's practice, something far more difficult to achieve than the glittering lustre of more recently founded schools, as well as for the harmonic part of the art, which it's master fathomed and exhausted as no one before him had ever done, all the more passionately and exclusively, since nature seemed to have denied him the delicate feeling for melodic beauty." - AMZ III, December 1800, p. 506

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Johann Philipp Kirnberger: Sinfonias - World Premiere Record
Haenssler Classic May 2026
CD
$20.99

Mix & Match

REQUIEM PARA CERVANTES
Lauda Jul 2012
CD
$20.99

Martin: Requiem; Janácek: Otce náš / Segerstam, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony

Capriccio

$21.99 Mar 04, 2022

It took Frank Martin a long time to heed his deep-seated inner calling to write a Requiem: 'What I have tried to express here is the clear will to accept death; to make peace with it.' The Requiem was composed in 1971/72, Martin utilizes the whole bandwidth of orchestral sound and explores all opportunities for interplay among the vocalists, as well. Leoš Janácek’s setting of the Otcenáš, the Lord’s Prayer, is not a conventionally religious work. The Czech composer was more interested in its social aspects than any theological musings. Conductor Leif Segerstam, Chief conductor of ORF Vienna radio Symphony Orchestra from 1975-1983 loved to surprise his public with non-mainstream repertoire. Two of these live recordings are now restored, re-mastered and first time published for the future.

REVIEW:

Frank Martin’s operatic background is to the fore in his setting of the Requiem. Written towards the very end of his life he had apparently delayed setting the text and once completed declared that his work was now done. Some decidedly 20th Century techniques, such as semi-spoken passages, can be heard in this music which is full of drama and displays a real affinity with the text. Janacek’s settting of the Lord’s Prayer is apparently written from a more detached view, with the composer apparently less committed to the meaning of the text in itself. However, this is still moving music, making for a fine pairing of lesser known liturgically inspired 20th Century (the Janacek only just!) works.

-- Lark Reviews

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Martin: Requiem; Janácek: Otce náš / Segerstam, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony
Capriccio Mar 2022
CD
$21.99

REQUIEM / SYMPHONY NO 8
RCO LIVE HOLLAND May 2010
SACD
$25.99

Zelenka: Die Responsorien - Tùma: Sonatas, Sinfonia
Supraphon Mar 2005
CD
$25.99

Thompson: Requiem / Hayes, Philadelphia Singers

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% May 13, 2016

Listen to the Naxos Podcast episode on this release to learn more!

Randall Thompson’s choral works retain the affection of American choral singers and conductors alike. The Requiem is his masterpiece, written in response to the loss of close friends and colleagues. Using a wide-ranging selection of Biblical verses, it takes the form of a dramatic dialogue between two choirs, a "chorus of mourners" and a "chorus of the faithful", concerning eternal life. Recorded here for the first time in its complete form, this Requiem is an emotional and dramatically intense journey of conflict and resolution, and entirely unique within American music history and the requiem tradition as a whole.

REVIEW:

The performance is very well done by The Philadelphia Singers, a professional choir that after 43 years disbanded in 2015, the year after this recording was made. Although it’s an often strange and imperfect work, we’re fortunate to have the recording, as it fills an important gap in Thompson’s recorded catalog and gives a first-class opportunity to experience aspects of his compositional style that we don’t hear anywhere else in his output.

-- ClassicsToday.com (David Vernier)

The Philadelphia Singers, under the tireless, polished leadership of David Hayes, sustain an impressively high level of musicianship over the course of this long and demanding unaccompanied piece. Thompson’s Requiem is revealed here as a major work, unique and masterful, by an important American voice of the last century. I highly recommend it.

-- Opera News

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Thompson: Requiem / Hayes, Philadelphia Singers
Naxos May 2016
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Pizzetti: Symphony in A & Harp Concerto / Iorio, Bassani, RAI National Symphony Orchestra

Naxos

$19.99 May 12, 2017

Composed in 1940, Pizzetti's Symphony in A was one of the works, which included Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, commissioned to celebrate the 2600th anniversary of the accession of the legendary first Emperor of Japan. This powerful and unsettling work, Pizzetti's only Symphony, is notable for its ominous mood, its compositional progress between February and June 1940 mirroring the unfolding European conflict and Italy's own declaration of war. Written twenty years later for Italy's leading harpist Clelia Gatti Aldrovandi, the sunny Harp Concerto is, by contrast, both lyrical and vivacious.

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Pizzetti: Symphony in A & Harp Concerto / Iorio, Bassani, RAI National Symphony Orchestra
Naxos May 2017
CD
$19.99

Lindberg: Requiem
Phono Suecia Dec 1994
CD
$18.99