Fauré & Duruflé: Requiem / Bonney, Larmore, Hampson; Legrand

Our Price: $79.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.40 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details

CD Details

Music reviews of Fauré & Duruflé: Requiem / Bonney, Larmore, Hampson; Legrand

Music Review: Outstanding Performance!!!
Rating: 5 Stars

Legrand, known for his work as a jazz pianist and popular songwriter, is actually a very sensitive conductor and he clearly has a keen understanding of French music and the way these works should be performed. He recognizes that the solemn occasion for which these works were written demands that the tempi not be too brisk, lest the feeling of solemnity be forgotten. Anything faster than his tempi on this record would sound inappropriately rushed.

The soloists are excellent. Thomas Hampson's unerring sense of style is well suited to French music and he sings with admirable poise and conviction. One of the most telling differences between these two works is the "Pie Jesu" movement. Fauré wrote it for a soprano soloist. The writing is relatively light and Barbara Bonney copes well with its high tessitura. Duruflé clearly liked the idea of writing this movement for a female soloist, but, perhaps wishing to probe deeper spiritually than Fauré, Duruflé wrote a much darker, more serious, and, in fact, much more meaningful movement, for a mezzo-soprano soloist. Jennifer Larmore sings it absolutely perfectly and Legrand's accompaniment, especially in the rapturous pianissimi of the opening and closing of the movement, is likewise perfectly sympathetic. The orchestral playing from the Philharmonia Orchestra, as in every other respect on this record, is excellent in the climax of this movement. It is very, very difficult to imagine this unspeakably beautiful and moving "Pie Jesu" being performed any better than on this disc. It certainly confirms that Jennifer Larmore is one of the great and certainly one of the most intelligent mezzos on record. Indeed, this whole recording, including the choral singing and the warm quality of the recording itself, is characterized by excellence. This truly sublime music deserves no less.

Classical CDs

• Music > Styles