Verdi: Requiem & Quattro Pezzi Sacri

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Gardiner's Verdi Requiem is in a class of its own.
His are readings that combine a positive view and interpretative integrity from start to finish, something possible only in the context of... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: 4421422
Label: Philips
Length: 1 hour 58 minutes

Verdi: Requiem

Work length1:20:59

$12.75

$17.25

Anne Sofie von Otter (contralto), Luba Orgonasova (soprano), Luca Canonici (tenor), Alastair Miles (bass (vocal))
Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Recorded: 1992-12
Recording Venue: All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London

1. Requiem

Track length8:48

$0.85

$1.15

2. Dies irae

Track length2:10

$0.85

$1.15

2. Tuba Mirum

Track length2:59

$0.85

$1.15

2. Liber scriptus

Track length4:42

$0.85

$1.15

2. Quid sum miser

Track length3:43

$0.85

$1.15

2. Rex Tremendae

Track length3:24

$0.85

$1.15

2. Recordare

Track length4:03

$0.85

$1.15

2. Ingemisco

Track length3:22

$0.85

$1.15

2. Confutatis

Track length4:49

$0.85

$1.15

2. Lacrymosa

Track length5:45

$0.85

$1.15

3. Offertorium

Track length10:06

$0.85

$1.15

4. Sanctus

Track length2:38

$0.85

$1.15

5. Agnus Dei

Track length4:57

$0.85

$1.15

6. Lux aeterna

Track length6:10

$0.85

$1.15

7. Libera me

Track length13:23

$0.85

$1.15

Verdi: Quattro Pezzi Sacri

Work length37:58

$3.40

$4.60

Donna Brown (soprano)
Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Recorded: 1992-12
Recording Venue: All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London

Ave Maria

Track length5:53

$0.85

$1.15

Stabat Mater

Track length11:42

$0.85

$1.15

Laudi alla vergine Maria

Track length5:39

$0.85

$1.15

Te Deum

Track length14:44

$0.85

$1.15

Reviews
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Reviews

2010

Gardiner's Verdi Requiem is in a class of its own.
His are readings that combine a positive view and interpretative integrity from start to finish, something possible only in the context of the superb professionalism of the (augmented) Monteverdi Choir, which sings with a burnished and steady tone throughout and suggests, rightly, a corporate act of worship. Its contribution is beyond praise.
He might also have been surprised and delighted to ear the soloists' contribution sung with such precision by such a finely integrated quartet, who perform the important unaccompanied passages with special grace and sensitivity.
Instead of the usual jostle of vibratos, here the four voices are firm and true. Individually they're also distinguished. Pride of place must go to Orgonášová who gives the performance of her life. The exactly placed high B in the 'Quid sum miser' section of the 'Dies irae', the perfect blending with von Otter at 'Dominum', the whole of the Andante section of the 'Libera me', sung with ethereal tone and a long breath, make the heart stop in amazement.
In 'Oro supplex' Gardiner follows Verdi's tempo marking. More often he follows tradition, with slower speeds than those suggested, and he allows more licence than the score, or conductors like Toscanini. But as his liberties all seem so convincing in the context of the whole, who should complain? In the Pezzi sacri, Gardiner gives the most thrilling account yet to appear.
The recording, made in Westminster Cathedral, has a huge range which may cause problems in confined spaces. You're liable to be overwhelmed, for instance, by the 'Dies irae'.

2010

Gardiner, using period forces, is searingly dramatic and superbly recorded, with fine detail, combining transparent textures, weight and atmospheric bloom...The soloists make a characterful quartet, with the vibrant Orgonasova set against the rock-steady Von Otter

Verdi: Requiem & Quattro Pezzi Sacri

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