"After studying several Mozart-Requiem performances I realized that this one is the most inspired and the closest to the Mozart rithym and sensibility. Better performed even than others directed also by Herbert v. Karajan. You can listen to other Mozart-Requiem versions, but once you listen to this one, you will not want another!"
Both Thrilling and Underwhelming.
Edward R. Oneill | San Francisco, CA | 11/25/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"
I can't claim to have heard as many version of Mozart's requiem as others writing here. I have this one, Herreweghe's version with the sublime Sibylla Rubens and the always-interesting Ian Bostridge. And I have Zukerman's version on SONY with the divine Arleen Auger. I'm still deciding which I like best, but I know this von Karajan recording is my least favorite.
Don't get me wrong. This Requiem seems nice enough. It's definitely of the "thrilling" variety--lots of pow and majesty. Makes you more in awe of death: if fear is a spiritual emotion, this fearful version is very spiritual indeed.
But it does seem bent on wowing you. And it has other flaws. I love soprano Wilma Lipp as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, but her intonation here is truly strange. It calls my attention and takes it away from the music. Anton Dermota and Walter Berry were two of the best singers of the period, but I can't say they do notable work here.
To my mind the digital remastering is just fine. You certainly can't tell that the recording's as old as it is, although it may be too squeaky clean on the same account.
I went out of my way to find this recording--for von Karajan, Dermota and Lipp. But in the end I was underwhelmed.
It's a bargain, and it's thrilling, after its own version of Mozart. But ultimately for me it leaves something to be desired.
"
The Greatest Recording of Mozart's Requiem
Męstro Marc | 09/11/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This Requiem not only is one of the greatest of all choral songs, but the quality of this CD I found to be better than any other. An example of it's quality can be found in the Sequenzia: Rex Tremendae. Many of the recordings of this section have made the brass instruments sound warped and tin-like. This recording makes them into a smooth harmonizing bass-line that allows for the violins to send shivers down your spine with Mozart and Süssmayr's glorious song of death. Also in the Offertorium the section of "Quam Olim Abrahae" is one of the best I have heard for the same reasons that the Rex Tremendae is. The only thing I would say is bad about this album is that poor Wolfgang Meyer didn't play the organ loud enough for me to enjoy it. I have heard at least 35 different versions of the Mozart's Requiem currently and this is the one that I prefer the most to hear."
"
I bought this CD and I must say it is a really powerful performance in terms of the scale of the chorus used here. This is most definitely not your historically correct recordings. Off course we know this is to be expected from Karajan. I am sure the forces here in terms of the chorus are much more than would be expected in a historically correct "Gardiner" requiem, but the power of this recording can't be denied. Although Herbert Von Karajan does not bring the delicate touch you would expect in this work, you can feel the dramatic impact, like in the "Kyrie". The soloists perform a beautiful "Tuba mirum" The sheer power, scale and force of the chorus lashes out at you sucking you into the feel of this requiem. In the "Rex tremendae" Herbert goes for the "I will blow your brains out approach today before you are done with listening to this" and it works. The "Lacrimosa" is solidly solemn and dramatic at the same time. The "Santcus" feels like you want to get up move that booty of yours, and shake it hard. In a odd sort of way you forget this is a requiem, rather the interpretation of the whole work makes you celebrate death and makes you in awe of the chorus. It's like you feel "We should have had more dead people, so that we could have more massive requiems" like this one. Look if you are looking for the delicate and historically correct Mozart requiem, look somewhere else but the opening of the "Rex Tremendae" with that massive chorus screaming, you can't be not moved or atleast you can't be not shocked unless you are robot. You can really feel like this is Mozart like you never expected. The "Domine Deus" is springy and solid. I know in my heart that Mozart is more delicate, and I know that Herbert just went for the "mass attack" approach on this whole work but it's still a powerful interpretation. So you loose some of the poignancy and some of the heart felt touches, but Herbert substitutes it with in-your face, forces with strong soloists who sing their hearts out.The Vienna Singeverin are forceful and spot on and are a very important part of the power of this peformance.
I am not a great fan of Herbert Von Karajan but I could not deny the power of this work. Herbert takes this one at slightly slower speed than the other recordings that I have listened to and this is to gain this weighty, solemn and strong sound. Herbert wants to create this into an occasion like a bruckner symphony, or like a wagner opera. The slower speed works with the weighty orchestra and excessive chorus and this togther with the recording in a church gives you a dramatic sonic account. The recording feels like you are in the concert hall, because of the natural echoes in the church. But approach this one with the knowledge that this is a slightly bombastic, and super aggrandized account as rightly pointed out in the other reviews (hence not 5 stars). I always like to listen to several versions of the same work, even if the version is not a historically correct one. If the peformance moves me, I just forget about the historical correctness of the instruments, the forces and the slight changes to the nuances of the score. That's the fun in listening to different versions of the same work, to get the picture of the work that each conductor sees through his mind's eye. Die hard anti-karajan guys will anyway avoid this. I am myself not a karajn person, I for eg don't feel the Beethoven in his Beethoven cycle that I own, I felt like he ate up half the delicate nuances on which a Beethoven symphony hinges and the brassy digital recordings of all of Beethoven symphony take away the warmth of the Beethoven sound making it sound more like star wars. But I did like this requiem by him. This may not serve as your Requiem of first choice but it would be nice to have this as an alternative version after hearing the soft touching ones. You may want this brutal-massive forces version just to see what Mozart sounds like if the composer is made to sound a bit like Bruckner. So I have cautioned the purists. It's nice to get out of line sometimes and break the rules, so c'mon get out of your shells and listen to this one, it's worth the price. If Mozart is getting audio streaming in heaven of the DG catalogue, Mozart himself would be amused and tickled to hear his music made to sound so extravagantly fierce
...offourse once in a while he would stomp his wig in anger and jump up and down screaming expletives for what HVK did to his music ;-)
regards, Vikram
"
A good bargain for some great music!
Paul West | San Marcos, Texas | 02/01/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"While in no way do I claim aficionado status in analyzing the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, I must say with all honesty that while this probably isn't the best recording of the moribund composer's masterpeice, it certainly warrants being the most worthy for the price.
Undoubtedly, this music is first rate, and Karajan's phrasing is poignantly and effectively executed -- which is so crucial for animating these types of "sepulchral" masses. What I look for in grand scale choral music is an in-your-face experience with the voices and instumentalists. Karajan usually delivers this, and very rarely do I find myself jonesing for more of this or more of that.
In this case, I saw the CD, saw the name of the conducter...and then I saw the meager price. I couldn't resist.
And I haven't had any regrets. This is coming from a man who is extremely finicky when it comes to conducters and philharmonias. Not just any lame orchestra will do, and just not any inept soloist will do. When it comes to Bach, I am even more meticulous, and rightly so -- put the wrong harpsichordist or soprano on the platform and you have a tremendous bore.
Mozart has more leeway, I believe. A poor rendition of a Mozart composition is more apt to anger than bore. It angers me to realize just how much more powerful and potentially engrossing the music could be.
I have found that with Mozart symphonies, Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin fit the bill nicely. I've also found that Herbert Von Karajan can fire up the concert hall just as well. In either case, they both put the music in your face -- which is right where it needs to be.
You can't go wrong with this purchase: Mozart's Requiem conducted by HVK leading the Berlin Phil on a Deutsche Gramm label. ..."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
