Search - Hector Berlioz, Roger Norrington, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra :: Berlioz: Requiem

The Latest of the Greatest

William Michaels | Hillsborough, NJ United States | 03/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Berlioz' Requiem is one of the greatest works of music ever written, and certainly the greatest requiem mass (yes, I know Verdi, Brahms, Britten, and Mozart backwards and forwards). I have been listening to it for more than 50 years, and it never fails to exalt me, despite its devastating subject matter.



The 2006 sound and Norrington's feel for the music are the chief draws for this particular recording. The only negative comment I have is the "original-instrument" quality in a few string passages. On the positive side, his climaxes, especially in "Lachrymosa," are overwhelming.



Overall, I would say this is perhaps the second best recording of the Requiem I have heard, ranking behind Inbal/Frankfurt. But you can't own too many versions of this masterpiece!



I'm inlcuding "Mahler" in the tags for this recording because the Requiem is worthy of that Austrian master, and if you like one, you will probably like the other."

Serious Sound Issues in CD Layer

Fidelio | Houston, TX | 04/26/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"NOTE: This review concerns the CD layer of this hybrid SACD only.



It's a pity -- this is, as far as I can tell, a marvelous performance of the Berlioz Requiem, in all its morbid, overheated glory. Unfortunately, if you are not yet an SACD convert and are planning to listen to this hybrid SACD as a regular CD, you should be aware that the recorded sound on the CD layer is dreadful.



It's hard to tell from the sample clips available online, but the sound is very thin and constricted, as though the microphones were placed in the last row of the upper amphitheatre. Was the CD layer created entirely from the rear SACD channels? I don't know. I found myself nudging up the volume just to make the orchestra sound like a full-bodied orchestra, but then the big climaxes at the Tuba mirum and Judex ergo became too painfully shrill. Once the solo tenor appears in the Sanctus you will realize just how far away from the action you are. And just to add insult to injury, at 12:27 in the Agnus Dei, the sound falls apart altogether, and it sounds as though the concluding two minutes were patched in from some low-bit-rate mp3 file.



I checked another Norrington/Stuttgart/SWR recording that I have (Beethoven Syms. 3 & 4), and it sounds fine. The Beethoven was recorded by most of the same team in the same hall one year earlier than the Berlioz Requiem. What happened? I can tolerate less than optimal sound, but not this. Try to hear a copy (not just online clips) before buying."