Verdi Requiem
Fine soloists grace a vivid, forward-moving Requiem from Cologne forces
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Giuseppe Verdi
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Profil
Magazine Review Date: 12/2008
Media Format: Super Audio CD
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
Catalogue Number: PH08036

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Messa da Requiem |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Semyon Bychkov, Conductor WDR Symphony Orchestra |
Author: Richard Osborne
On this fine new Cologne recording, Semyon Bychkov deploys two specialist German radio choirs shrewdly intermixed with the chorus of Turin’s Teatro Regio. If Bychkov’s reading doesn’t quite burn white in the Dies irae as Fricsay’s did, or Toscanini’s, it is nonetheless a supremely well directed Requiem, scrupulously observed, meticulously prepared, vivid, lucid, forward-moving. If I have a reservation, it is that the recorded balance occasionally has one straining to hear how good the choral work actually is.
The Proms audience which was denied the chance of hearing the acclaimed new double-act of Violeta Urmana and Olga Borodina can catch up here. Borodina, who was unable to appear at the Royal Albert Hall on August 31, is an eloquent exponent of the mezzo-soprano role, well matched to her younger colleague, herself an erstwhile mezzo. What Urmana’s voice lacks in evenness in legato passages is more than made up for by her command of the spinto manner, the drama of the text vividly purveyed. Ferruccio Furlanetto, now in his 59th year, has lost none of his mastery of the legato style. He brings an authentically Italianate feel to the music, as does bel canto specialist Ramón Vargas, here at his eloquent best.
Verdi’s Requiem can seem a somewhat self-regarding piece, not least when “great interpreters” get hold of it. This reading, for all its distinction, gives itself no airs.
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