Verdi: Messa da Requiem / Gheorghiu, Barcellona, Alagna, Konstantinov, Berliner Philharmoniker, Abbado (2001)

Verdi's Requiem–certainly one of his most moving, eloquent masterpieces–was written in honor of the great Italian poet Alessandro Manzoni, whom he admired enormously both for his writings and his political outlook. Though its text is the Latin liturgy, it has been called Verdi's greatest opera because of its basically dramatic character, as well as his own ambivalent attitude toward organized religion. Thus, interpretations tend to emphasize its secular or its sacred aspect, though, naturally, the soloists are trained in the Verdi opera tradition.

For example, Toscanini's legendary performance, recorded live at Carnegie Hall in 1951, takes exactly the opposite approach to this version. Inwardly expressive, noble, devout, pleading, prayerful, yet with plenty of dramatic intensity, the Toscanini encompasses every human emotion and offers a synthesis of Verdi's vision of the earthly and the sublime. The performers on this recording, captured live on the 100th anniversary of Verdi's death, take the theatrical view. The soloists swoop and slide, sob and sigh, and overdramatize the fear and trembling. Tenor Roberto Alagna belts out his part in the best operatic style, the bass sounds rough, the alto's vibrato wobbles, but soprano Angela Gheorghiu soars radiantly. The choruses are good, the orchestra is wonderful, but the dynamic contrasts go from inaudible to ear-splitting. –Edith Eisler

For starters, let me state that to my mind, Verdi's Requiem Mass is an extremely difficult work to bring off successfully, not because of any technical difficulties (they are legion: yet Beethoven's Missa Solemnis tops the Requiem in that respect), however the juxtaposition of operatic arias amidst quasi-rennaissance motet writing and the unique Verdi setting of the Day of Judgement poem - as visual as Michaelangelo's Dies Irae fresco - presents an architectural problem - emotion or cold-blooded build-up? Lets take for an example the opening "Requiem aeternam" chorus, where the tune (sung by the soprano in the a-capella section that appears in the very last part, written, incidentaly, some 5 years before the Requiem) is played by the violins, yet the chorus utters the words, sottovoce. What should the conductor do ? Overcharge the violin melody with devotion and passion, and thus lose the sense of direction (as with Gardiner and Giulini) or paint it with large strokes and let us figure for ourselves the "emotional" ingredient (as with Toscanini)? There has to be a balance between head and heart in this piece, and I do think that Abbado achieves precisely that quality, missing from, lets say, 95% of the available versions on record.
Furthermore, I sincerely believe that this particular Requiem needs the ambience of an audience in order to make things happen. Studio versions sound merely studio bound (apart from the Giulini and Gardiner, which also sound a bit manufactured). I have never heard a live version of the Requiem which hadnt some fine ingredient in it. This one is no exception. I have seen and heard a live realy of this particular performance on the 27th of January 2001, and it was a profound and moving experience. Abbado being, supposedly, mortally ill (he looked on TV, alarmingly so, like a skeleton), and conducting his own "requiem", as it were. By the end of the piece, the C-major chords and the muttering of the soprano soloist amidst the chorus 'Libera me Domine de morte aeternum", the camera focused on Abbado, he being unable to dimiss the silence at the very end of the piece, unable to release his hands, he just stood there, weeping and shivering. Then slowly released the tension. The public honoured him by sitting still for some 2 minutes. On the recording, the producer did the most sensible thing by retaining the silence and fading out into oblivion after some 40 seconds.
Apart from all that, let me at once state that I sincerely believe that here is the most perfectly sung and played version availbale. The Berliner Philharmoniker cover themselves with glory. The massive choral forces ammassed here (two Swedish choirs, one Spanish) are simply stupendous. The soloists were (and are) problematic, concering the male voices. The Bass is inadequate, yet he too gets into the spirit of the performance by the "Lacrymosa". Alagna is, well, Alagna, I really dont like the way he sounds today and the lifting-up to notes, a-la Carreras. Yet he phrases most beautifully and is sincere and often very moving. The Mezzo is a find - a truly Italian-sounding voice, with the heft - and sensitivity - required.
People who read my reviews here will already have realized that I am a huge and utterly undiscerning fan of Angela Gheorghiu, The most exciting and individual voice and musical personality currently before the public. Her voice doesnt flinch from the demands she piles on it, on the contrary, it blossoms by the month into a full and warm instrument. She sounds here much, much better than she sounded back in the 1994 Solti La Traviata. In fact, I think she is the most moving soprano soloist on any version. I always thought that for this piece you needed a pure, seamless sound (Margaret Price, Susan Dunn etc) but the dark quality present in Gheorghiu's voice does wonders for the soprano part. She has all those dark colours, yet she is able to float the voice, when needed.
All in all, a riveting experience, by the time those C-major chords will fade into the distance, you will take the first CD and start it all over again…. Amazon



Tracklisting:

CD1
01. Requiem e Kyrie , Requiem Aternam - <5:33>
02. Requiem e Kyrie , Kyrie eleison <3:31>
03. Sequenza , Dies irae <2:26>
04. Sequenza , Tuba mirum <1:50>
05. Sequenza , Mors stupebit <1:24>
06. Sequenza , Liber scriptus - Dies irae <5:02>
07. Sequenza , Quid sum miser <3:42>
08. Sequenza , Rex tremendae <3:33>
09. Sequenza , Recordare <3:56>
10. Sequenza , Ingemisco <3:23>
11. Sequenza , Confutatis - Dies irae <5:25>
12. Sequenza , Lacrymosa <5:47>

CD2
01. Verdi Messa da Requiem - Offertorio - I. Domine Jesu Christe <4:43>
02. Verdi Messa da Requiem - Offertorio - II. Hostias <5:26>
03. Verdi Messa da Requiem - Sanctus <2:41>
04. Verdi Messa da Requiem - Agnus Dei <4:54>
05. Verdi Messa da Requiem - Lux aeterna <6:09>
06. Verdi Messa da Requiem - Libera me - I. Libera me, Domine <2:27>
07. Verdi Messa da Requiem - Libera me - II. Dies irae <2:23>
08. Verdi Messa da Requiem - Libera me - III. Requiem aeternam <3:11>
09. Verdi Messa da Requiem - Libera me - IV. Libera me, Domine <6:23>



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