Verdi: Requiem; Quattro pezzi sacri

Verdi: Requiem

This is an excellent recording of an excellent performance of the famous REQUIEM by Verdi. The Dies Irae section is especially thrilling. Highly recommended.The "Four Sacred Pieces" is a fine added bonus, especially the "Te Deum". June 13, 2008

An Energetic and highly Dramatic Verdi Requiem

Of all of Verdi's latter works, the Verdi requiem is perhaps my favorite after Otello. Although it was written as a Requiem mass, I find that Verdi's composition recalls something that sounds more operatic than parochial, and for this reason, I don't think that it should be treated merely as a church piece. Rather, it should be seen a piece that combines both the elements of the sacred and secular emotions. This recording, one of Decca's most prestigious achievements in the studio, clearly ranks itself as one of the most exciting and beautiful renditions of the Verdi requiem, spearheaded by the Hungarian conductor Sir Georg Solti with the Vienna Philharmonic and the soloists Dame Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, and Martti Talvela. Although Solti has been accused of being overly emphatic with his conducting, I think the religious nature of the work tamed his hammy hand and made something beautiful and reverent out of it. No, this doesn't sound like Wagner, and I think that is all for the better. The more reflective parts are played with the kind of virtuosity that only an orchestra like the Vienna Philharmonic can offer, and the more balls against the wall are given a drive that no other recording gives. The Dies Irae is an excellent example of this. This is the second remastering of this awesome choral work by Decca, and you can hear so many details being given more emphasis by the engineers. In short, I think this is the best sounding Verdi requiem on the market, as proven by Decca's quality engineering.

The soloists are one of the most distinguished quartets ever to have sung their respective parts. Luciano Pavarotti in his prime sings the tenor with a meltingly tender line and a phrasing that no one will ever anticipate to surpass. Talvela is the most sonorous and darkest bass ever to sing the gorgeous Confutatis. Horne imbues the alto part with her dark timbre and her graceful phrasing. Her Liber Scriptus, Agnus Dei, and Lux Aeterna are rivalled only by Christa Ludwig and Grace Bumbry. And then there's Joan Sutherland. Although several listeners gripe about the overparted sound of her voice, I think it actually fits the piece quite well. Joan Sutherland had an amazingly huge voice, as large as Birgit Nilsson's whenever she sang any repertoire. It may not be as dark as let's say...Renata Tebaldi, Leontyne Price, Zinka Milanov, or Antonietta Stella, but her ease with the difficult and high lying soprano part makes her singing a treat to listen to. I still love Freni and Gheorghiu in the part, but Joan Sutherland is one of the very best sopranos and no one should criticize her for her diction since it actually sounded very good here.

To sum up, one of the best Verdi Requiems on the market, perhaps the best if you want theater and the sacred combined in one indelible package. This CD set also comes with the composer's Quattro Pezzi Sacre. An essential set! June 10, 2007

One of two definitive Verdi Requiems

Including the DVD performance with von Karajan/La Scala, I own ten recordings of the Verdi Requiem. Putting the DVD performance aside for a moment, this recording and the Fritz Reiner on Decca Verdi: Requiem are the two that I pull out most frequently. I am biased in that I grew up with this recording which my mother bought after she sang the piece in college in the mid 1960s. Since these two are my favorites, I will compare and contrast.

The appropriateness of having Sutherland as the soprano soloist has always been debated. She has her strengths and weaknesses like any other singer, and oddly enough her quiet high notes aren't the best on record. But her breath control throughout (and especially at the end of the Offertorio) is stunning, and she truly sounds terrified at the beginning of the Libera Me. The duets with Horne have a solidity that is found in most of their work together, sounding much more like a single voice that's managed to produce two notes.

Price's performance with Reiner is legendary. Her low range, which is called upon frequently in this piece as well as the high register, is stronger than Sutherland's, and her quiet high notes are excellent. It is also argued that since Verdi wrote this part for the original Aida, Price is more appropriate to the part.

Horne embodies "mezzo-soprano" singing and is ideal for the part. Her high register is easy but forceful, and she has one of the most dramatic chest voices there is. Elias is also very good, but there's a polish and a variety in Horne's colors that keep me coming back to her recording. It's difficult to believe that the Liber Scriptus, dark and commanding, and the Lux Aeterna, light and ethereal, were sung by the same person.

Pavarotti early in his career, or Björling at the end of it. If only the latter had made the recording a few years before, but he didn't. It remains one of the definitive performances of the part, his tone is remarkably consistent, high notes not quite as easy as they could be, but remarkable. However, Pavarotti in the 60s was a force of nature. His voice is expressive, the second high B-flat in the Ingemisco (on the word "dextra") is quite possibly the best high B-flat sung on record; he sounds like he could have gone UP to the E-flat instead of down. He had also done enough work with Sutherland and Horne that he blends with them excellently.

Talvela and Tozzi are both BIG voices, both true basses, and both excellent. I think that Tozzi gets my vote here for color, though Talvela is an absolute rock of tone and pitch. Talvela also tends towards the Germanic pronunciation of some of the Latin (Quia being pronounced as Kvia, for instance) which occasionally doesn't blend.

Both recordings have the excellent Vienna Philharmonic. Solti, as usual, tends towards the faster side, and Reiner towards the slower. The recording itself is much more dimensional for the Solti since the better part of a decade had passed and the technology had improved, but the newest remastering of the Reiner (on the Decca Legends series) improves it considerably over past efforts. Solti goes for an operatic, dramatic, and occasionally over the top performance, and Reiner is more reverent and restrained. Since Verdi is the master of opera and wrote the Requiem in the style with which he was most comfortable, I think Solti has an extremely valid point conducting it the way he does. Both versions work, both versions hold together, and I wouldn't be without either of them. May 23, 2007

DEATH, SALVATION, VERDI & SOLTI: HOW CAN YOU MISS?

I think the Verdi Requiem is the greatest Italian opera ever composed.
The old master managed to summon all his experience in the opera house and take the great themes of death, salvation, redemption and forgiveness and weave them into a stunning theatrical experience! (This is definitely not music for a liturgy.) A fantastic performance! Sutherland, freed from the constraints of her husband's boring conducting. Pavarotti, still young and making music instead of doing a "celebrity gig". Horne and Talvela at their considerable best. And Solti, unleashing the furies as only he could. This is a great recording.
(But also check out the Reiner recording with Leontyne Price & Jussi
Bjoerling. Talk about heavenly singing! My own, personal desert island recording. And Solti's later version from Chicago with Price is also a knockout!) February 6, 2007

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