Title : Mozart: Requiem
Author : Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Release Date : 19900516
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $7.98
Amazon.com Price : $6.25
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Editorial Reviews : Between 1961 and 1986, Herbert von Karajan made three recordings of the Mozart Requiem for Deutsche Grammophon, with little change in his conception of the piece over the years. This recording, from 1975, is, on balance, the best of them. The approach is Romantic, broad, and sustained, marked by a thoroughly homogenized blend of chorus and orchestra, a remarkable richness of tone, striking power, and an almost marmoreal polish. Karajan viewed the Requiem as idealized church music rather than a confessional statement awash in operatic expressiveness. In this account, the orchestra is paramount, followed in importance by the chorus, then the soloists. Not surprisingly, the singing of the solo quartet sounds somewhat reined-in, especially considering these singers' pedigrees. By contrast, the Vienna Singverein, always Karajan's favorite chorus, sings with a huge dynamic range and great intensity, though with an emotional detachment nonetheless. Perfection, if not passion or poignancy, is the watchword. The Berlin orchestra plays majestically, and the sound is pleasingly vivid. --Ted Libbey
Buyer Reviews : In the age of all-digital recording with all the advancements of sound technique, and even with some of the finest singers now available as soloists, this 1975 recording still beats every other one I've heard of Mozart's Requiem.
This work, so deep, impressive and so beautiful, tempts the soloists to go overboard, the chorus to boom and the orchestra (especially the brass section) to blare during the huge instrumental portions. Only the most masterful of conductors can completely reign in the exuberance and produce a crafted version of this monumental composition.
I bought this because I love Von Karajan and the soloists, in particular Van Dam and Tomowa-Sintow. Von Karajan, the German precisionist, constructed a well-balanced and perfect rendition of this work. Nothing I have listened to since comes close. The soloists are top-class, but here they are not performing separate works to show off their skill. And the chorus is clean and balanced, allowing the listener to hear the work as a whole blending of orchestra, singers and soloists. If you own only one Mozart's Requiem, this has to be the one.
