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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Searching for an excellent Mozart's Requiem recording, I tried Marriner / ASMF, Hogwood / AAM and listended to few more, but this one is really a pearl and my final favourite - far far best one. It is very rare when modern, fully digital recording significantly surpasses usually excellent (in both playing and interpretation) analog (or early DDD) recordings of the same work from second half of 20th century. Why second half of 20th century ? Because most classical masterpieces had been recorded and intepreted in nearly compelling way in those times. But this not the case - Sir Mackerras, excellent conductor and unexceptionable authority on Mozart, acheived outstanding success which would be hardly ever beaten. Absolutely recommended, buy this SACD disc until you can - and as soon as possible. (Note: it is hybrid SACD, so it will play also in standard CD-audio player.)
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I don't have a classical music background, nor a very technical one (to properly evaluate the SACD part), so what is my authority on this; but playing this record on my SACD-player is really extremely enjoyable for me. Just great!
For me, it was a test - a not to expensive one too - both of the SACD and this music by Mozart, and both were very conclusive.
As I understand it, this is music for a funeral mass ... One would really almost desire to have it played at one's own ... but we are not in a hurry, of course :-). So beautiful! Thrilling ...
Hence the well deserved five star rating.
For me, it was a test - a not to expensive one too - both of the SACD and this music by Mozart, and both were very conclusive.
As I understand it, this is music for a funeral mass ... One would really almost desire to have it played at one's own ... but we are not in a hurry, of course :-). So beautiful! Thrilling ...
Hence the well deserved five star rating.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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9 reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
This is the one to own!
16 Aug 2005
Format:Audio CD
I must begin by saying that I respectfully disagree with the previous reviewer. This version must be the best version I have ever heard of Mozart's Requiem. I know that may not mean much to a person reading this review. To better clarify what I mean here is my background and history of Requiem searching. I adore Mozart's works. I own the Complete Mozart Edition and all the works not included in the Complete Mozart Edition including some of Mozart's arrangements of works by other composers. I also own over 26 versions of Mozart's requiem including different editions (Original Fragments, Beyer, Maunder, etc). I am also a hi-fi fan and enjoy listening to classical music through my Senn HD-650 headphones and Grado RS-1 headphones and, in the day time, through my JBL 4311 studio monitor speakers which is backed up by my McIntosh stereo system.
Had it not been for this recording I would have kept on buying more versions of Mozart's Requiem. The completion itself (done by Robert Levin) is simply amazing and sounds more "Mozartean" than any other edition I have EVER heard. The reintegrated and completed Amen fugue is astounding. The Kryrie is sublime and the Dies Irae is terrifying. Mackerras, in my humble opinion, pulled off the best recording of Mozart's requiem up until now. The sound throughout the recording never falls below stupendous and the quality of the artists themselves is beyond compare. It is simply a magical recording. I own the SACD/Hybrid version of this recording only because I gave my CD copy to a friend as a gift because he concurred that this was by far the best version he had heard as well. I often use this recording as a Demo Disc to test other people's gear at Hi-Fi conventions and everyone there goes home with the sole intent of purchasing this recording as well. 100's of Hi-Fi lovers can't be wrong, much less 100's of classical music lovers.
I know I have not described this recording in great detail but I am not a musicologist...only a lover of great music and great recordings. I highly recommend this recording as I firmly believe that this disc truly speaks for itself. Please do not delay and buy this as soon as possible. Happy listening.
Had it not been for this recording I would have kept on buying more versions of Mozart's Requiem. The completion itself (done by Robert Levin) is simply amazing and sounds more "Mozartean" than any other edition I have EVER heard. The reintegrated and completed Amen fugue is astounding. The Kryrie is sublime and the Dies Irae is terrifying. Mackerras, in my humble opinion, pulled off the best recording of Mozart's requiem up until now. The sound throughout the recording never falls below stupendous and the quality of the artists themselves is beyond compare. It is simply a magical recording. I own the SACD/Hybrid version of this recording only because I gave my CD copy to a friend as a gift because he concurred that this was by far the best version he had heard as well. I often use this recording as a Demo Disc to test other people's gear at Hi-Fi conventions and everyone there goes home with the sole intent of purchasing this recording as well. 100's of Hi-Fi lovers can't be wrong, much less 100's of classical music lovers.
I know I have not described this recording in great detail but I am not a musicologist...only a lover of great music and great recordings. I highly recommend this recording as I firmly believe that this disc truly speaks for itself. Please do not delay and buy this as soon as possible. Happy listening.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Fantastic! A choral milestone! Bravo Mackerras!
26 Jan 2004
Format:Audio CD
My god, I have never heard such a performance in all my life!
Firstly, the completion solves almost all of the problems that have been bugging me about the Sussmayr completion. Levin develops the Hosanna and Amen fugues as if he had Wolfgang himself directing him! The orchestration is immaculate, the Sanctus, benedictus and agnus dei have all the kinks worked out, and the Cum sanctis tuis fugue has been retexted (properly!). I feel that Levin's version of the Amen fugue, which does not modulate, is the most authentic of all of them. His reason for the non-modulation is very well argued, and the effect is comparatively better than the Druce and Maunder versions. My one quibble with the completion is that, for me, the orchestration in the second part of the Domine Jesu, just before the fugue, is a little too conservative.
The chorus on this recording have the most amazing diction of all! Totally sweet when the phrases end in "s!" Mackerras' tempi are perfect, and the orchestra play with great technical mastery, but with an overall musicality that other renderings, that of Karajan among others, lack. the recording ends with a delightful rendering of the Adagio and Fugue in C Minor, K.546, which is a welcome conclusion to Mozart's tour de force of counterpoint.
Firstly, the completion solves almost all of the problems that have been bugging me about the Sussmayr completion. Levin develops the Hosanna and Amen fugues as if he had Wolfgang himself directing him! The orchestration is immaculate, the Sanctus, benedictus and agnus dei have all the kinks worked out, and the Cum sanctis tuis fugue has been retexted (properly!). I feel that Levin's version of the Amen fugue, which does not modulate, is the most authentic of all of them. His reason for the non-modulation is very well argued, and the effect is comparatively better than the Druce and Maunder versions. My one quibble with the completion is that, for me, the orchestration in the second part of the Domine Jesu, just before the fugue, is a little too conservative.
The chorus on this recording have the most amazing diction of all! Totally sweet when the phrases end in "s!" Mackerras' tempi are perfect, and the orchestra play with great technical mastery, but with an overall musicality that other renderings, that of Karajan among others, lack. the recording ends with a delightful rendering of the Adagio and Fugue in C Minor, K.546, which is a welcome conclusion to Mozart's tour de force of counterpoint.
My advice to you is this:
Scrap Sussmayer, get rid of Robbins-Landon, ditch Druce and maul Maunder!
B U Y T H I S R E C O R D I N G ! ! !
Do anything you can to get it!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Mozart's Requiem as I always wanted to hear it.
15 Sep 2005
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ever since I first heard the Requiem, I have always felt that the ending movements lacked the power of the opening movements. This is for obvious reasons, most notably that Sussmayr completed much of the final movements, and supposedly composed "from scratch" the Sanctus and the Benedictus. For this reason, I always found the last few movements aggravating to listen to; I would find myself wondering "what if Mozart had lived to finish this movement? What would the Hosanna fugue have sounded like? What would he have done with the Sanctus (and the most obviously non-Mozartean techniques in the work were discarded?")
Well, if you have found yourself wondering "what if", it is definitely worth hearing this recording. Professor Robert Levin re-interprets much of Sussmayr's completion, often times making outright changes to the scoring and music to give it a more Mozartean feel. Levin apparently modeled many of these changes after the Great Mass in C Minor in terms of construction; and being a huge fan of that great torsoed work as well, the effect is not at all unpleasant. As a lover of all fugues big and small, I highly recommend listening to the 'Amen' fugue at the end of the Lacrymosa (a piece based on a fragment recovered in the 1960's), as well as the fully developed alteration to the 'Hosanna' fugue which aggravated me for all those years prior to this disc. The recording is excellent, with great spatial definition and a perfect recording of the chorus. In particular, the SACD multichannel layer really shines. My only quibble is that the soloists are not the strongest I've heard - it's not that they are bad, they just are a little light. Regardless, this disc is a must-own for die-hard Mozart fans as in my opinion it represents a more honest look at Mozart's greatest work.
Well, if you have found yourself wondering "what if", it is definitely worth hearing this recording. Professor Robert Levin re-interprets much of Sussmayr's completion, often times making outright changes to the scoring and music to give it a more Mozartean feel. Levin apparently modeled many of these changes after the Great Mass in C Minor in terms of construction; and being a huge fan of that great torsoed work as well, the effect is not at all unpleasant. As a lover of all fugues big and small, I highly recommend listening to the 'Amen' fugue at the end of the Lacrymosa (a piece based on a fragment recovered in the 1960's), as well as the fully developed alteration to the 'Hosanna' fugue which aggravated me for all those years prior to this disc. The recording is excellent, with great spatial definition and a perfect recording of the chorus. In particular, the SACD multichannel layer really shines. My only quibble is that the soloists are not the strongest I've heard - it's not that they are bad, they just are a little light. Regardless, this disc is a must-own for die-hard Mozart fans as in my opinion it represents a more honest look at Mozart's greatest work.
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