Mozart Sacred Choral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 3/1988
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: EL749640-4
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Requiem |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Frank Lopardo, Tenor James Morris, Bass Patrizia Pace, Soprano Riccardo Muti, Conductor, Bass Stockholm Chamber Choir Swedish Radio Choir Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Ave verum corpus |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Riccardo Muti, Conductor, Bass Stockholm Chamber Choir Swedish Radio Choir Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 3/1988
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 58
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 749640-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Requiem |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Frank Lopardo, Tenor James Morris, Bass Patrizia Pace, Soprano Riccardo Muti, Conductor, Bass Stockholm Chamber Choir Swedish Radio Choir Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Ave verum corpus |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Riccardo Muti, Conductor, Bass Stockholm Chamber Choir Swedish Radio Choir Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: Hungaroton
Magazine Review Date: 3/1988
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 55
Catalogue Number: HCD12038
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Requiem |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
György Korondy, Tenor Hungarian Radio and Television Chorus Hungarian State Orchestra János Ferencsik, Conductor József Gregor, Bass Klára Takács, Contralto (Female alto) Magda Kalmár, Soprano Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 3/1988
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: EL749640-1
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Requiem |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Frank Lopardo, Tenor James Morris, Bass Patrizia Pace, Soprano Riccardo Muti, Conductor, Bass Stockholm Chamber Choir Swedish Radio Choir Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Ave verum corpus |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Riccardo Muti, Conductor, Bass Stockholm Chamber Choir Swedish Radio Choir Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Author: Alan Blyth
The two new ones listed above, for instance, are very different in character yet I found them both enjoyable. Muti uses the alert and responsive Swedish choirs I so much enjoyed in his EMI version of Verdi's
In the ''Domine Jesu'', Ferencsik tends to be the ponderous one, Muti allowing a greater flow to the music. But here the bigger contrasts come with two of the other versions. Schreier is decidedly brisker than either of the new conductors, and tends to be slightly more objective in his approach (as throughout) while gaining a performance more decisive in rhythm and pointing. But none of these is half as interventionist as Gardiner in his original-instrument version (the two types of performance should not be divorced from one another). In his ''Domine Jesu'', the speed is really quick, the articulation and attack almost mannered in its ferocity. Davis is perhaps the safest
When it comes to the respective choirs, there are again substantial differences. The Hungarian Radio sound the largest yet their light and flexible singing never gives the impression of too much weight as sometimes happens. The Stockholm group, pleasing as they are in tone and fresh in phrasing, just yield place to Schreier's famous Leipzig Radio Chorus. Gardiner's choir is the smallest and also the most deft. Davis's John Alldis Choir sing well enough but in direct comparisons with the modern versions, I did find their 1968 recording somewhat occluded.
Although the soloists' role in this work is not large, they can make or mar a performance. I regret to say that the variable singing on the Hungaroton virtually rules it out of court, and I am not altogether happy with the quartet on the EMI. Patrizia Pace has a remarkably white tone for an Italian and it blends ill with Meier's somewhat fruity mezzo. Both men are excellent and Morris is the only bass other than Willard White on the Gardiner to take the opening phrase of ''Tuba mirum'' in one breath. Karajan's is flawed by his out-of-tune bass (DG). Schreier's quartet has no weaknesses, unless it be Adam's slightly gravelly bass. Both Davis and Gardiner, especially the former, have quartets that are both satisfactory as a team and positive and pleasing as individuals.
Indeed, as SS pointed out in February, the mid-price Davis/Philips, apart from my reservations about the recording, remains an involving and central performance, which neither of the new ones surpasses, in spite of many delights therein (I pass up the suggestion of other-worldly timelessness on Hungaroton with much regret). Karajan is severe and Olympian. If I feel in the mood for something more precise than any of these offers, and with superior singing and playing, I would still opt for Schreier. Gardiner's, on the other hand, is the most exhilarating experience of this music a bracing antidote to the rest.'
Explore the world’s largest classical music catalogue on Apple Music Classical.
Included with an Apple Music subscription. Download now.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £9.20 / month
SubscribeGramophone Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £11.45 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.