Pros: Everything: performances and engineering are first rate.
Cons: Are you kidding?
The Bottom Line: A splendid, sumptuous recording of one of music's most glorious and inspiring works. A sonic knockout too.
edmaidel's Full Review: Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem Op. 45 / Spano, Robi...
There are quite a few recordings of this wonderful choral work by Brahms, and I own three myself: one by the late Robert Shaw, conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; another with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the piece in English; and a third conducted by the ever-spirited Simon Rattle. There's no clear standout among those three, as each has its own merits, and drawbacks. Still, none is actually bad, and each is definitely worth owning.
This latest recording from Telarc is available both as a CD and an SACD, and for anyone who hasn't yet heard a good SACD, you've definitely got quite a treat in store here. And, even if you don't own an SACD player, the CD layer of this disc ought to knock your socks off too.
Robert Spano, the current director of the ASO, has released other works on Telarc which I found all but stunning (the Berlioz' "Requiem," and Williams' "A Sea Symphony"), but this disc of this beloved, sprawling work by Brahms tops them all. Spano's approach is deliberate and methodical, but never plodding. While some moments are somewhat slower than I'm accustomed to hearing, as the momentum builds (especially during the second and sixth movements), the results are simply glorious and goose-pimple-producing.
When I sang in a choir in Denver, our conductor would always use the expression, "Sing in one voice," whenever certain members of the various sections were singing louder than others. The overall cohesiveness of the Atlanta Symphony Chorus here is something to behold: each section does sing "with one voice," and the results are just plain wonderful.
Each of the two soloists is quite fine, with the edge (at least in my opinion) going to Twyla Robinson's achingly beautiful soprano on the fifth movement ("Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit"). The soft choral backing here also makes this movement a stunner.
When listening to many other recordings of this work, the fact that a pipe organ is one of the key instruments is something that's quite noticeably lacking. Not so here, as the absolutely first-rate engineering has captured those powerful, deep pedal notes in such a way that it made me think I'd gone out and bought better speakers! For those with systems not quite capable of handling sustained, deep bass passages, I'd recommend a bit of caution when playing this disc, as you might find yourself causing audible distortion and perhaps even damaging your system.
For those who own an SACD player, this now stands at the top of the heap as the demonstration disc to prove the sonic superiority of that medium. I'm fairly new to SACD's myself, and only own about 20 or so (as compared to well over 1,800 CD's), but, despite how some have all but blown me away, this "Requiem" is far and away the best of them all.
Telarc has outdone themselves with this disc. The performances are all first rate: orchestra, chorus and soloists, each lending an equal part to make the overall sum of their efforts an extremely satisfying and rewarding experience. Brahms himself would be quite proud of how Spano et al have captured all the nuances and explosive exaltations in this inspirational work, using Biblical texts rather than the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass for its text. Come to think of it, God himself might have a praiseworthy comment or two upon hearing this latest version of Brahms' masterpiece.
Frankly, it just doesn't get any better than this!
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