Do not buy this recording. The quality is very poor. The "Cantique de Jean Racine" is hardly audible. Better pay a little more for a better recording. This one is a waste.
May 17, 2008I've heard at least 5 different Faure Requiems (Giulini, Matthew Best, Bernstein, etc.) and this one is unique and my favorite. You have the original stripped down forces. As the most gentle of all Requiems, this is absolutely apt, for without the full orchestra, this Naxos version acheives a sublime intimacy that others, although more powerfully moving at times, are not more GENTLY moving. I think this is the key. Just a side note, but thanks goodness for Naxos, for they have allowed countless lesser-known talent be known to the world and shine... and for a bargain price at that.
December 28, 2006Faure's Requiem is one of the most sublime pieces that has ever been written. It contains music that is almost too perfect to be real. Whether it be the opening of the "Agnus Dei", with a melody so beautiful and tender that it makes you want to cry, or the "Lux Aeterna" passage, where one gets the impression of everything stopping and a light shining down from Heaven, this Requiem is the work of a true master. As good as this particular recording is, I'm surprised it's not more well known. It is the best I've I heard, even compared to the more famous recordings. I would recommend this CD to anyone.
June 9, 2006MAY I PARAPHRASE GABRIEL FAURE--"I'VE WRITTEN A GENTLE LITTLE REQUIEM, AS GENTLE AS I AM." HOW TRUE. ABSENT ARE THE SWIRLING STRINGS, THE SNARLING BRASS AND HEAVEN STORMING MASSIVE CHORAL FORCES OF BERLIOZ, VERDI AND BRAHMS. NEITHER DO WE HEAR THE CASTILLIAN PASSION OF MORALES, OR THE SOMETIMES LACRIMAL, SOMETIMES DETACHED SORROW OF MOZART. NO, THIS IS A FRENCH BEATITUDE--"BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN..." AND, INDEED, WE ARE COMFORTED. THE YOUNG MR. SUMMERLY AND HIS EXQUISITE SCHOLA HAVE GIVEN US THE ORIGINAL VERSION IN SUCH PURE AND SIMPLE TERMS THAT ONE SLIGHT ERROR IN EXECUTION WOULD SHATTER THE CRYSTALLINE NATURE OF THIS WORK. NO SUCH ERRORS EXIST. ALONG WITH DAVID WILCOCKS EMI CHAMBER RECORDING, THE "OTHER" 5-STAR RELEASE, THIS BARGAIN FROM NAXOS IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST TO OWN. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
January 30, 2006Listneing to this CD this morning makes me think of all the debates about beauty. People argue; people try to define the word. Well, just play this music - the entire CD - and take a bath in divine beauty. Close your eyes, let the inner light rise, and forget the definitions and debates.
January 25, 2006More reviews at Amazon.com ...
![Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem [A German Requiem]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00000GCA3.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
(12 reviews)
