Comparison Recordings
Colin Davis, Ronald Dowd, LSO and Chorus.
(original 1970 release) [ADD] Philips
416 283-2
Colin Davis, Ronald Dowd, LSO and Chorus.
(remastered 2001 at 96kHz) [ADD] Philips
464 689-2
Eliahu Inbal, Keith Lewis, Frankfurt
RSO, ORF and NDR Choirs, Brilliant Classics
99999
James Levine, Luciano Pavarotti, BPO,
Senff Chorus DG 429 724-2
Robert Shaw, John Aler, Atlanta SO and
Chorus Telarc 80109-2
This is the first high
resolution surround sound recording
of the Berlioz Requiem and it
is a marvellous achievement. On the
SACD surround tracks during the "Requiem"
and "Lachrymosa" movements
the trumpets are placed firmly in the
rear of the hall. The cavernous acoustic
is realistically depicted, giving a
thrilling sense of place and producing
a grand arena of swirling sound. The
CD tracks on this hybrid CD preserve
much of grandeur — and, when played
through a surround sound decoder, directionality
— of the SACD tracks. However, even
though all of these two channel comparison
recordings sound very good in fake surround
sound, there is no comparison with the
trumpets REALLY being in the back of
the auditorium!
A previous very competent
recording of this work by most of these
same forces with conductor the Rev.
Robert Shaw (If Sir Colin is going to
get his title, Rev. Robert should also),
on the Telarc label, also featured brilliant
(two channel) sound, and a particularly
exciting and aggressive timpani section.
However it displayed a similar relative
lack of commitment on the part of the
chorus and conductor. Americans living
in the Bible Belt Protestant Christian
culture apparently just don’t really
believe that anything bad could ever
happen to them and that comes across
in their admittedly very skilled performance
of this music. Robert Spano has evidently
drilled the chorus in dramatic phrasing,
so, while superficially there is a little
more drama here than with Shaw, the
chorus is still at heart relatively
unconcerned with death or judgement.
With each subsequent
recording we are left ever more in awe
of the magnificent 1970 achievement
of Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony
Orchestra and Chorus. Even though that
recording is now definitely showing
its age sonically it remains the most
effective, most exciting, most committed
version I’ve ever heard. Whatever Davis
was able to do in 1970 to terrify his
chorus half to death, the result was
worth it. Or, it may be that to your
taste the Davis recording is raw, over-articulated
and irreverent.
James Levine’s stunning
recordings of the Brahms’ Requiem
and of the Stravinsky Symphony of
Psalms** with the CSO and Hillis
choirs should have prepared me for the
discovery that his recording of the
Berlioz Requiem is also outstanding.
His chorus achieves only slightly less
intensity than Davis’s. The offstage
bands sound a little under-rehearsed,
surprising for the BPO. Pavarotti sings
beautifully; if one has any doubts about
the Great Wailer and Berlioz, one need
only note in the program booklet a close-up
photograph of Pavarotti and Levine meeting
face to face as equals to realise that
this recording would be a flawless collaboration
between two men who are at the very
top of their respective fields. The
digital recording brilliantly reproduces
the massed brass and percussion forces
and the result is the closest challenge
to Davis, both being ahead of the Spano
version. The Inbal recording on Brilliant
Classics with tenor Keith Lewis also
compares favourably in this company.
On the other hand,
some may prefer this Spano version over
all others because of its smoothness
and sense of reverent restraint. Spano
and his forces come thrillingly to life
in the "Requiem," "Lachrymosa,"
and "Rex Tremendae" sections,
and Shaw and his chorus gave us a hauntingly
beautiful "Recordare." It
must be said that all of these recordings
are very, very fine, and the differences
I have pointed out are well within the
limits of matters of taste. You may
very well rate these recordings differently
than I have, and can be confident that
whichever one(s) you choose you will
have a splendid musical experience.
The very first Telarc
release was a direct-to-disk LP recording
run through a stay-level compressor
circuit; the label’s technical standards
have at least occasionally since that
time shown a lack of commitment to realistic
dynamic range, and that is a little
bit in evidence here. Things get loud
and soft now and then, but the impact
is only moderate.* And if the back-of-the-hall
trumpets are effective in the movements
with massed forces, putting the tenor
soloist back there has the poor man
yelling ineffectively into an acoustical
sponge trying desperately to make himself
heard. It must be said that Shaw’s tenor,
John Aler, gives us one of the finest
performances this part has ever received,
comparable to Pavarotti. If you’ll buy
a Berlioz Requiem just for the
tenor, you already have one of those.
Hi-fi surround-sound
SACD buffs will want this disk, but
if you have the earlier Davis recording
— particularly the 2001 high resolution
re-mastering — you may prefer to keep
enjoying the Davis version and wait
for something truly better. It may be
a long time.
*I would like to hear
this same recording issued on a DVD-Audio.
**Available only on
a special CSO orchestral anthology release.
Paul Shoemaker
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/Robert
Spano 
