Search - Hector Berlioz, Arrigo Boito, Giuseppe Verdi :: Berlioz: Requiem; Boito: Prologue to Mefistofele

Fantastic Recording of a Fantastic Work!

Robin Currier | 02/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Berlioz Requiem is seldom performed, simply because of the sheer enormity of the production and the number of musicians involved. The large main orchestra is surrounded by four brass choirs, in addition to a choir of several hundred voices. There are no less than 16 tympanists, 18 trombonists, 12 horns and nine cymbalists. I've only heard it performed live once, with the brass choirs placed equidistantly around the large performance hall, and it was an event never to be forgotten! This recording approximates that experience. It's really a great recording and sure to become an important selection in your classical music library!"

Utterly magnificent!

MartinP | Nijmegen, The Netherlands | 06/01/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A while ago I gave my opinion of Dutoit's recording of the Berlioz Requiem on this site, and took the opportunity to sing the praise of this magnificent work - extensively so, and I won't repeat myself here. But every time I hear it, it again seems to grow in stature. In fact, I feel this work is so profound that it is more than worthy to stand alongside those other very greatest choral works in history, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Bach's Hohe Messe.
And this recording must be the best one made of it (there really ought to be many, many more to choose from, though!). That Shaw knows how to get the best out of a chorus we knew, but frankly I haven't been unreservedly happy with his handling of the orchestra in some other recordings (Mahler's Eight seems a relevant case in point). However, no such reservations here. Details are meticulously moulded, tempo's perfectly judged, and dynamics closely observed (though a little more 'swell' would have been welcome here and there). Rhythmic articulation is stunningly crisp both in chorus and orchestra (notice the choral singing in the Kyrie!). John Aler is the perfect soloist in the Sanctus, giving an unforced, deeply dignified reading of a piece that too often is allowed to veer towards the operatic - and this Requiem certainly isn't opera!
To top things of all these glorious sounds are caught in the best Telarc fashion, with completely natural perspectives and a thrillingly spacial feel to the four brass bands - not only in the Tuba Mirum, but in their quieter parts elsewhere too. Details remain clearly audible when textures thicken. All in all, a recording that allows full and unhampered immersion in this deeply moving and at times overwhelming masterpiece. I would still like to here John Elliot Gardiner's take on this work, as I did after hearing the Dutoit, but I doubt he can do very much better than this."

Spectacular music

MR EVAN WILLIAMS | 05/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is totally awesome music. First of all, the Telarc recording engineers are the best in the world. I have high-end stereo equipment and this is great quality stuff. Secondly, Berlioz Requiem is very well done. Robert Shaw was a master. Not to mention the genius of Berlioz! Finally, I had never heard of Boito until I bought this disc. The Prologue to Mefistofole is stunning music. In fact I was so impressed by it that I bought the whole opera on video, and eventually flew from Seattle to New York to see it live at The Met. This CD is a "must buy.""