Great, but not the greatest
Samer T Ismail | Danbury, CT | 04/17/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a recording of the "reduced orchestration" version of the Duruflé Requiem. It's scored for trumpets, timpani, harp, strings (in addition to the solo cello), and organ. The added instruments give it a somewhat warmer feeling than the organ-and-cello only version (available on Hyperion), and a somewhat smaller, more intimate feeling than the full orchestra version (perhaps my favorite version, especially Robert Shaw's Telarc recording).Piquemal et al. turn in an admirable performance. My two favorite moments are the climactic "Dies irae" section in the "Libera me," where the smaller forces actually sound, in their own way, *more* ominous than in larger versions; and the "In Paradisum," where the chorus gives an ethereal sound missed by most other versions. The only downside is that Beatrice Uria-Manzon has a shade too much vibrato in the central "Pie Jesu," but certainly not enough to make you want to skip ver that track.The extras at the end of the CD are good; while this isn't the best recording available (and perhaps not even of the reduced version--Dennis Keene offers another excellent recording on Delos)--it's certainly the best bargain."