Search - Roger Norrington, Schutz Choir of London, Nancy Argenta :: Mozart: Requiem, Ave Verum Corpus, etc. / Norrington, London Classical Players, et al

Radical, rapid tempi, beautifully recorded

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 01/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With all the controversy stirred up by Christopher Hogwood?s and Roger Norrington?s recordings of Mozart?s Requiem, it is perhaps necessary to remind oneself right from the start that Mozart only actually completed the first two movements of his Requiem, somewhere between six and eight minutes of music. Anyone who wants to perform or record more, is therefore forced to use material that is not ?pure Mozart?. It has become something of a custom to use the version prepared by Eybler, Freystädler, Stadler and Süßmayr at the behest of Mozart?s widow, who needed the cash she would receive for the complete Requiem; but there is no reason why anyone should not go back to Mozart?s notes and finish them himself, or, alternatively, re-work the version prepared by Mozart?s pupils (and normally termed the Süßmayr version). Personally, I own four different recordings of Mozart?s Requiem, and all of them make a very good job of delivering the particular goods that their conductors have decided on.



The Süßmayr version was recorded in 1985 by the Slovak Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra directed by Zden?k Ko?ler. The CD subsequently appeared on Naxos, although Naxos did not exist in 1985, so the recording must originally have been made for another label. At budget price, this is an excellent performance, and particular credit should be given to the soloists Magdaléna Hajóssyová, soprano, Jaroslava Horská, alto, Josef Kundlák, tenor, and Peter Mikulá? for their convincing contributions. The choir suffers somewhat from the acoustics of the Concert Hall in Bratislava, but heard on the right equipment, this is a marvellous effort that demonstrates why many people love and/or prefer the Sußmayr version.



The period instrument or historical performance practice experts are all very critical of Süßmayr, presumably because their musicological training makes it plain to them that Süßmayr was not always a brilliant executor of Mozart?s will and that Mozart himself would probably have chosen other solutions. Nikolaus Harnoncourt, on his second recording of the Requiem (this time on an SACD for BMG/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, recorded in 2003), uses the Beyer version, a re-working of the Süßmayr that tries to avoid the obvious weaknesses of Süßmayr but retains a lot of what he wrote. Harnoncourt?s tempi are relaxed, and he emphasizes the dramatic; where his disc really comes into its own is on the excellent ?three-dimensional? sound that can be heard even on the CD track of the hybrid disc.



Christopher Hogwood and his Academy of Ancient Music took the most radical path and recorded the Requiem (in 1983) in a truncated form prepared by C. R. F. Maunder, who decided to eradicate as much of Süßmayr as he could and rather to leave out whole movements than to use music that was not by Mozart. As in his other recordings of Mozart?s sacred music, Hogwood used boy sopranos in his choir ? and was otherwise assisted by top-class early music soloists (here: a radiant Emma Kirkby, Carolyn Watkinson, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson and David Thomas) and the superb Decca engineering team. The result is a rather baroque-sounding Requiem that needs a little getting used to ? but what a tremendous recording, what a glorious sound!



Roger Norrington?s 1991 version adopts a similarly radical approach, using the version of the Requiem prepared by Duncan Druce, who also plays the violin on the recording and wrote the liner notes. Norrington uses female sopranos, but otherwise he is strictly historical (although unfortunately the booklet does not give any details of the instruments used or of the choral forces employed). Druce does not discard Süßmayr?s work completely, but radically rewrites it using Mozart?s notes. The result is a ?light?, transparent version, excellently performed by Norrington?s wonderful team, including soloists Nancy Argenta, Catherine Robbin, John Mark Ainsley and bass Alastair Milnes who definitely has the edge over David Thomas from the Hogwood disc. Norrington/Druce go for relatively fast tempi in most movements, occasionally seeming to bring in a dance-like feeling which may not seem entirely appropriate. But having listened to this beautifully-recorded disc a number of times, I have come to the conclusion that if I were only allowed to keep one recording of Mozart?s Requiem it would probably be this one, although the choice would certainly not be easy. At all events, this is a disc that makes you really sit up and listen. And perhaps it will also motivate you to listen to other attempts at realising Mozart?s great unfinished Requiem. I can only recommend all the version I have mentioned here.

"

Like Hearing the Masterpiece the First Time

R. Gerard | Pennsylvania USA | 11/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the midst of recent musicological research, study has yielded countless new completions of Mozart's Requiem: Beyer, Landon, Maunder, Levin, etc. One of the more rare completions is performed here, edited by Duncan Druce.



Druce's edition comes third in a trio of the more extreme completions of the Requiem. Maunder, Levin, and Druce all go as far as to add an Amen fugue based on a Mozart sketch and to completely rewrite (or in Maunder's case, omit) the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Hosanna. But of the three, Druce's idea is the most extreme.



What we have here is the most convincing edition of the Mozart Requiem to date. Hearing Norrington's record is like hearing the great masterpiece for the first time. Suessmayr's original edition is not found here, as Druce has thoroughly replaced his lines. The result is rather exciting.



The record actually opens with the Masonic Funeral Music (K 477) to set an atmosphere. Although it is taken as a slightly faster pace than usual, Norrington conveys an elegiac air. Norrington's tempos are overall moderate (which is a surprise coming from a Historically Informed conductor whose recordings such as Don Giovanni are taken at a rather quick pace.) The Tuba Mirum and Recordare are not rushed. The Dies Irae and Rex Tremendae are paced steadily. These are the kinds of tempos you would expect from a more modernistic perspective, which is a good thing.



After the adrenalized new Dies Irae, the winds form a pompous accompaniment to the beginning of the Tuba Mirum. The completion of this movement and the Recordare is rather graceful. While the trumpets and timpani are taken out of the Confutatis, the movement does not lose it's weightiness (which happens often in the Levin completion) as the new wind accompaniment to the Confutatis creates a kind of mesmerizing effect. The centerpiece of Druce's effort is in the Lacrymosa, which is composed anew after bar 8. The two sections in the new Lacrymosa reserved exclusively for the winds effectively recalls Mozart's chamber and Masonic music. The transition to the Amen fugue is masterful and dramatic, although the overall completion of the fugue is not as convincing as Levin's. Both are very good, however, and Druce's completion is somewhat more exciting and climactic as the trumpets and timpani resound as each of the four voices are introduced into the fugue. (I regret however that I do like Levin's realization of the fugue much better, as Druce errs in ingnoring the fugue's countersubject for most of the time.)



Likewise the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Hosanna, are not completed as convincingly as Levin's (who modeled the Hosanna fugues after the Hosanna fugues in Mozart's C-Minor mass). But these are exciting nonetheless. Druce adds an introduction to the Lux Aeterna and Norrington uses the famous Ave Verum Corpus (K 618) to bring the record to a close.



The solosts, choir, and orchestra are first rate.



Highly recommended. If the new editions of Mozart's Requiem interest you, you should try:



The Maunder Edition:

-Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music, London.

The Levin Edition:

-Pearlman, Boston Baroque, Telarc.

-Labadie, La Chapelle Quebec, Dorian Records.

-Rilling, Bach Collegium, Hanssler.

-Mackerras, Scottish Chamber Orchestra"

Norrington does it again IMHO

Melkor | San Diego, CA USA | 09/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you've never heard a Roger Norrington arrangement, then you are really missing out. He goes to great lengths to try and reproduce (sometimes controversially) a sound as close as possible to what the composers intended. His renditions of the Beethoven symphonies are unsurpassed.With the infamous Requiem, I can say that I've never heard it presented this way before. This CD is worth it for what I feel is the best and most powerfully recorded "Dies Irae".I had a music history professor in college who once told me that I should have a "regular" and a "Norrington" version of all the great pieces. I respected his opinion, and now seven years later, I can tell you that his little piece of advice was one of the most valuable things I learned while obtaining my "music history" minor. This is a safe buy. I doubt anyone would be disappointed by this CD."