Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Verdi Requiem and Menotti: The Death of the Bishop of Brindi, 21 Jan 2004
Verdi :Requiem
Menotti: The Death of the Bishop of Brindisi
Schönberg:Gurre-Lieder: Song of the Wood-Dove
Erich Leinsdorf
Boston Symphony OrchestraThese three contrasting works generously fill 2 discs making a very good programme.
The main work is Verdi’s dramatic Requiem filling the 1st disc and completed on the 2nd. The performance is thrilling, particularly in the awesome Dies irae with a frenzy of orchestral and vocal activity punctuated with the loud bass drum. The quartet of soloists is excellent and each have a good share of solo work as well as a great deal in ensemble. Outstanding is the soprano and mezzo duet “Recordare, Jesu Pie” with lovely singing from both Birgit Nilsson and Lili Chookasian. The chorus joins the quartet in the Lacrymosa which literarily ‘cries’ as they sing of the ‘tearful day’. Equally impressive is the double chorus in the “Sanctus”. Completely different is Menotti’s The Death of the Bishop of Brindisi. There are now numerous works of this composer available on CD, but as far as I know this is the only recording of this work. It was made in 1964 shortly after the 1st performance and I have not seen it in the catalogues since that time. As in a lot of 20th century compositions there is a wide range of styles even in the 30 minutes of this work. The story concerns the Children’s Crusade of 1212 and the anguished reflections of the dying Bishop (George London) who had given his blessing to the ill fated event. The orchestral accompaniment to most of the Bishop’s passages such as the opening, capture his dying torments. The easy listening part of the work comes with the choral singing, particularly the children’s songs - one of which (I shall kiss the Lord’s tomb) has an innocent Sunday School simplicity. Other passages remind us of Amahl and The Night Visitors.
The graphic description of the howling storm which sinks the ship is extremely impressive. Lili Chookasian singing the role of the sympathetic nun is very moving and consoling. The key question that the Bishop asks is answered in the final quiet hushed chorus finely sung by the New England Conservatory Chorus and the Children’s Chorus. The two extracts from Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder belong to 1900 when the composer was still writing very romantic music and in this case very Wagnerian. This is a beautiful rich work which will be enjoyed by anyone who hears it. Lili Chookasian is the only singer on these discs to be in all three works and she is very good in the Song of the Wood Dove. She is well supported by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Erich Leinsdorf who are also in the other works.
The sound throughout the recording is very impressive and belies its vintage (1964 and 1965.) I have listened to the LP of the Menotti and Schönberg many times since I purchased it in the 60’s. The sound is now vastly improved and it is lovely to hear these works free of any scratches!
Ken Smith
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not entirely blemishless, 27 Oct 2007
I'd like to add a couple of points to complement the review above. First, the recording's sonic quality isn't brilliant: a) the loud choral passages - notably 'Dies irae' - are rather scratchy; b) there's an annoying background noise common to most recordings made in '50s and 60s, which sounds like water boiling (but that's audible only on headphones); c) the voices are uncomfortably distant, as if the singers were performing in an upper gallery. Second, Leinsdorf's tempo in 'Libera me' is unusually fast, so much that even Nilsson fails to uplift us, not least in the 'Requiem' passage. Pity, because the rest of the performance (81 minutes) is stupendous, notably that of Bergonzi, whom I nominate as 'THE Royal Verdi Tenor'.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A really dramatic Verdi Requiem and two interesting extras, 25 Dec 2008
Leinsdorf, like Solti, had a reputation for sometimes pressing too hard and being unyielding but I certainly do not find him so in this recording. True, at 81 minutes, this is one of the brisker recordings of the Requiem I have heard, especially compared with the likes of Reiner, Fricsay, Bernstein and even Toscanini, but there is no one way to interpret this towering work and I rate this recording as one of the best. It certainly does not sound rushed and the more contemplative parts of the score are given the space to breathe. On paper, the obvious attractions are Nilsson and Bergonzi but, fine though these two are, the mezzo Chookasian and bass Ezio Flagello, are equally impressive. Flagello, in particular, gives what I think is quite the finest account of the bass role that I have heard: his expressive bass rolls out like thunder and he brings real gravitas to his utterances. Chookasian, while not erasing memories of Janet Baker in either the Requiem or the Wood-dove excerpt from "Gurrelieder", emerges as a very fine and under-recorded singer. She does not have quite the lower register heft to be ideal but she is a force to be reckoned with in this demanding music. It is a real pleasure to hear Bergonzi - such a versatile tenor - caress the Ingemisco and still find the steel in his voice for the more declamatory sections, though I would have like a touch more mezza-voce and sweetness (a la Pavarotti or Domingo in the early Bernstein) in the "Inter oves" part of the "Hostias".
I have read elsewhere criticism of Nilsson's intonation; the "Gramophone" reviewer goes so far as to say that this constitutes the only serious blot on the set. This prompted me to sit and listen to Nilsson with a pitch pipe - yes; sad, I know, but I really wanted to be certain! - and check that out. First, there is absolutely no question of faulty pitch in everything she sings from G up to the two blazing top C's; as in her Wagner they cut through the ensembles like laser beams - and a thrilling sound it is. Suspicions revolve around the middle of her voice but I think is largely a question of her vocal colouring and the lack of vibrato she employs in this area, which can sometimes create an illusion of flatness. It is true that the middle of her voice can sound a little unsupported compared with that surgical top but hers is a performance I can certainly live with. The orchestra and chorus are really terrific in every sense of the word and I rate this with Leinsdorf's "Walküre" (see my review) for excitement. The sound is very immediate with just some slight fizz and hiss and a bit of congestion in the loudest passages.
I love "Gurrelieder" and enjoy Chookasian's sensitive and powerful reading even if, as I said earlier, she does not eclipse other interpreters. The other companion piece on this double CD set is, I believe, the only recording of Menotti's "Death of the Bishop of Brindisi". I love George London's voice and this certainly gives him an opportunity to demonstrate his skill as a singing actor without exactly showing off his vocal forte.(This was recorded shortly before the progressive paralysis of one side of his vocal cords necessitated his premature retirement from performing.) Most other reviewers rave about the music; I do not especially care for it although I can see why it might appeal. Personally, I find the juxtaposition of almost Sprechstimme, discordant utterances of the Bishop with the naive choral tunes rather unrewarding but the piece certainly has its moments even for a non-fan like me.
So; back to what is for me the raison d'etre of this set: this Requiem can take an honourable place among other favourite recordings of this inexhaustible masterpiece, in which Verdi uses a combination of his experience as a classically trained church organist and the composer of searingly emotional stage dramas to express the terror of damnation versus the sweet hope of salvation.
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