Mozart - Requiem / McLaughlin, M. Ewing, Hauptmann, Bayerischen Rundfunks, Bernstein

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
As with his performance of the Mass in C Minor with these same forces, Leonard Bernstein provides another outstanding performance, certainly one of the very finest available of this oft-recorded music. Without indulging in the sort of Romantic mannerisms that sometimes afflict his Mozart, Bernstein urges his Bavarian forces on to heights of passion and intensity that never upset the music's natural proportions. A magnificent disc. --David Hurwitz

Tracks:

Requiem in D Minor: I. Introitus - Requiem
Requiem in D Minor: II. Kyrie
Requiem in D Minor: III. Sequenz - 1. Dies Irae
Requiem in D Minor: III. Sequenz - 2. Tuba Mirum
Requiem in D Minor: III. Sequenz - 3. Rex Tremendae
Requiem in D Minor: III. Sequenz - 4. Recordare
Requiem in D Minor: III. Sequenz - 5. Confutatis
Requiem in D Minor: III. Sequenz - 6. Lacrimosa
Requiem in D Minor: IV. Offeratorium - 1. Domine Jesu
Requiem in D Minor: IV. Offeratorium - 2. Hostias
Requiem in D Minor: V. Sanctus
Requiem in D Minor: VI. Benedictus
Requiem in D Minor: VII. Agnus Dei
Requiem in D Minor: VIII. Communio - Lux Aeterna

Amazon.com

As with his performance of the Mass in C Minor with these same forces, Leonard Bernstein provides another outstanding performance, certainly one of the very finest available of this oft-recorded music. Without indulging in the sort of Romantic mannerisms that sometimes afflict his Mozart, Bernstein urges his Bavarian forces on to heights of passion and intensity that never upset the music's natural proportions. A magnificent disc. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Bernstein takes a risk and massively succeeds!!!.......2006-04-22

A traditionalist might not like this recording due to the fact that Bernstein takes movements like the "Lacrimosa" and dramatizes them a bit more... but I feel that (even though this might not be the most traditional performance of the Requiem, Bernstein does something that no other recording touches...)

Bernstein romantisizes this work... he slows it down!!!!....and I feel that he conducts it in a way that feels more like 19th century romanticism rather then the classically, square approach of the 18th century... I really believe Mozart would have appreciated this rendition because he was a creative thinker!!!! This is a beautiful recording... it meant a lot to Bernstein who dedicated it to the passing of his wife.. it's nearing the end of his own life as well.... If you're a classical purist and you want a more traditional recording of Mozart's Requiem, I don't know if you'll like this recording but that won't stop me from recommending it to everyone!!!

Mozart's requiem.......2005-09-20

With the world's huge library of music, how many of us could pick only a few CD's of music with which to be left on a deserted island? It is quite hard or impossible to do this really, but Mozart's Requiem simply has to be one of these for those who love classical music. The emotions that flow out of this final composition are quite strong, and the vocalists, as well as Leonard Bernstein's direction of the symphony brings these out. The fact that Mozart did not complete the piece before he died in 1791 does not detract from it, and in fact lends mystery to how, and for whom it was completed.

REQUIEM For A Heavyweight Named Bernstein.......2005-03-21

Few single works in Western music have ever aroused such discussion as Mozart's epic "Requiem" mass, a piece he was working on when he died less than two months short of his thirty-sixth birthday. The work remained incomplete, and Mozart's fellow composers Franz Beyer and Franz Xavier Sussmayr, at the insistence of his wife Costanze, made efforts to complete it. This has given rise to whether this is REALLY Mozart's Requiem, and his alone.

When listening to any recordings of the work, however, it is best to leave the speculating of the work's authenticity to others and just allow the power of the piece to wash over oneself. That's what is achieved in this live 1988 recording made by conductor Leonard Bernstein, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and a distinguished group of vocal soloists--Marie McLaughlin; Maria Ewing, Jerry Hadley, and Cornelius Hauptmann.

Bernstein was often savagely criticized in his later years for his increasingly slow tempos and often over-emotional conducting style. But how can one NOT get caught up in the emotion of works like the Mozart "Requiem"? That kind of emotionalism is what is required for anyone, no matter how big a name, who conducts the piece. And Bernstein is never overly emotional here, just grabbing this work for the powerful performance it deserves to get. The performance itself may be deemed a bit slow at close to 59 minutes, but there have been slower ones even before this (Karl Bohm's 1971 Vienna Philharmonic recording runs to 64 minutes). The vocal soloists are first-rate, as is the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Chorus under Bernstein's direction.

Mozart's "Requiem" is unquestionably one of the greatest single choral works since Handel's "Messiah", and it deserves to be heard, especially when it is through such a stunning, mercurial recording as this one.

Like Missa Solemnis!.......2004-11-08

Lenny brings massive weight to the Requiem unlike any other I've heard! The expansiveness and power is incredible.

(If you're a purist, you will probably dislike this recording, but then why listen to it anyway if you know you won't like it? Just stick to the "Hoggy", "Gardi" and "Pinni" gang! But leave the heavyweights like Klemp, Karajan, Lenny and those guys out of it).

This is my second favorite Requiem I've heard after the Karajan 1977 version. Bernstein brings a structure to the piece which other conductors often miss, and the musicians play with great feeling and firey intensity.

It's a Requiem tailored for the big boned and manly type. And by the way, it's a live recording...so all the better.

->Get the most recent reissue of it on DG's "entree" label for dead cheap!

Tastes like Chicken........2004-02-10

I've heard multiple life performances and recordings of this masterpiece as listener and as performer. Make sure you understand that the title of this CD is "Mozart's Requiem by Franz Beyer". This recording is to Mozart's Requiem as 8 track tapes to audio and Beta tapes to video.
Here are my ratings based on a good professional knowledge of this particular music score:

Orchestral performance - 5 stars
Choir performance - 5 stars
Orchestra soloists - 4 stars
Choir soloists - 3.0 stars

Digital recording, balance, Etc... - 3 stars
Following original composer's score (music, tempo, balance, solo, Etc...) - 1 star

This recording is not for those of you who like to hear original Mozart and, may be, a little Sussmayr :-). And it is not for most professionals who shall notice horrible arrangement by Franz Beyer.
Tastes like Chicken
Thank you, friends.

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