Verdi: Requiem

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EMI was quite right to be on hand to record this performance in Berlin at a time when Abbado had arisen from his sick-bed to show just how much this work meant to him in the circumstances. It's... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: 5571682
Label: Warner Classics
Length: 83 minutes

Verdi: Messa di Requiem, Requiem

Work length9:03

$2.00

$2.60

Angela Gheorghiu (soprano), Daniela Barcellona (mezzo-soprano), Julian Konstantinov (bass), Roberto Alagna (tenor)
Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Orfeón Donostiarra, Swedish Radio Chorus, Berliner Philharmoniker
Claudio Abbado
Recorded: 2001-01-27
Recording Venue: 25 & 27 January 2001 / 'Live' at the Philharmonie, Berlin

Requiem -

Track length5:32

$1.00

$1.30

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison

Track length3:31

$1.00

$1.30

Verdi: Messa di Requiem, Dies irae

Work length36:27

$10.00

$13.00

Julian Konstantinov (bass), Daniela Barcellona (mezzo-soprano), Angela Gheorghiu (soprano), Roberto Alagna (tenor)
Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Orfeón Donostiarra, Swedish Radio Chorus, Berliner Philharmoniker
Claudio Abbado
Recorded: 2001-01-27
Recording Venue: 25 & 27 January 2001 / 'Live' at the Philharmonie, Berlin

Dies irae

Track length2:25

$1.00

$1.30

Tuba mirum

Track length1:50

$1.00

$1.30

Mors stupebit

Track length1:24

$1.00

$1.30

Liber scriptus - Dies irae

Track length5:02

$1.00

$1.30

Quid sum miser

Track length3:41

$1.00

$1.30

Rex tremendae

Track length3:32

$1.00

$1.30

Recordare

Track length3:55

$1.00

$1.30

Ingemisco

Track length3:27

$1.00

$1.30

Confutatis - Dies irae

Track length5:25

$1.00

$1.30

Lacrymosa

Track length5:46

$1.00

$1.30

Verdi: Messa di Requiem, Offertorio

Work length10:09

$2.00

$2.60

Angela Gheorghiu (soprano), Daniela Barcellona (mezzo-soprano), Julian Konstantinov (bass), Roberto Alagna (tenor)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Claudio Abbado
Recorded: 2001-01-27
Recording Venue: 25 & 27 January 2001 / 'Live' at the Philharmonie, Berlin

Domine Jesu Christe -

Track length4:43

$1.00

$1.30

Hostias

Track length5:26

$1.00

$1.30

Verdi: Messa di Requiem

Work length13:46

$3.00

$3.90

Angela Gheorghiu (soprano), Daniela Barcellona (mezzo-soprano), Julian Konstantinov (bass), Roberto Alagna (tenor)
Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Orfeón Donostiarra, Swedish Radio Chorus, Berliner Philharmoniker
Claudio Abbado
Recorded: 2001-01-27
Recording Venue: 25 & 27 January 2001 / 'Live' at the Philharmonie, Berlin

Sanctus

Track length2:44

$1.00

$1.30

Agnus dei

Track length4:53

$1.00

$1.30

Lux aeterna

Track length6:09

$1.00

$1.30

Verdi: Messa di Requiem, Libera me

Work length14:04

$4.00

$5.20

Angela Gheorghiu (soprano)
Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Orfeón Donostiarra, Swedish Radio Chorus, Berliner Philharmoniker
Claudio Abbado
Recorded: 2001-01-27
Recording Venue: 25 & 27 January 2001 / 'Live' at the Philharmonie, Berlin

Libera me, Domine

Track length2:28

$1.00

$1.30

Dies irae

Track length2:29

$1.00

$1.30

Requiem aeternam

Track length3:04

$1.00

$1.30

Libera me, Domine

Track length6:03

$1.00

$1.30

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Recorded at live performances in the Philharmonie, Berlin on 25th & 27th January 2001

Reviews

2010

EMI was quite right to be on hand to record this performance in Berlin at a time when Abbado had arisen from his sick-bed to show just how much this work meant to him in the circumstances. It's conveyed in spades through the tremendous concentration and emotional thrust felt throughout this shattering interpretation. This performance has something extra that you find in Fricsay's live, 1960 account, and both come close to the spiritual element in the music. Abbado has at his bidding a superb group of specialist choirs who combine effortlessly into a cohesive whole, singing with commendable breadth, accuracy and involvement, few if any better on disc. They find fit counterparts in the players of the BPO who seem individually, in solos, and collectively intent on giving of their appreciable best for their chief. So all the big choral moments, Dies Irae, Rex tremendae, Sanctus, Libera me fugue are superbly achieved.
EMI's recording is wide-ranging and immediate, the equal of any the work has yet received.
If the solo singing can't be given such an unqualified encomium, much of it is impressive, especially that of the young mezzo Daniela Barcellona, even in tone and beseeching in manner.
Gheorghiu does so much so well: she sings throughout in that rich, warm tone of hers and offers many long, arching phrases. She's also as dramatic as one could wish in the Libera me, but she doesn't really do the ethereal moments as well as many of her predecessors. Alagna has his uneven moments and can't compare with Pavarotti on Muti's version (reviewed below) for sheer effulgence, but he sings with a deal of passion and authority. The disappointment is the youthful Bulgarian bass Julian Konstantinov, whose singing is lamed by several untidy moments and by ill-tuned pitching.
In terms of fidelity to Verdi, Toscanini, Serafin, Giulini (in the BBC Legends version), Muti (though the live EMI recording at La Scala isn't so successful as this one in Berlin) and Gardiner, in his individually authentic way, are indispensable, but the new Abbado, given its superlative sound and special circumstances, is an important addition to the work's discography.

Verdi: Requiem

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