Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Victor De Sabata, Oralia Dominguez :: Verdi: Messa da Requiem

Very good performance in terrible sound.

Timothy R. Carpenter | Philadelphia, PA | 03/11/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This very good (four star) performance, led by De Sabata, features fine women soloists and a tenor and bass - Di Stefano and Siepi - who are superb. These gentlemen also recorded the Verdi Requiem with Toscanini. They are just as good, if not better, here. I have the performance on LP, missed it when it came out on EMI's References label and so picked this Opera D'Oro up. The sound is painfully awful(minus two stars, minimum...): the chorus and soloists sound as though they are under water and the orchestra can barely be heard though a veil of noise. Pitch fluctuates from moment to moment. Terrible.

I recently found this performance on the Naxos Historical label (Europe) and bought it at once. The remastering is a miracle: crisp clean sound with depth and presence. Heard in this way the performance is powerful. So - avoid the Opera D'Oro and look for the Naxos."