Search - Antonin Dvorak, Istvan Kertesz, Simon Preston :: Dvorák, Requiem; Mass in D

Great and underrated work; top-notch performance/recording

Allan Brain | Houston, TX USA | 09/07/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dvorak's Requiem should be as well-known as those of Verdi, Brahms, Berlioz, and Mozart. Though it is not as tuneful as the Verdi, it is powerful, lyrical, and dramatic.This recording came out on LP in the early '70s and has been hailed as the definitive one almost since it appeared. The sound is superb, and the newcomer to this music, on hearing this, is bound to wonder why this piece is not better-known. I wonder why every time I hear it.I find that the competing version on DGG with Czech forces under Ancerl is more intense; see my review of that one--and other equally enthusiastic reviews of the Ancerl--on this site. I have no idea whether that is because it is by Czech orchestral and choral forces (and German soloists), or because the performers simply sound as if they are literally pleading for salvation. (Kertesz was something of a specialist in Czech music himself and was a rising star in the classical music world until his death in what has occasionally been described as a mysterious drowning incident off the coast of Israel in 1973.)But if you want the equally attractive coupling of this set--a small scale setting of the Dvorak Mass in D, with a first-rate English cathedral choir, I would say go ahead and get this one. And hurry--both may be disappearing from availability, and that, with the proliferation of recordings of the requiems by Verdi, Brahms, Berlioz, and Mozart, as well as others, is a shame."

Kertesz and his forces perform admirably.

Allan Brain | 01/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"London's double CD packages two of Dvorak's greatest choral works, his Requiem (op.89) and his Mass in D (op.86). In these two recordings, which were recorded in 1968 and 1974, respectively, Istvan Kertesz conducts both the LSO and The Ambrosian Singers. The product of their collaboration is excellent--particularly the Mass, although the Requiem is quite beautifully done as well. London's engineers have done an admirable job of eliminating hiss, and the singing on each piece is impassioned and moving--but without bordering on the employment of excessive interpretive license. Particularly noteworthy are the Kyrie from Mass in D and Requiem's Dies Irae--the former because of its sublime beauty; the latter due to its awe-inspiring beginning and fine use of the orchestra as both a reflection of and contrast to the choral parts."

Not bad, not bad

Ryan Kouroukis | Toronto, Ontario Canada | 12/27/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I prefer this coupling of the Requiem with the Mass in D, than the other Kertesz's Requiem releases.



Dvorak's choral music deserves to be as well known as Beethoven's, especially his Masterpeice...the Requiem.



Kertesz does a good job with it, and Cleobury too with the Mass, but if you want to "live" an experience of the Requiem, then you just have to listen to the Ancerl on DG!"