Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Karl Böhm, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra :: Mozart: Requiem

Profoundly tragic

Musicus | Oslo, Norway | 06/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I cannot claim that no other Mozart Requiem is as good as this. Still I don't need any other. If this is slow, it is a slowness that is needed to let the power of drama to unfold. Mozart never wrote anything as profoundly tragic as this work. In my opinion there are two great Mozart directors, for all their differences: Boehm and Gardiner. Perhaps I buy the Gardiner later, perhaps not. I can do with this some more years.



PS: August 2006: After recommendation, I've got the Peter Schreier-performance of the Requiem. It is leaner and clearer, as good sung as this; many will claim much better - but still I am not finished with my Boehm. In fact, the Schreier only reinforces my love for the Boehm-version. It seems to be definite as far as I am concerned.

PS 11th July 2007: Meanwhile I have bought the Requiem conducted by Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos, brisker tempos, which feel just right. I never listen to the Boehm nor the Schreier anymore... I regret my five stars, sorry, should only be four. See the five star Rafael Fruhbeck De Burgos here:

Mozart: Requiem"

The Greatest Recording in History.

Gabriel Priore | Tucson, AZ United States | 12/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording deserves an infinite amount of stars. When I first heard this recording, I never thought that Mozart's Requiem could be performed with such a legendary amount of depth and maturity. Every tempo that Karl Bohm decided to use, made it only obvious, that he was a man of impeccable musical depth, both emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically. He had to be. You can actually FEEL the emotional power of this recording. It's a spiritual sensation! I have read certain reviews in which people have greatly acknowledged other particular recordings for their incredibly bravura, virtuosic, and flamboyant performances. However, it must be realized, that this is an EXTREMELY deep, and religious work that is primarily for the glory of GOD. And GOD, would obviously have no interest in a person who's goal would be to bring recognition upon themselves, for their flamboyant renditions. The first recording that I ever owned of the Mozart Requiem, was the fairly new release of the Claudio Abbado recording with the Berlin Philharmonic, which is also on the Deutsche Grammophon recording label (289 463 181-2). I thought that this was a great recording, however, my thoughts immediately changed when I heard the Karl Bohm recording. I heard a hundred times more detail in this recording than I ever did in Abbado's recording. It made me realize that the new Abbado recording is a rather horrible one! For instance, you cannot even hear the organ, at all, in the Abbado recording. If the Abbado recording was the first recording a person ever heard, he/she would have never known that an organ was supposed to even exist in the Mozart Requiem, unless they looked at the back of the CD case, and saw the organist's name printed there! There are tons of other major details that are completely missing in that recording too, however, a person would only be able to realize this, if they heard the Karl Bohm recording. Also, the total performance time of the Abbado recording, is about 49 minutes in length. The total performance time of this Karl Bohm recording, is about 64 minutes in length!! Bohm obviously took the greatest amount of time to express his deepest emotions, which makes this recording incredibly historic. There is NO competition with this recording. This recording MUST be owned, in order to TRULY experience what I believe Mozart intended, during his final hours."

Stunning

count_mushnik | 07/15/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this CD on holiday, listened to the first movement and was hooked straight away. You've never heard Mozart this passionate or dramatic or flawless before in your life. The end of the first and last movements just beg to be listened to with headphones and the volume up as high as it can go. Ditto with the big sumptious endings with the organ in the middle movements. The (slightly odd) trombone solo in "Tuba Mirum" is pretty much perfect, just like the rest of it really! I have no basis of comparison with other recordings of Requiem, but I think I have picked the best - I don't think it could be improved upon.Please, buy this piece of music, even if it isn't this recording, just get it; it's too good to miss."