BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Requiem *[80:48]
Quattro Pezzi Sacri ** [40:53]
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano)*; Janet Baker (mezzo)**; Christa Ludwig (mezzo)*;
Nicolai Gedda (tenor)*; Nicolai Ghiaurov (bass)*; Philharmonia Chorus*,**;
Philharmonia Orchestra*,**/Carlo Maria Giulini***
rec. 16-21, 23-27 September 1963, 7 April 1964*; 10-13 December 1962**, Kingsway
Hall, London. ADD
EMI CLASSICS 6318212 [67:00 + 61:41]
Maybe the first thing you'll notice about this two-CD set is the high quality
of its analogue sound - overall: there is an exception. Walter Legge's classic
original recorded over a dozen or so sessions almost 50 years ago has been
digitally re-mastered by EMI's Simon Gibson (the Requiem) and Allan
Ramsay (the Four Sacred Pieces). These are, by and large, expert jobs
which bring out the relative balances between soloists, instrumentalists,
chorus and orchestra. Perhaps inevitably, the result is as operatic and full
of impact as is required by the saw that 'the Requiem is Verdi's greatest
opera'.
Giulini's is neither an unduly slow nor a breathtakingly up-tempo Requiem.
It's an account which - like Pappano's recent successful reading also on EMI
(98936) - eschews spectacle and delves straight into the spiritual. And somehow
it's an all-embracing spiritual dimension, not one which necessarily celebrates
specifically the contrast between life and death. Ludwig's Liber scriptus
[CD.1 tr.5], for example, is sung as she might have sung a Handel aria: finger
ready to wag, but held firm, eye-contact throughout, each syllable articulated
because it conveys a familiar import, of which the singer is well aware. The
result is authoritative, profound, convincing and … chilling. But chilling
because the strings (and deadly timps) support not the idea of prophetic
judgement in abstract, or its power as a warning. But they reinforce its inevitability.
If a mark of a good Requiem is that it sends shivers down your spine,
then this is a good one! From the climaxes in the Rex Tremendae [CD.1
tr.7] to the final, almost spat-out Libera me [CD.2 trs 2-4]. But there
has to be substance for the potentially just rhetorical to yield to the meaningful.
And substance there is. For all the weaknesses of Schwarzkopf, whose voice
doesn't quite have the power even to hold its own, let alone overwhelm in
the climaxes, she has strengths. They're strengths of commitment; and, that
quality again, of real, sublime authority in the less extrovert moments
such as the Recordare [CD.1 tr.8] and of sublime loveliness when she
sings with Ludwig.
Gedda's tenor line throughout is breathtaking: he, too, brings out the humanity
intended by Verdi when setting the text of the Requiem. In particular,
Gedda is totally in tune with the dynamic markings required by Verdi. It's
so easy for performers to 'compete' with the score (and with one another;
let alone with the conductor) in bombast, volume and attack. There is none
of that here although when one line requires staccato, say, and its
companion legato, Giulini ensures that both singers observe the contrast.
The Quattro Pezzi Sacri use the same orchestral and choral forces,
though with a very unobtrusive Janet Baker as mezzo. This, too, is lovely
music. The interpretation and recording show how - in the right hands - it
can touch heights that seem not to have been reached since. The hand of Giulini
is light yet completely in control although there are one or two unfortunately
abrupt edits.
It's a pity that the booklet which comes with the CDs is slim in content,
contains more about the details of the Requiem's composition than about
what makes this recording so special: no text, no details of the performers.
In the copy received for review the fortissimo passages - especially
in the Dies Irae and its reprise - were marred by extreme acoustic
distortion (clipping). It's not clear whether this was in the original tapes,
or - less likely - introduced in re-mastering. But it spoils those passages
and will probably be unacceptable for most listeners.
It seems unlikely, though possible, that Giulini was aiming for a recording
that would consistently justify its place on many people's 'Greatest Recordings
of All Time' list. He was too involved in relaying the rich palette of emotions,
in revealing Verdi's command of musical forms and attachment to their liturgical
thrust to think of the future. Yet this recording, now reissued at mid-price,
will remain on such a list. It will continue to represent an iconic and exemplary
account of one of the nineteenth century's most enlivening yet comforting
choral works. This is also an interpretation to return to again and again
for the way in which the singing and playing combine to offer a spiritual,
humanly rich message through mere notes on the page.
Mark Sealey
One of the last century's greatest, most captivating, stimulating and thoroughly
enjoyable choral recordings from a team at the peak of their various forms
reissued. Don't miss it; though be prepared to live with some acoustic imperfections.