Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard [1] Strauss, Giuseppe Verdi :: Verdi: Requiem

Two choices for this great performance

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a stupendous performance, which one can get either in this bargain Gala issue or a full-price one from Doremi--I only own this one, however. It is in acceptable AM radio sound, mono of course. The Verdi Requiem can't be completely captured by listening to it over the radio, but this 1970 recording captures the soloists very faithfully, the chorus very distantly.



There is another Salzburg performance under Karajan form 1956 on an official Festival Dokumente release through EMI. It has omparable sound in mono and is equally great. Both these readings have first-rate soloists. I prefer the team on this one, especially for the incomparable Christa Ludwig, but the 1956 set features the equally incomparable Leonie Rysanek in the soprano part, which is much more extensive than the mezzo part.



Altogether, these live versions are considerably more dramatic and less mannered than Karajan's studio recordings, both in stereo, on EMI and DG. The Verdi Requiem was a great specialty of Karajan's--he brought it to Carnegie Hall with Leontryne Price on a legendary occasion--and I am greatful for any recording he made."

A superb performance in slightly muddy, mono sound

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 10/17/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's surprising what you can find on bargain live labels like Gala if you dig around and this Requiem is well worth its modest asking price as long as you can tolerate indifferent AM broadcast mono sound and forego the kind of sonic spectacular offered by recent, modern recordings such as those by Davis or Pappano. The compensations are many: not least a stellar quartet of soloists and magisterial conducting by Karajan of the splendid Vienna Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra. I have been listening to a lot of Verdi Requiems recently, and this one reminds me how I really like it to sound: no small-scale, pared-back performance this, but a real belter of the old school. Karajan's timings come in at just under 90 minutes; by no means especially slow compared with other favourite versions and speeds certainly justified by the weighty impact of the interpretation. I am again reminded that Christa Ludwig is perhaps the finest interpreter of the mezzo part: her voice is rich, velvety, plaintive, pleading and ecstatic by turns. Raimondi repeats his saturnine assumption of the bass line which can otherwise be heard in better sound from around the same time with Bernstein but there he scoops a bit more. Bergonzi can also be heard in better sound on the Leinsdorf set with Nilsson (see my review) and here he spoils his first entrance by coming in early and singing "Kyr-i-HEY" but it is still a wonderful, heroic performance. However, I suspect that the main attraction of this 1970 broadcast will for many be the chance to hear the sublime Gundula Janowitz soaring through music which I confess I did not know she ever sang. I don't why I am surprised, given that I am well aware that around the same time she was giving beautiful performances of Elisabetta in "Don Carlo" in Vienna (cf my review of Opera d'Oro's bargain set, conducted by Horst Stein, where she is partnered by a dream cast including Corelli). She certainly has enough voice to dominate the ensembles; some do not respond to the strange, fluting, almost instrumental sound of her voice with its quick vibrato; I love it and it seems to suit Verdi to a T. There is a lovely bonus (as is often the case with Gala) in the form of Janowitz singing Beethoven's concert aria "Ah! perfido", and the finales from "Capriccio" and Act 1 of "Der Rosenkavalier" (with that fine mezzo Yvonne Minton), the latter two conducted by Haitink and von Dohnanyi respectively. Janowitz fans will probably already have her studio recording of "Capriccio" but it is generous programming nonetheless and she sings exquisitely. It is such a pleasure to luxuriate in the old-fashioned sumptuousness of such voices after some of the meagre rations more recent accounts serve up and I deduct a star from my rating merely because of the limited recorded sound. It will not be your first or only Verdi Requiem but it should find a place on your shelves - only make it fit better by transferring the two CD's into a slimline case; goodness knows why Gala needlessly package the way they do in a cumbersome box, as there's only a thin booklet with good performance notes, biographies and no libretto."