Concentus Musicus Wien
Arnrold Schoenbert choir
Christine Schäefer soprano
Bernarda Fink, alto,
Kurt Streit, tenor
Gerald Finley, bass
I had seen at least 2 widely positive review of this SACD. It was with anticipation that I put this SACD in my player. But as of my first listening I was disappointed but I did not initially understood why. I had to listen to this recording at least 20 times in one week, and I spent much more time than I initially thought to prepare this review.
I really like the interpretation which pushes the dramatic elements of this music to their maximum (see musical content). But I have a huge problem with the quality of the sound recording. I think that because of the sound recording "live" it was perhaps impossible to place the microphones in an optimal way. But damn, this is a recording made at the musikverein of Vienna. It is supposed to be the hall with the best acoustics in the whole world! How come I hear such poor sound in so much of this Requiem?
To try to understand (and quantify) my problem, I made a comparison between the CD, stereo SACD and SACD layers. They all have the same problem. The CD layer is particularly horrible. I used the Dies Irae and the transition of the first minute from the Tuba Mirum (you can hear Dies Irae in the first minutes of the film X-men 2!).
The problem is that the louder the sound the more the sound image is crushed, everything sounds much too compressed (not in dynamics which are great, but in terms of depth of the sound space). The image seems crushed between the two main loudspeakers. Some passages are so bad that I first believed that something was broken in my sound system. But a comparison with a recording of similar musical formations (DVD-A ARTS 45007-6 Messiah of Handel) shows that there are ways to make a really better recording of a choir and an orchestra.
In this SACD one would say that at times the choir fell into the orchestra (the voices and the instruments are all mixed up) and that brass player have put their instruments into cardboxes, and that the woodwinds disappeared. I am sure the lucky people present at the original performance(s) heard something infinitely better. Unfortunately I have never been to Vienna.
Before completely demolishing the technical side of this SACD, it has to be said that the sound is a lot better in all softer parts of the score. For example, at the beginning the bassoons and the basset horns are very well recorded. Another very beautiful section is the whole recordare as each vocal soloist makes a solo intervention. The recording contains a wide dynamics range and there is good balances between the low and high frequencies. But even in the better sounding portion of this recording I never had a good feeling of the acoustic image of the concert hall. I never had the impression of being transported into another location.
There is no LFE channel (not a big problem in of Mozart!) even in for the few discrete intervention of the organ. Us of the surround loudspeakers is minimal. A very simple test is simply to turn yourself 180 degree and to note that there are not much sound energy from the rear.. A good multi-channel recording should not necessarily draw attention to the surround channels but the sound image should be stretched toward the middle of the room, it is an effect which allows a better separation of the various instruments. Compared to the stereo SACD layer the multi-channel layer adds just a little to the sound depth.
An excellent booklet is included which explains Harnoncourt's approach towards this music, and which is also very clear on what is of Mozart and what was added after his death in this Requiem of Mozart (and Sussmayer).
I would qualify the interpretation as "colossal" because the conductor goes for maximum musical intensity (almost brutality). I always found that the Mozart`s Requiem was a little light compared to other requiems (like Berlioz`s). But this recording made me change this perception. This push of the dramatic intensity is made without denaturing Mozart. This intensity also increases contrasts with the more meditative aspects of the music.
An interesting fact of this Requiem is that by the form of its composition (element of sacred music like the fugue and counterpoint, etc.) it uses an ancient musical style. But by its instrumental choices (no flute nor oboe, trumpet and trombone, no horns), and by the dynamics asked of the musicians this creates an effect resolutely more romantic. There is an inherent conflict in the music itself which is beautifully realized by Mr. Harnoncourt.
What a beautiful introduction with very soft strings, the bassoons and the basset horns. In particular the first basset horn really seems to be put in the foreground. But things quickly gets worse at the first loud entrance of the brass followed by the choir. But the vocal solo (lux perpetua....) is splendid. In general when the choir is at full volume the sopranos are too strong and the middle voices (particularly tenors) are difficult to hear.
One of the most impressive thing in this recording is the constant communication between the soloists, orchestra and choirs throughout the music. There is never an impression that the choir is not exactly at the same pace than the Orchestra, or that a solo entrance suddenly drags the music down.
In the Kyrie the tempo is sober and is constant in nearly the whole movement. This gives a good impression of direction to the music. As in all the other parts, the end of the movement is very refined with a long chord which decreases in volume but during which all the musicians remains perfectly balanced and in tune.
Dies Irae is a short and angry movement played with a great sense of rhythm and dynamic perfection. But all this beauty is partially ruined by the very strange sound take.
At least the trumpets have more presence here than in some other tracks.
Tuba mirum (personally I always found strange that the movement starts with a a trombone solo whereas the text speaks about the trumpets of the last trial). The trombone plays very well, but the sound recording does not provide a realistic sound image. On the other hand the bass soloist is very present and sings its text with enthusiasm. The tenor makes its entrance too loudly but this is perhaps a choice of interpretation. Further in its solo (unde nmundus judicetur) the tenor make a splendid change of nuance to pp followed by a nice crescendo. So the tenor can sing softly. The alto is the weakest element of the vocal soloists (her voice is shaking). The soprano has a splendid voice perfectly adapted to the Requiem. The final intervention of the 4 soloists (cum vix justus sit securus?) is made with a sense of hesitation and piety that really makes the text stand out.
The Recordare is splendid. This may be one of the only track where I can forget the shortcomings of the recording technique and just enjoy the music. Not only each vocal solo is splendid, but in many recordings each soloist has a different style. Here each vocal intervention as the same unity of style. I must also mention the many angelical intervention of the basset horns. What a sweet and peaceful sounds produce by this clarinet with an extended low register.
Confutatis creates and extreme contrast between the sections about prayers and the sections about the deaths in a state of eternal damnation (I does not want to go in hell after having heard that!) The strings seem to really use their bows with energy. This gives and edge to all strings entrance which really fits the aggressive beginning of this movement. The second part (oro suplex and acclinis) is full of religious feelings. Does this resignation at the end is an acceptance of death?. There is a splendid a crescedo on "Qua resurget ex favilla". Again the interpretation perfectly underline the text
Domine Jesu we enters the musical sections "less of Mozart". Once more, great dynamic contrast and unity of interpretation. In particular the final fugue (quam olim abrahae....) is splendid and gives a feeling of continuity when it is repeated at the end of the Hostia.
In the Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei we gradually get away from Mozart even in the manner in which the music is approached. I wonder whether it is a conscious interpretation choice of the conductor and if the intensity has been voluntarily toned down for the less Mozart portion of the Requiem. In any case I really felt a difference between these sections an the rest of the music.
The last movement is a musical re-use of elements of the first movement and of the Kyrie's fugue. It seems in particular that the re-use of the Kyrie was suggested by Mozart himself. This version omits a final fugue on "Amen" (Maunder's version). The conductor stick to Sussmayer's version which is probably the least bad version of Mozart`s unfinished masterpiece.