Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Istvan Kertesz, Peter Schreier :: Mozart: Requiem; Ave verum corpus

Excellent Budget "Requiem"

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 03/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Mozart "Requiem" by Istvan Kertesz and the Vienna Philharmonic has previously been (and for the time being continues to be) available on Decca/London's "Weekend Classics" CD series. This reissue as part of the Universal Classics budget-line also adds Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus" performed by Peter Schreier conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle. It is a nice addition, but the meat and potatoes of this disc is still the "Requiem." And while it is not the best performance in its price class in my opinion -- that would be Giulini's account on EMI Seraphim -- Kertesz's mid-60s recording is a close second. It's a tragedy that Kertesz died in 1973 -- drowning while swimming in the Mediterranean -- at the age of 43. While most conductors live to a ripe old age, too many others have been plucked from us in their prime -- Argenta, Cantelli, Fricsay, and Kertesz among them. Savor the precious few musical offerings these greats left us."

I hate to say this, but ....

RENS | Dover, NH USA | 09/13/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is an infuriating recording. I am a great admirer of the work of Istvan Kertesz and he certanly was a master of Mozart's music. This recording features loud and sometimes off pitch choral singing, soloists not suited to their parts (and the bass is not of first quality to begin with), and an orchestral sound more suited to Wagner, whenever one can hear it at all beneath the flood of choral sound. It is difficult to perceive the genius of Kertesz in the midst of it all. Perhaps the fault is mostly that of the recording engineers. I hope so.



The best Mozart Requiem at budget price is probably still that of Colin Davis and his London musicians. The recorded sound (from about 1966) is splendidly clear. It is available in a Philips Duo containing Mozart's major choral works. John Eliot Gardiner on DG Archiv and Nicholas Harnoncourt on Teldec/Warner have produced fine performances of the Requiem, each of them different from the other and both different in interpretation from that of Colin Davis. An adventure in listening...."