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Track Listings
| 1. Requiem |
| 2. Dies irae |
| 3. Requiem and Kyrie |
| 4. Dies Irae |
| 5. Tuba mirum |
| 6. Liber scriptus |
| 7. Quid sum miser |
| 8. Rex tremendae |
| 9. Recordare |
| 10. Ingemisco |
| 11. Confutatis |
| 12. Lacrymosa |
| 13. Offertorio |
| 14. Sanctus |
| 15. Agnus Dei |
| 16. Lux Aeterna |
| 17. Libera Me |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you see the Verdi Requiem as theatre with incense this might well be the performance for you. All Solti's virtues/vices to the fore depending on your take on his work. I love it - full of extraordinary fire and attack. The brass play as though really at the last judgement and huge thunderbolts of orchestral sound fall from the sky whenever the score demands it. The performance exudes fear and fervour. Excellent committed soloists - Price whooping around in stark contrast to Baker's more measured appeals. Van Dam powerfully stoic (I love his "Mors stupebit" - listen to the way the deep sepulchral bass drum resonates at the end of each phrase) and Luchetti ringingly heroic. Disciplined but exciting choral work.
I have NOT heard this latest incarnation to know whether the remastering is better/different than any earlier CD version - my CD version was also a big improvement on the original tape I had. As the other reviewer mentions - now this has appeared on a single absurdly well-filled disc it becomes one of the best current bargains to be had. Check Amazon Marketplace for some crazily low prices even allowing for postage. One of my very favourite versions of this epic work.
UPDATE - August 2011: As the other reviewer mentioned part of the delight is that you can listen to this work uninterrupted as the CD runs to over 81 minutes. I have have now bought this single disc version and returning to it afresh I am as excited and impressed as ever. The mastering here is excellent. Sure the the 1977 recording is not the subtlest or most refined you will ever hear but once again the fervour of the performance blows me away. I like the way the very different characters of the soloists registers so clearly; Price almost histrionic in her appeals to the almighty, Baker pure and measured but full of passion. Van Dam mighty and imposing, Luchetti ardent and exciting if without the actual tonal beauty of a Pavarotti. The Chicago Orchestra & Chorus play as well as they ever did for Solti - infinitely superior to the recent - and for me hugely disappointing own label remake with Muti although that has been praised elsewhere. There they sleepwalk through the work the patrician Muti having lost nearly all the fire in his belly of yesteryear.
I have NOT heard this latest incarnation to know whether the remastering is better/different than any earlier CD version - my CD version was also a big improvement on the original tape I had. As the other reviewer mentions - now this has appeared on a single absurdly well-filled disc it becomes one of the best current bargains to be had. Check Amazon Marketplace for some crazily low prices even allowing for postage. One of my very favourite versions of this epic work.
UPDATE - August 2011: As the other reviewer mentioned part of the delight is that you can listen to this work uninterrupted as the CD runs to over 81 minutes. I have have now bought this single disc version and returning to it afresh I am as excited and impressed as ever. The mastering here is excellent. Sure the the 1977 recording is not the subtlest or most refined you will ever hear but once again the fervour of the performance blows me away. I like the way the very different characters of the soloists registers so clearly; Price almost histrionic in her appeals to the almighty, Baker pure and measured but full of passion. Van Dam mighty and imposing, Luchetti ardent and exciting if without the actual tonal beauty of a Pavarotti. The Chicago Orchestra & Chorus play as well as they ever did for Solti - infinitely superior to the recent - and for me hugely disappointing own label remake with Muti although that has been praised elsewhere. There they sleepwalk through the work the patrician Muti having lost nearly all the fire in his belly of yesteryear.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I have owned this performance for thirty years on LP, the only drawback to that format being the rather close, boxy sound. The remastering has worked miracles: the sound is still detailed but now has far more warmth and bloom to it and there is a deeper and wider soundstage.
The performance is as outstanding as any in the catalogue. There is all the excitement one expects from Solti - the thwacks on the bass drum in the 'Dies Irae' are most impressive, especially if one has a bass woofer - and the 'Sanctus' is thrilling, with the aid of the incomparable Chicago brass section.
The performance is also notable for the warmth and humanity of the orchestral playing and of the solo singing. The soloists form an excellent team.Some may regret that Pavarotti was ill and unable to take part as planned or that Janet Baker hasn't an Italianate voice. She is however such an intelligent and musical singer that she illuminated virtually every part she sang, as she does here.
The chorus under the direction of Margaret Hillis was surely the finest in the world: its diction, accuracy and expressiveness are a marvel.
Last, and by no means least, the performance, which lasts 81 minutes, fits onto a single CD so that the mood is not broken by having to change discs.
The performance is as outstanding as any in the catalogue. There is all the excitement one expects from Solti - the thwacks on the bass drum in the 'Dies Irae' are most impressive, especially if one has a bass woofer - and the 'Sanctus' is thrilling, with the aid of the incomparable Chicago brass section.
The performance is also notable for the warmth and humanity of the orchestral playing and of the solo singing. The soloists form an excellent team.Some may regret that Pavarotti was ill and unable to take part as planned or that Janet Baker hasn't an Italianate voice. She is however such an intelligent and musical singer that she illuminated virtually every part she sang, as she does here.
The chorus under the direction of Margaret Hillis was surely the finest in the world: its diction, accuracy and expressiveness are a marvel.
Last, and by no means least, the performance, which lasts 81 minutes, fits onto a single CD so that the mood is not broken by having to change discs.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Never having been a fan of Solti, I bought this disc solely to hear Janet Baker in this fantastic music. In that respect I was not disappointed; she sings the mezzo solo "Liber scriptus" wonderfully and no less so in the duet "Recordare" and the other ensembles. Jose van Dam is also very moving and well-suited to this work. Unfortunately I cannot enthuse over Leontine Price or Veriano Lucchetti. Price constantly scoops from one note to the next (portamento is too polite a term), and her lower range, heard especially in the "Libera me", lacks depth. Lucchetti is also disappointing, with vague starts to musical phrases and a general lack of subtlety.
The Chicago Symphony Chorus is excellent; choruses do not come much better than this. Likewise the orchestra, and the combination in the eight-part fugal "Sanctus" is beautifully clear - until the brass enters. The recording gives the brass far too much prominence, so that when they are playing loudly the rest is obscured. Because of this, the "Tuba mirum" is not as frightening as it should be, indeed it is difficult to hear much of the important chorus parts in that section. Aside from that, the recording captures Verdi's wide-ranging dynamics, from the quiet mood of the opening to the enormous drum-beats in the "Dies irae" very well.
With the whole work on one disc, this is a great bargain, but even so I would not have this as a first choice. Buy it for Baker, van Dam and the chorus, but listen also to Abbado (with the Berlin Phil) and Giulini. Both are currently only a few pounds more, and with Giulini you get the Four Sacred Pieces as well.
The Chicago Symphony Chorus is excellent; choruses do not come much better than this. Likewise the orchestra, and the combination in the eight-part fugal "Sanctus" is beautifully clear - until the brass enters. The recording gives the brass far too much prominence, so that when they are playing loudly the rest is obscured. Because of this, the "Tuba mirum" is not as frightening as it should be, indeed it is difficult to hear much of the important chorus parts in that section. Aside from that, the recording captures Verdi's wide-ranging dynamics, from the quiet mood of the opening to the enormous drum-beats in the "Dies irae" very well.
With the whole work on one disc, this is a great bargain, but even so I would not have this as a first choice. Buy it for Baker, van Dam and the chorus, but listen also to Abbado (with the Berlin Phil) and Giulini. Both are currently only a few pounds more, and with Giulini you get the Four Sacred Pieces as well.
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