Mozart - Requiem / AugA©r, Bartoli, Cole, Pape, Wiener Phil., Solti

Pick of the litter....

To my great surprise, in the last two decades of his life Solti turned into a marvelous Mozart interpreter. His '80's Figaro, and '90's Magic Flute and Cosi fan Tutte are among my favorite versions, Sir Georg's sometimes abrasive nervous energy (and scholarly use of reduced orchestral forces) makes for fantastically dramatic, anti-romantic readings. This requiem, recorded on the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death in St Stephen's cathedral in Vienna benefits from an awesome reverberant acoustic, a quartet of fabluous operatic singers (and let's face it, this is an opera manque, religiose, not religious, "the sickly sweets of operatic sin" as Stravinsky called it, and a good thing too I say). Excerpts of the actual Mass ceremony are interspersed, and along with the opening tolling of the bells, there is a tremendous sense of occasion and theater here. Somewhere, I like to think WAM was smiling.
This is my recommendation for a first-choice recording. July 29, 2008

Better than Bernstein

Good buy. This Requiem version is wonderful and uplifting. Bought Leonard Bernstein's version some years ago. It moves so slowly and seems full of unrelenting angst--sounds more like Wagner than Mozart. If you like the music of Mozart's Requiem, this version is much more friendly. April 17, 2008

Requiem @ St. Stephens Cathedral

The best of the Requiem with good sound quality, cathedral and religious effects. Listening to the whole CD is an experience by itself. A bonus if one favors Latin mass. November 13, 2007

Awesome

Listen to Mozart's requiem during a live performance and an actual mass.
Quite a treat. January 11, 2007

Heavenly Music

I highly recommend this CD to all Mozart lovers and to all who appreciate classical, religious music. Masterfully performed under the direction of Sir Georg Solti. August 16, 2006

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