Mozart Requiem
Big-scale and budget-price, Davis’s monumental Mozart makes an impact
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Genre:
Vocal
Label: LSO Live
Magazine Review Date: 6/2008
Media Format: Super Audio CD
Media Runtime: 51
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: LSO0627

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Requiem |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Andrew Kennedy, Tenor Anna Stéphany, Mezzo soprano Colin Davis, Conductor Darren Jeffery, Bass London Symphony Chorus London Symphony Orchestra Marie Arnet, Soprano Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Author: Richard Wigmore
In moments of reflection and supplication Davis’s penchant for grave tempi and loving, espressivo phrasing can have its dangers. The “Lacrimosa” unfolds as if in a hypnotic trance, while the “Hostias” sounds to me solemnly reverential rather than rapt, as Davis presumably intended, with some tired intonation from the usually impressive choral sopranos. The “Recordare”, too, for all its tender orchestral detailing, lacks an underlying beseeching urgency – not merely a question of tempo. Here and in the unexpectedly light-footed “Benedictus” the soloists make a well balanced, mutually considerate team, though you may find soprano Marie Arnet’s distinctive fast vibrato slightly disconcerting at first. If you want a traditionally conceived budget-price Requiem, well sung (though the choral textures can lose focus in piano passages), superbly played and vividly recorded, Davis’s performance has much to commend it. That said, my budget choices would be Schreier (Philips, 10/01), often similar in conception to Davis but with more inner vitality in the prayerful movements, and the uncompromisingly intense Britten (BBC Legends, 9/03 – nla), who at the Maltings in 1971 conducted the Requiem as if possessed.
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