Solomon's choice--to get a great soloist, orchestra and chor
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 08/09/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"It's no sin to take a Requiem slowly, but Barenboim is exasperatingly pokey in the first two movements of Ein Deutsches Requiem, taking almost half an hour, every moment of it slack and sluggish (Klemperer, no speed demon, takes 24 min.). What a shame that we can't have the excellent Thomas Hampson, here at his thrilling youthful best in 1993, in a better setting. The Chicago orchestra and chrous are also among the best to ever record the Brahms Requiem, but you're faced with Solomon's choice.
Barenboim never finds any vigor rhythmically, though many passages are loud and heavy, which I guess passes for profundity. The soprano soloist in Traurigkeit, Janet Williams, is unknown to me; she does the best she can with Barenboim's leaden tempo, but despite having a pleasant voice, Williams manages to be out of tune quite a lot. In all, a CD for Hampson fans only, or subscribers to the CSO who collect every recording by their home orhestra."