After the immense and universally lauded success of my unparalleled, unrivalled, and flawless Beethoven piano sonata survey, I decided to turn my attention and now patented mostest, bestest scientific listening technique to one of my favorite choral works, Gabriel Fauré's Requiem. Exhaustive and thorough consideration of the piece led to the obvious and objective conclusion that the version under consideration does not matter. Whether big or small, early or final, the music, like much of Bach's, sort of transcends pesky matters like score version or instrumentation. The musical impact in high-end performances is so significant, its ability to move the listener so profound, and the general neato-ness of the music so self-evident, that any old version will do.
Twenty-five versions will receive a full airing here. Each will be posted in descending order of relative greatness until, inevitably and ineluctably, the very greatest version known to humanity will be revealed.
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#25
Paavo Järvi's take is unapologetically big 'n' bold, with some sumptuous playing, reminiscent of Robert Shaw's take. Like that take, ultimate recorded detail sometimes goes AWOL, but that's OK. The organ bits have color aplenty, and the choral singing compels and Matthias Goerne does his thing. For me, though, the use of countertenor in the Pie Jesu, even in the form of someone as supremely talented as Philippe Jaroussky, sort of falls flat. By which I mean it completely falls flat. Michel Corboz similarly futzes around with the soprano part in one of his recordings, but he and his forces are more compelling in the rest of the work.
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#24
The newest kid on the block, Herve Niquet and his small crew deliver light 'n' tight 'n' swift playing and singing. In terms of execution, it's essentially without flaw. The singing is superb throughout. Something's missing, though. It's austere, but that in itself is not an issue. No, it's not especially expressive as a whole. It's almost impatient and rendered cooly slick. Don't get me wrong, the execution for execution's sake is more than worth hearing, but this here recording is why streaming is so darned nifty.
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#23
It had been a good long while since I last listened to Ernest Ansermet's take. Now, Ansermet has a couple things at his disposal, namely Suzanne Danco and, especially, Gerard Souzay. The latter really delivers the magic. Souzay's voice is so beautiful and gentle, with wonderful vibrato – though some may think too much – that it more or less hypnotizes the listener while he sings. Danco sounds nice, but she lays on the vibrato, and it sounds like her voice is patched in from a separate session. She is not maximally utilized. To the rest of the recording, the tempi are slow, the playing gooey and quasi-grandiose, the overall feel that of an operatic tragedy. So far, so good. But then there's the chorus. I just don't like it. It's not ugly, per se, but it's not beautiful, either. It's just blah. In a choral work, that's a problem. Part of it comes down to how it was recorded. Basically, this is the Souzay show, and his singing cannot offset everything else.
Quote from: Todd on September 03, 2024, 04:02:32 AM(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/412JY7JHFCL.jpg)
... But then there's the chorus. I just don't like it. It's not ugly, per se, but it's not beautiful, either. It's just blah. In a choral work, that's a problem. Part of it comes down to how it was recorded. ...
I have had that problem with several
Ansermet recordings. The choral contributions are significantly less accomplished than the other elements. A pity.
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#22
Danny Boy's turn, with Sheila Armstrong and DFD his soloists. Big, broad, dynamic, and dramatic, this is red-blooded, full-throated Faure. The choral singing is fine, and DFD does his thing. Sheila Armstrong's singing does not really appeal, but it's technically good. When all is said and done, however, it's really just sort of a robust run through of the work with little lasting impact.
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#21
Kazuo Yamada's take on the Requiem sounds deadly serious, formal, and pristinely crafted. Born in 1912, he comes from that generation of Japanese classical music artists who took their art very seriously and would allow for no tomfoolery with the score, no ridiculous tempi, no nothing out of place. The result here is austere, almost severe beauty. That ain't no prob, and in terms of seriousness there are others more serious yet – Giulini, say. The soloists are good, if not great, and the choral singing sounds fine. Not one of the greats, but nice enough. And the sound Yamada gets from the band in the Pie Jesu, yeah, like, nice.
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#20
Michel Corboz's last recording of the Requiem eliminates the mistake that plagued his second recording in that he uses a proper soprano, which helps the Pie Jesu in relative terms. The overall characteristics of this Mirare recording are not too terribly different from the 90s one. Taut, elegant, elevated, with just the right amount of drama, it's none too shabby. It does, however, lack juju to the same degree as the flawed earlier recording. So, at least good.
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#19
Dutoit, like so many other conductors in the good old days of major label overproduction, got to use two big name singers, Kiri Te Kanawa and Sherill Milnes, along with his band. The first thing that one notices is that the slow to slow-ish tempo choices sound slower than their timing suggests due to an aural opacity that pervades the whole undertaking. It's a big, warm, blended sound, lacking edge and ultimate clarity. That in itself is no problem, but the mix of tempo and venue and recording technique are not ideal. The soloists sound more clear, with Milnes sounding quite dark and more bassy than baritoney, while Te Kanawa sounds lovely if somewhat ice queeny. That's OK. The chorus sings nicely throughout, with the slight opacity no hindrance.
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#18
That the Requiem ended up on a recording with the word "secret" in the title represents a triumph of marketing, but all that matters is whether Bolton and crew deliver the goods. The performance almost seems to be built around Benjamin Appl's voice. His singing is pure of tone, almost flawless, and light. That describes the instrumental playing and choral singing, too, not to mention Katja Stuber's singing. Transparency also pervades the entire undertaking, and so does a, well, Swiss-like precision. There's much surface beauty to be heard here, but soulful nourishment is in short supply. It's worth listening to just for the sleek beauty.
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#17
One is all but assured of superb execution in every Marriner recording, and so it goes here. The dramatic but sleek Introit gives way to a sleeker yet Kyrie. The choral singing is near or actually perfect, and the entire undertaking radiates aural beauty above all. Gravitas goes missing a bit, perhaps. Marriner used high grade soloists and got high grade results there, though especially with Allen, the results are highly extroverted. That is offset by Sylvia McNair, whose singing is so gorgeous, so gentle, so soothing, that one sort of collapses into a helpless blob while she sings. It's kind of difficult to assign the proper scientific ranking to this recording. It lacks that something special that other takes have, but if one just wants to play it and wallow in musical goodness, it's more than up to snuff.
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#16
Reliable Jeremy Summerly has produced a good number of very fine recordings in early music, so I figured it was time to give his take on Faure's work a shot. He presents a hybrid edition, relying on the 1887/88 score with the two later movements tacked on. Summerly's take is fairly quick, fairly light, more than fairly austere, and boasts good if not world-beating singing for the most part. The high voices in the choral parts sometimes shine and sometimes misses the mark for me, but overall, this is a good version, but not a fave.
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#15
Michel Corboz's second, mid-90s recording of the work is absolutely magnificent in every regard, save one. The tempi are taut but not rushed. The sound is elegant and elevated. It feels dramatic but not overdone. The organ part is usually subtle and never obtrusive. The performance engulfs the listener. Except for the soprano. Corboz uses a boy rather than a woman, and the entire Pie Jesu is trainwrecked as a result, and the whole work negatively impacted. The boy can sing, but the voice must be female here. Must. It can be no other way. But for that really rather major boo-boo, this would be one of the very best takes.
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#14
With Chung, Terfel, and Bartoli involved, one is more or less guaranteed a version that emphasizes the theatrical more than the spiritual. That's what one gets. And that's perfectly fine. Theatricality here manifests itself in towering forte passages, with dynamic range to at least equal what Jack Renner achieved elsewhere. (Gramophone's reviewer kvetched that the dynamic range is too wide.) The tempi are slow and dramatic, the playing and choral singing beautiful. Terfel, big of voice and forward sounding in the mix, sings his parts like an aria from some opera where the hero contemplates life itself, like Falstaff looking inward. Bartoli's tone is somewhat darker than other singers in this part, but of course she does her thing. If one comes to this recording with appropriate expectations and digging big ol' dynamic swings, it hits the spot.
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#13
Quint's take relies on John Rutter's 1984 realization for the score, and Telarc's sonics for everything else. Sure, James Morris hardly sets the world on fire with his solo singing, and the same holds true for Judith Blegen, and the choral singing, while good, is not the best of the best. What is best of the best is overall sonic impact. Right from the get-go, the sound is big, bold, beefy, and beautiful. It lacks the ultimate clarity and detail of multi-multi-microphone arrays and mixing desk wizardry, but it is right freakin' there, right in front of ya', demanding the listener giddily and greedily devour all that sonic 'n' musical goodness. On technical points, it don't win; on pure enjoyment points, it nearly do. Nice.
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#12
Here's a recording that popped out at me due to the pairing. Via Crucis is the most austere, almost severe Liszt composition that I have heard. Anyone who doubts the seriousness of Abbé Liszt's faith really ought to consider listening to this work. Denes Varjon, a pianist of no little accomplishment, does his thing well as do the singers. Only some slightly rough sound, with overloaded patches when streamed, mars the take, and then it doesn't really matter. The work does not seem a natural pairing for Faure's Requiem, so one must listen to the main work with extra focus.
Turns out the pairing works. Well, it does when one approaches the work the way Janos Dobra does. It's austere, emphasizing the text and eschewing excess beauty. It ends up sort of sounding less like a rarified take than a Rore-fied one. That is meant as very high praise. Typically, when I listen, the Sanctus and the Pie Jesu are the big highlights, and of course In Paradisum is sort of the point of work. Not so much here. The Offertory is absolutely fantastic, all the more so when the soloist is not the focus. It has more gravitas than normal. Somehow or other, and it's difficult to describe why, the shortcomings in this recording don't matter too much. And those shortcomings are the singers, including the chorus. While not terrible at all, they don't match up to more famous artists and ensembles. The singing almost has a rough and ready and high-end amateur feel to it, but that scrappiness pays off when wedded to the conductor's approach. That platitudinous saying "more than the sum of its parts" applies here. A surprisingly affecting recording.
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#11
Lucia Popp. Yep, Lucia Popp. This recording includes the redoubtable Lucy sings here, and yet I had not listened to this recording until this survey. My very bad. So, like, Davis goes slow, slow, slow in the opening Introitus, creating a combination of etherealness and weightiness of no little interest, and while the tempi speed up, that interpretive combo pervades. Simon Estes and the choral singers all do fine work. But really, for me, it's all about Popp, and she delivers. It sounds like perhaps a little extra reverb may have been added to the mix to make her sound even more like a rich voiced angel than she was. Precisely as expected, she is the highlight of the recording, and sort of floats above the fray. The performance as a whole is quite lovely but also restrained, and Davis does excellent work, but the slow tempo doesn't have the last word in static magic. Still, very good.
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#10
Maestro Ozawa leads his Boston band along with Barbara Bonney and Haken Hagegard in a recording that right from the start mixes taut speed and a light on its feet feel with scale and perfect weight. The splendid RCA sound helps matters out. The soloists both do excellent work, with Bonney sounding very light, with a soft tone (aided by knob twiddling?), and most pleasing. The Tanglewood chorus does some fine, fine work in this really nice recording.
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#9
Peter Dijkstra's small band, kick-ass chorus, world class soloist rendition benefits from probably the best overall recorded sound in this survey. This allows for just the right balance of clarity and weight, which when combined with the snappy overall tempi, leads to supreme refinement married to tension throughout. It certainly sounds beautiful, but it ain't no pansy version, no sir. Kondad Jarnot's voice sounds appealing and his delivery is equally blended assertiveness and tenderness, while Sunhae Im's singing is all crystalline beauty.
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#8
As per usual, Celi uses slow tempi, but here they're not so very far away from someone like Plasson. The main characteristics that define Celi's take is that his is the most sorrowful, the most mournful. One can imagine this being performed at the funeral for some big French muckety-muck. Or maybe a Belgian one. Anyway, it is weighty, rich, detailed, string heavy, with some glorious vibrato in that thar string playing. Alan Titus does fine work, but here the solo star turn goes to Margaret Price, who sounds sorrowful and soulful, with the strings laying down a billowy, ethereal background for her near lamentation. The organ in In Paradisum is extra colorful and prominent, but that just sort of adds a little something.
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#7
This recording has two main, obvious draws. First is the esteemed Ms Boulanger, pupil of the composer, a superheavyweight among 20th Century teachers, and experienced conductor of this work. Second is Reri Grist. At around thirty-eight minutes, this is taut and fleet, but man does it flow. It never sounds weighed down, heavy, or dour, but it always sounds unwaveringly serious. Ms Grist does not disappoint, though some may dislike the amount of vibrato. The chorus gets into the groove, though the occasional tape overload mars things ever so slightly. Overall, this here's a humdinger.
Quote from: Todd on September 19, 2024, 03:46:15 AM(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51fyxuwPA+L._UX425_FMwebp_QL85_.jpg)
#7
This recording has two main, obvious draws. First is the esteemed Ms Boulanger, pupil of the composer, a superheavyweight among 20th Century teachers, and experienced conductor of this work. Second is Reri Grist. At around thirty-eight minutes, this is taut and fleet, but man does it flow. It never sounds weighed down, heavy, or dour, but it always sounds unwaveringly serious. Ms Grist does not disappoint, though some may dislike the amount of vibrato. The chorus gets into the groove, though the occasional tape overload mars things ever so slightly. Overall, this here's a humdinger.
This performance was also included in the NYPhil's 10-CD "historic broadcasts" box set, where the Fauré was coupled with Monteux's Tombeau de Couperin and Cantelli conducting La Mer. It's a great set if you can find it. Among the many highlights is Bernstein conducting the most intense Berg 3 Orchestra Pieces I've ever heard.
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#6
Tortelier and his forces go big so as to not go home. Even with a few bits where slow tempi predominate, the impact and force of the playing and choral singing, augmented by some nicely reverberant and dynamic recorded sound, hit the spot. There's drama and seriousness of purpose; muscular beauty akin to a musical Vladislava Galagan; superb solo singing from both Timothy Robinson and Libby Crabtree; and an overall sense of energized devotion with generous dollops o' Gallic goodness.
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#5
Knight Herreweghe* had to appear in one of his several recordings, so I went for this Harmonia Mundi recording. The Knight opts for the big band treatment, but he has a couple tricks up his sleeve. First, he goes for "period" instruments – whatever that means for a work from the late 19th Century – and second, he uses a harmonium rather than an organ. Those facts, plus his conducting, plus the recording and mixing techniques, yield a supremely clean and clear take, filled with energy and drama, and entirely devoid of schmalz. It's serious but not heavy. It's beautiful but not sonically plush. Throw in some singers who know their business and a chorus that definitely knows its collective business, and this here's a kick-ass Requiem. Well, in so far as so polite and restrained a glorious musical construction can be. While I'm not a HIP guy, sometimes HIPsters do the do well.
* Knight. Tee-hee. Europeans.
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#4
When surveying this work, one must of course listen to the André Cluytens recording. Professional music critics like it, but much more importantly, real music fans do as well. And with good reasons. Broad of overall approach, but not slow, it packs in drama aplenty without going overboard, and it always sounds beautiful. The Introitus reveals instantly that this is no lightweight version, and the delicious choral vibrato works splendidly, as does that imposing organ underpinning in the Kyrie. This recording marks the second appearance of DFD, and here he brings his A-game, which means he generates beautiful tone and lieder-like nuance, and hits it out of the park. That Victoria de los Angeles brings a slightly more operatic feel to go with that soul-grabbing beauty and likewise hits it out of the park is not only no surprise, it would be expected even if one had never heard this recording before. Mmm-hmm, good stuff.
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#3
Michel Plasson and crew deliver one of the slowest extant renditions of the work, and right from the start of the very slow Introitus, one knows this will be slow. The Kyrie sounds even slower in comparative terms, and the recording establishes a solemn, more overtly devout feel than most. It works fantastically well. This here recording defines somber beauty. Plasson also uses A+ soloists, and when Jose Van Dam enters, one here's the benefit of using such singers. There's some operatic panache, but he keeps his singing very tasteful and reserved, to the extent such singing can remain reserved. Barbara Hendricks works her magic, as well. Yeah, this is the shit.
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#2
The opening Introit (separately tracked) and Kyrie manage to combine both tautness and all-consuming beauty, setting the stage for what follows. What follows starts with a gentle, kinda billowy, almost dreamlike Offertory, with the chorus working magic. Only slightly less magical is Stéphane Degout, who achieves near Souzayian beauty. Then the Sanctus comes along, and Ms Equilbey's chorus works even more magic. Then the high point arrives in the form of the great Sandrine Piau, so delicate and gentle and meltingly beautiful of voice, that one sorts of collapses into a state of immobile ecstasy in the Pie Jesu. In terms of irresistible gorgeousness she outpaces even de los Angeles and Popp, and falls just shy of but one singer in this survey (more on that later). In Paradisum is downright paradisiacal. One of the very best takes, hence the scientifically determined ranking.
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It was inevitable. In this Requiem, there can be no greater version than the better than perfect version delivered by Carlo Maria Giulini. He gives the work the full Giulini treatment. Right from the opening of the Introit, one hears something a bit different. Dark and subdued to open, both from the band and the choir, there's a profound seriousness of musical purpose to every note. No one, not Plasson, not Celi, nobody is more serious. Giulini's take does not sound mournful or even necessarily even solemn. It just sounds serious and elevated, transcendental. This is a Requiem, after all. Perhaps one can detect whiffs o' Brahms in some of the string playing, maybe, but that hardly counts as a strike given the overall effect. Besides, with moments like the hushed, beautiful, and entrancing opening of the Offertory, how can one even begin to quibble? The young Andreas Schmidt sings beautifully, imparting a sense of serenity, never pushing in the Offertory, and cranking it up in the start of the Libera me before returning to something more solemn. Giulini briefly lets rip in the movement as well. So good is the choral singing, so dialed into the music, that there are passages where the music begins to take on the feel of devout Renaissance era requiems. It just can't get better than this. The choral singing here has nearly the same all-encompassing, all-consuming beauty and impact of the best renditions of music by Morales. The slow In Paradisum ends the work with gorgeous, gentle music from all forces.
Beyond all the goodness described thus far, Giulini has an ace up his sleeve. The Pie Jesu is literally far beyond perfect, because, you see, Kathleen Battle took temporary leave from paradise to pop in and sing the music so beautifully that even the otherwise most dulcet voiced angels listen in envy and weep with joy when they hear this rendition. I have read a brief summation of Ms Battle's formidable talent that states she has the musical instincts of a shoe box, but the ultimately indescribable gorgeousness of her voice overcomes any and all limitations. There is some truth to that, and here the vocal beauty is so extreme that the listener runs the very real risk of being reduced to a blubbering pile of goo. But what blubbering! What goo!!
From time to time, I have read criticisms of Mr Giulini's monumental, epochal recording, but any criticisms are somewhat like criticizing the sun for being too bright or bacon for being too delicious. No! This is The One. There is no doubt that this rates among my top twenty recordings ever, of anything, and likely my top ten.
Remember to keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.
Nice survey, but you left out my favorite recording.
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I'll circle back to Willcocks after my next couple listening projects are complete. There's at least one new recording of the work coming in the next 90 days or so, as well.
Indeed, a nice survey.
The only version I've kept, though I have not heard most of the versions you heard is