Search - Mariusz Kwiecien, Johannes Brahms, Robert Spano :: Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem

First Impressions Largely Positive

Lawrence A. Schenbeck | Atlanta, GA USA | 05/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For most music lovers, Brahms' German Requiem will be already known and loved from a variety of earlier experiences, whether those were as a performer, as an audience member, or from repeated listenings to cherished recordings. Many of my own best memories of this work are connected to participation in workshops led by Robert Shaw, or attendance at live performances he conducted in Atlanta. I also think his Telarc recording of the German Requiem is very fine, although it is not my favorite; that spot would be occupied by the archival recording, recently issued by the Cleveland Orchestra, of a live performance he led at the Blossom Festival.



So it was with some trepidation that I sat down to listen to an advance copy of this disc, done with the (nominally) same forces Shaw used for his Telarc recording but led by their new music director. How would Mr. Spano approach a work so full of personal history for these performers?



It turns out that this recording leaves one with an overall impression very similar to that evoked by Shaw's classic Telarc reading: restrained and utterly serious, Spano gives us a Brahms Requiem that emphasizes death's power and inevitability. The performance is not unfeeling, but it never relaxes its self-control to slide into sentimentality -- or to allow a sense of ecstatic release, even in the great "Herr, du bist würdig" fugue that caps the sixth, penultimate movement. There the effect conveyed is more of human strength, power summoned from deep within to continue life's struggle, than of awe and grateful submission to a still-greater Power.



The opening movement is developed with great sensitivity, each phrase lovingly shaped and leading us into the next. The tempo of "Denn alles Fleisch" is breathtakingly deliberate, but it works well, even though, as in the sixth-movement fugue, potential for contrast within the movement is not fully exploited.



One could well argue that a tendency toward restraint is, in fact, much more in line with Brahms' character as a composer and human than a more Italianate, fully cathartic reading would be. And there are many things to admire about this performance. The orchestra plays gorgeously throughout, never allowing a moment of routine musicianship to deaden the proceedings. Balances are superbly caught by the engineers; one hears details that are scarcely apparent in other recordings, and they almost always register as musical enhancement rather than mere technical achievement.



Incidentally, Telarc will release a multichannel hybrid SACD of this recording on July 29, so audiophiles may wish to wait and purchase that! The engineering on this disc has already made history, having utilized a new technology that allows an even higher density of digital information storage than DSD. The clarity and realism that result, even in a DSD "downmix," are said to be unmatchable.



The ASO Chorus comes across as no less rhythmically alert than in Shaw's time, and brings perhaps greater timbral variety and sheer vocal vigor to this reading. The difficult acoustic space of Atlanta's Symphony Hall still presents an obstacle, but the choral sound does not seem quite as distant and woolly as in some previous recordings.



The two soloists are not ideal, but they manage their resources well enough to give musical, affecting performances. Soprano Twyla Robinson makes an effort to produce a lyrical line in spite of a brittle beat in her sound, and baritone Mariusz Kwiecien brings a compellingly dramatic delivery to his part that overcomes the edge and wobble in his voice. As with the chorus and orchestra, their contributions are extremely well recorded and balanced.



Atlantans should be proud. And I would recommend this new recording to anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of a beautiful work so central to the Western choral tradition."