Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Gloria Scalchi :: Verdi: Requiem; Quattro Pezzi Sacri

Very good bargain recording

Edgardo Campana | Colon , Panama | 07/14/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There are many recordings of Verdi's Requiem, the vast majority are flawed, but this one is a very succesful account of the work; the soprano is superb, showing a fine spinto tone with wonderful pianissimi (just listen "Recordare"), the mezzo is powerful in liber scriptur, the bass resonant and deep in mors stupebit, the only reason the recording did not get the 5 stars is the tenor, who sometimes sounds strained, but nevertheless does not deter from enjoyment, he is very good most of the time. The orchestra, chorus, conductor and sound engineering are excellent."

Very excellent

BDSinC | Calgary, Alberta, Canada | 09/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I gave this recording a 5 star, not because it is perfect, it has its flaws, but it works as a whole. The singers are well chosen. None are known to us, and of course, there is at times a touch of coarseness that is evident in some of their singing. However, the work comes together well. The drama of the "soul" is very evident. This Requiem is performed in this recording almost with more of an operatic excitement and drama than a religious work. Personally, I have no objections to this way of performing this work. Verdi wrote it to honor a man not God, so it is well in keeping to present the work as if it is the real grief of a man for a fellow human being rather than a worship of the Most High.



Even for myself personally, I have no objection to having truly deep emotions in religious music, and performing it devoid of emotion is exactly why most religious music leaves me cold. The main theme of this work is the "day of wrath when God comes to judge the world." I would say that would be a fairly emotional time, if not completely overwhelming for most of us when it occurs, and I wouldn't be surprised if those of us who should live to that day would not be filled with just a little fear. Well, this conception of Verdi's requiem reflects that fear, that desperation, that pleading for redemption with extreme urgency. This is especially evident in the "Libera me" (which literally means, "FREE ME").



The reflective moments are not betrayed either. They are presented to us with the deeply contemplating feelings of one reviewing their life, weighing it in the balance, then seeing it is wanting in some way or other. The deep sorrow of the Lacrimosa is beyond moving.



The Soprano sings with a strong voice, her high notes are dead on and well placed, but she is not weak in the lower range, and actually has as much strength in her lower notes as the contralto singing the mezzo part. I say she is a contralto because the darkness of her tones and the strength of her lower notes are far more powerful than the average mezzo. Her upper tones are beautiful and ravishing, and effortlessly produced. When she sings the "Scriptus" aria, we are filled with the forboding I am sure we would all feel as we are "Judged out of the books." Though her voice is sometimes too dark, nearly a "wooly" quality, it serves this music perfectly. When we have the duet with the soprano and "contralto" the matching of their voices (in both duets, but in particular when singing the "Agnes Dei" where they sing in octaves) is superb.



I have many recordings of this work, and all are wonderful, but in few of them do these two voices really match and reflect off each other. Sutherland and Horne do it the best, but Sutherland lacks a strong enough bottom to make the most heavily dramatic moments of this work gel, this soprano captures everything well.



The tenor is excellent, though at times he sounds pushed. He truly sees drama in his aria and in all his music, and that only adds to the overall presentation of this work.



It is the bass who really gives us this urgency. His aria just leading to the Lacrimosa is so deeply felt, so well sung, so full of the essence of the music and the situtation being expressed.



The conductor's conception of the work is completely different than what we are used to in our usual western performances, but his conception is very acceptable and extremely well constructed. Each detail is carefully presented and has meaning. The orchestra is masterfully conducted and reflects each change of feeling in the score with exactness.



In this work, one cannot forget the chorus, and often in recordings of this Requiem, the chorus is loud, full of fury, but impossible to understand. The diction is clear here, very clear. The fury is there, the tenderness is there, the hope is there, the fear of damnation is there. All the emotional requirements of the words are met, and in spades.



Don't let the fact that you know none of the singers, the conductor, or even the orchestra all that well (if at all) turn you off this recording. It is truly exceptional. And in all reality, it has bumped my Sutherland/Horne/Pavarotti version off the top of my list. Of all the recordings of this work, that one was the best sung, and the best conducted, even if not all the singers were up to all challenges presented to them (Sutherland's weakness in her lower register). This one is equally well sung, and just as lush in its sound. As I say, I have never heard a perfect recording of this work, and only one terrible recording of it (with Andrea Bocelli, a total farce with no real conception of the work as a whole), most of them are super good with tons to offer. Well, this one is super good with tons to offer. One will NOT go wrong buying it.



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