Verdi: Requiem Mass / Cherubini: Requiem in C minor

Verdi: Requiem Mass / Cherubini: Requiem in C minor

Verdi: Requiem Mass / Cherubini: Requiem in C minor
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Composer: Luigi Cherubini
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor: Riccardo Muti
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra of London
Performer: Agnes Baltsa
Performer: Renata Scotto
Performer: Veriano Luchetti
Performer: Ambrosian Chorus
Edition: Music CD
Audio: Italian (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2005-02-15
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Requiem Aeternam
  2. Kyrie Eleison
  3. Dies Irae
  4. Tuba Mirum
  5. Mors Stupebit
  6. Liber Scriptus
  7. Quid Sum Miser
  8. Rex Tremendae Majestatis
  9. Recordare
  10. Ingemisco
  11. Confutatis Maledictis
  12. Lacrymosa Dies Illa
  13. Domine Jesu Christie
  14. No.4 - Sanctus
  15. No.5 - Agnus Dei
Music CD 2
  1. No.6 - Lux Aeterna
  2. No.7 - Libera Me
  3. Introitus Et Kyrie - Ambrosian Chorus
  4. Graduale - Ambrosian Chorus
  5. Dies Irae - Ambrosian Chorus
  6. Offertorium - Ambrosian Chorus
  7. Sanctus - Ambrosian Chorus
  8. Pie Jesu - Ambrosian Chorus
  9. Agnus Dei - Ambrosian Chorus

Music reviews of Verdi: Requiem Mass / Cherubini: Requiem in C minor

Music Review: Theatrical Verdi, ravishing Cherubini
Rating: 5 Stars

Listeners may be familiar with Riccardo Muti's 1987 La Scala recording of the Verdi Requiem featuring Studer, Zajic, Pavarotti, and Ramey (a wonderful album but a bit pricey). This earlier recording (June 1979) with the British is, fortunately or unfortunately, quite a different rendition.

Muti's 1987 recording featured brilliant but well-disciplined singing. In this 1979 album, however, the discipline seems to have been left outside the recording studio.

Words are grossly mispronounced, soloists are often a bit flat, and some of the vocalizing is uncomfortably forced. There is also a lot of use of ritards that sometimes sound overdone.

But what made up for these drawbacks - and why I really LOVE this CD! - was the no-holds-barred theatricality. If you want a performance that is every bit as operatic as Verdi never wanted it to be, if you want every human emotion front and center, if you want a reading that couldn't care less about all those vocal niceties that music teachers charge so much to teach - well, here it is!

The CD fools you at first. The opening Requiem chorus is barely audible, as is often the case. But suddenly you get punched in the face with the angriest, most violent "Te decet" basses you've ever heard. Forget the usual hymn-like treatment this passage normally gets. These hymnists are carrying sledgehammers.

When the four soloists enter for the Kyrie, they leave no doubt that this really is going to be Verdi's "greatest opera." I have never, ever heard the Kyrie opening with such prima donna bombast.

Veriano Luchetti had recorded the Verdi Requiem just two years earlier with Georg Solti and Leontyne Price. He was theatrical then, and still is. It's a real pleasure to hear him go full voice in places like Quid sum miser and Hostias.

Agnes Baltsa would later record a marvelous Verdi Requiem with Herbert von Karajan (1984). Her big, powerful voice still rings with Muti.

Evgeny Nesterenko is a star of the Russian opera world. In 1979, he was no doubt the Jerome Hines of the USSR. Of all the Verdi Requiem basses I've heard, Nesterenko is one of my favorites. His pronunciation will make purists cringe, though, and half the time he sounds like he's singing through his nose. But his monumentally deep bass sound and swooping vocal theatrics are so much fun to listen to!

While all of the soloists did their part to maximize the drama, I think Renato Scotto gets first prize. Her Recordare is the weepiest I've ever heard, with lots of pop-music style inhaling to add to the emotion. In the Lacrymosa, you can almost see the tears coming down; you'd think you were watching the final scene of Madama Butterfly. In the Libera Me, she sounds frightfully angry, like she's ready to punch God in the face. Scotto has a huge voice with a bit of a wobble; she is recorded extremely well here.

The Ambrosian Chorus, like the La Scala Opera Chorus several years later, had their hands full with Muti's lightning-fast tempos. Practically all the choral highlights (Dies Irae, Sanctus, Libera Me fugue) are done at frightening speeds which this chorus handles with great control. The sopranos are strangely over-miked at times: during the Libera Me fugue, their long sustained notes were distractingly loud and detracted from the main melody line.

The Philharmonia Orchestra does well, but even they can only do so much. Muti conducts the Dies Irae so quickly, that the strings literally have to slow down ever so slightly so they can negotiate the virtuosic runs. The brass sound great throughout, but sometimes they are over-miked to the point where they drown out the chorus.

Luigi Cherubini (1760 - 1842) wrote two requiems. The first, the Requiem in C Minor, was written in 1816 in France. If you've never heard a requiem that has no soloists, I strongly recommend this performance by Muti, the Ambrosian Chorus and the Philharmonia Orchestra (recorded July 1980, London).

Cherubini was a contemporary of Mozart's, so comparisons are inevitable. Mozart never came close to finishing his requiem; Cherubini's score is complete from cover to cover. Personally, I was totally enchanted with this setting and am at a loss as to its infrequent recordings and performances.

The Cherubini Requiem lasts 48 minutes. The opening Introitus and Kyrie were subdued and very moving, quite unlike Verdi's version. The Dies Irae was a powerful statement, proving that a good chorus and orchestra are all you need to depict Judgment Day.

The Offertorium, at 16'33", was the longest movement. It features a heavenly setting of the phrase "sed signifer sanctus Michael" and a rousing setting of "Quam olim Abrahae" that must surely have lifted the audiences off their chairs.

The Sanctus is short (only 1'20") but is overwhelming in its majestic sweep. The requiem finishes with a dramatic setting of the Agnus Dei that might surprise some modern ears.

The Ambrosian Chorus makes the most of this exhilirating score; they are a joy to listen to. Muti and the Philharmonia seem to have put the Verdi behind them, and have formed a satisfying partnership that makes this precious music shine.

No texts or translations. This 2004 album was released earlier in 1996.

Highly recommended.
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