Jansons and the Dvorak Requiem
Bruce A. Mcdonald | Ft. Worth, TX USA | 07/11/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There have been two fine recordings released in the past few months of Dvorak's highly individual REQUIEM. The recording with Jansons and the Concertgebouw is, to me, marginally the better. Jarvi's fine recording with the London Philhar-monic is also fine, however. The solists in the Amsterdam recording are smoother in sound, and Jansons is fully inside this music. One slightly insane reviewer said several years ago that the REQUIEM was a really dull piece; both the recent recordings should have him eating crow, particularly the Jansons recording. I have always found it to be a fascinating piece, with wonderful music for both soloists and chorus. The live recording is extremely good, and it is coupled with a splendid account of Dvorak's 8th symphony. This recording should win new friends for this neglected work, which rewards investigation. Excellent in every way."
The Dvorak Requiem is turned into a real event
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/20/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I'm not well placed to comment on these live performances, the Requiem from2009 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Wiener Singverein, the Sym. #8 from six sessions (really? why?) beginning in 2007. My tolerance for Requiems is limited, and the Dvorak is very long. It is full of ingenious devices and harmonies you'd never suspect from the composer's orchestral music, but Dvorak doesn't take a stance toward death as Verdi and Brahms so strongly do. there's a lack of musical focus, and after a while I feel immersed in nebulous religious feeling, mostly of a gloomy sort expressed in slow tempos and broken, halting phrases. Yet it's quite clear that this concert was an event, and the visiting Viennese chorus is the star. The vocal soloists are a varied lot but never less than good. Quasthoff is in good voice, but I find Vogt's tenor peculiarly adolescent and unattractive. Jansons' guidance is assured, but beyond these few comments I cannot offer much.
On previous occasions I've found Jansons to be generic in his readings of Dvorak symphonies, with a particularly dull "New World" on the same Concertgebouw house label. As before, this Eighth is well recorded and the Amsterdamers play beautifully. If you want a reading that's light, lilting, and not very dramatic, here you go. There's no doubt that Jansons gives the music a high degree of polish, the very thing that quickly loses my interest. It's not that Dvorak must sound Czech, but at least he shouldn't be ushered into the parlor and sat down on velvet cushions. The whole reading is naptime. Almost any reading with the Czech Phil. will serve as a bracing antidote.
Here are the performance details:
Dvorak:
Requiem, Op. 89
Recorded Live Concertgebouw 5-6 Feb 2009
Krassimira Stoyanova (soprano), Mihoko Fujimura (alto), Klaus Florian Vogt (tenor) & Thomas Quasthoff (bass)
with Vienna Singverein
Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88
19, 20, 21, 23 & 25/12/2007 & 23/10/2008"
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1