BaL 3.10.15 - Verdi: Requiem

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 a.m.

As part of BBC Music's Ten Pieces Secondary, which aims to open up the world of classical music to children aged 11 and above, Flora Willson considers the available versions of Verdi's Requiem. Verdi was an anti-Papist, and a rationalist with very little time for the Roman Catholic Church. But the words of the Requiem ignited his imagination. Written in the same white-hot musical language he used for his great operatic melodramas, Verdi brings to life the dramatic text of the Requiem Mass with apocalyptic visions of the last judgement and ethereal evocations of a celestial paradise.
Recommended version: Anja Harteros, Sonia Ganassi, Rolando Villazon, René Pape, Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano


Available versions:

Claudio Abbado
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Claudio Abbado
Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado (download & DVD)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Orchestra e coro del Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Daniel Barenboim (CD, DVD, Blu-ray)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim
London Symphony Orchestra & Choir, Leonard Bernstein (download)
Aachen Symphony Orchestra, Vocapella Chorus, Marcus Bosch
WDR Sinfonieorchester, WDR Rundfunkchor, Semyon Bychkov
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Sylvain Cambreling
New York Philharmonic & Westminster Choir, Guido Cantelli
Philharmonischer Chor München, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Sergiu Celibidache
Orchestra of Gulbenkian Foundation, Michel Corboz
London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Europa Chor Akademie & Youth Orchestra of the Americas, Plácido Domingo
LA Philharmonic & LA Master Chorale, Gustavo Dudamel (DVD/Blu-ray)
Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale & RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay
Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay
Elisabeth Grummer, Johanna Blatter, Helmut Krebs, Josef Greindl, RIAS Orchestra of Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay
Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner
Kirov Orchestra & Chorus, Valery Gergiev
Ernst Senff Chor, Berliner Philharmoniker Carlo Maria Giulini
Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus, Carlo Maria Giulini
Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, Carlo Maria Giulini (DVD/Blu-ray)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Philharmonia Chorus, Carlo Maria Giulini
Ernst Senff Choir, Berliner Philharmoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini
Wiener Philharmoniker, Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Richard Hickox
Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons (CD, DVD/Blu-ray)
Eugen Jochum
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra & Choir, Eugen Jochum
Choeurs de l'Opéra National de Paris & Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Paris, Philippe Jordan
Friends of Music Choral Society, Vienna, Wiener Philharmoniker Herbert von Karajan
Wiener Singverein, Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Herbert von Karajan (DVD)
Wiener Singverein & Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Singverein, Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan (DVD)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien, Herbert von Karajan
Chor und Orchester des Reichssenders Stuttgart, Joseph Keilberth
Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cec, Paul von Kempen
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf
London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir, Jesús López-Cobos
Münchner Philharmoniker & Choir, Lorin Maazel
Coro Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Symphonica Toscanini, Lorin Maazel (DVD, Blu-ray)
Choir and Orchestra of the Sofia Opera, Ivan Marinov (download)
State Academy Chorus & Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Igor Markevitch
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Tel-Aviv Philharmonic Choir, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Musica Sacra Chorus & New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Coro della Fondazione Arturo Toscanini, Orchestra Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Zubin Mehta (DVD)
Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Piergiorgio Morandi
Philharmonia Orchestra, Ambrosian Chorus, Riccardo Muti
Chicago Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Riccardo Muti
Residentie Orchestra The Hague, Wilhelm van Otterloo
Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Rundfunkchor Leipzig, Giuseppe Patanè
Boston Chorus Pro Musica, Alfred Nash Petterson
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Orfeón Donostiarra, Michel Plasson
Chicago Symphony Chorus, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
Wiener Philharmoniker, Singverein der Gesellscaft der Musikfreunde, Wien, Fritz Reiner
Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Helmuth Rilling
Teatro alla Scala, Victor De Sabata
WDR & NDR Rundfunkchor, NDR Sinfonieorchester, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
Amsterdam Toonkunst Choir, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Carl Schuricht (download)
Rome Opera Orchestra & Chorus, Tullio Serafin
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Robert Shaw
Cologne Radio Chorus, Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti
Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti
Chicago Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Georg Solti
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Bulgarian National Svetoslav Obretenov Choir, Bulgarian National Choir, Emil Tabakov (download)
Mikhailovsky Theatre Chorus & The St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Temirkanov
Orchestra Teatro Regio di Parma, Coro dell'Orchestra Teatro Regio di Parma, Parma Teatro Regio Chorus, Yuri Temirkanov (DVD/Blu-ray & CD)
BBC Symphony Chorus & Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Robert Shaw Chorale, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
NBC SO & Westminster Choir, Arturo Toscanini

[Barbirollians]

As much as I love his operas I have never been able to get to love this work - it is all a bit over the top for me no matter that there are some thrilling bits .

I have the Pappano,Abbado, JEG and Giulini so it is not as if I have not tried.

[BBMmk2]

I have Pappano, Abbado and Solti. Quierie: JEG and Giulini?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Quierie [?? - "Eleison"??]: JEG and Giulini?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00000418W

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verdi-Requiem-Carlo-Maria-Giulini/dp/B005FVFWHU

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Carlo-Maria-Giulini-Verdi-Requiem/dp/B00I08OWJY

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verdi-Messa-Requiem-Sharon-Sweet/dp/B0013816GK

... surprised you've not heard of the first in the Giulini list, Bbm (which is the one I think Barbi is referring to) - it's been the Penguin "Rosette" version for over forty years.


Unlike Barbi, his is one of the few works of Verdi that I can (mostly) take seriously. I have Toscanini (RCA), Solti (also RCA, with Baker), and Karajan (with a young Pavarotti) on video - I don't need another.

[Barbirollians]

If you like it then you might find you need Pappano . I cannot imagine a better performance.

Yes that is the Giulini to which I was referring though there was also a BBC Legends version.

[Barbirollians]

By the way this thread needs moving EA has posted it - no doubt due to the very early hour - in Proms concerts

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

If you like it then you might find you need Pappano . I cannot imagine a better performance.

Had I but cash enough and time
This CD, Barbi, would be mine

(with apologies to Marvell

Yes that is the Giulini to which I was referring though there was also a BBC Legends version.

Indeed - when I posted, I thought the Testament disc was a reappearance. My Amazon voyages uncover two BBC Giulini recordings:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verdi-Requiem-Schubert-Mass-6/dp/B00004SV5G

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verdi-Messa-Requiem-destino-Overture/dp/B0001Z4960

(Am I the only one who thinks that the BBC Legends - and other BBC archive performances - should be permanently available, subsidised by a Government/"Heritage" Grant?)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Ooh! I also have the (?earlier?) Fricsay recording, which I found for 50p in a charity shop a few years ago. Not very fond of this

[Petrushka]

I somehow seem to have amassed quite a number of recordings of this including BPO/Abbado, LSO/Bernstein, Philharmonia/Giulini (x2), BPO/Karajan (x2), VPO/Solti, Chicago SO/Solti, and others from Pappano, Gergiev, Toscanini, Barenboim and Muti plus a BBC MM CD from Sir John Pritchard.

I love the high drama of the two Solti discs (best bass drum of all is on the VPO recording) but for me there is a clear winner in Barenboim's recent release with La Scala. There is no shortage of high drama here either but more than any other version we are not allowed to forget that for all its theatricality it is a requiem. The soloists are superb, the chorus is absolutely top notch and the recorded sound is splendid. Game, set and match to Barenboim in my very humble opinion.

[BBMmk2]

Thanks Ferney! I actually forgot all about the Giulini! How bad is that!

[Beef Oven!]

(best bass drum of all is on the VPO recording)

But have you heard the drum on the Celibidache EMI?

[verismissimo]

I heard Giulini conduct it in the late 60s/early 70s at St Paul's. I say 'heard' because the cathedral was packed and I had a seat directly behind an enormous pillar. With that small problem and the swimming bath acoustic of the cathedral, I'd have done better at home with a recording.

Actually, it's a work I never play at home. Too noisy and, when it's not, too sentimental.

[Nick Armstrong]

Actually, it's a work I never play at home. Too noisy and, when it's not, too sentimental.

Yes, I have no use for a recording of this piece, and have never owned one.

[Don Petter]

I heard Giulini conduct it in the late 60s/early 70s at St Paul's. I say 'heard' because the cathedral was packed and I had a seat directly behind an enormous pillar. With that small problem and the swimming bath acoustic of the cathedral, I'd have done better at home with a recording.

I heard him conduct it in 1960 or 1961 (probably the latter) in Leeds Town Hall. Perhaps understandably, his EMI version has always sufficed for me!

[umslopogaas]

I have, all on LP: Serafin, Serafin (mono)), Giulini, Solti, Leinsdorf, Fricsay (mono), Toscanini (mono), de Sabata (mono),Reiner, Barbirolli, Ormandy. The two that stand out in my memory are Toscanini, despite the mono sound, and Solti, who had an amazing cast (Sutherland, Horne, Pavarotti and Talvela) and the best of Decca technology.

It certainly attracted some legendary voices: that collection includes Gigli, Pinza, Bjoerling, Schwarzkopf, di Stefano, Stader, Nilsson, Vickers, Raimondi, London, to name but a few.

I can appreciate that it isnt to everyone's taste, but when I'm in the mood you cant beat it.