Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano
CD - 2 discs
$19.00
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In the words of Antonio Pappano, himself born to Italian parents, “this is a Requiem written by an Italian and I think Italians’ relationship to religion is explosive, full of temperament, full of fear. …. And the spectre of being punished, of sins – it sounds like an opera I’m describing. …I love doing this piece here in Rome with an Italian chorus and an Italian orchestra, and they have an innate sense of what this music is about, how to bring it to life. They really know what the words mean. They have lived what it is to be religious or spiritual in Italy.”
Interviewed at the time of the performances, Rolando Villazón discusses the same subject: “Many say that this is the best opera Verdi ever wrote. Clearly it’s not … but the theatricality of the piece requires something more than what you would use for an oratorio … It’s a very delicate balance singers have to have. … You have to respect the style of this church piece, and at the same time you have to bring out the emotion.”
To that end, Antonio Pappano brings out the extremes of dynamics in the orchestral, solo and chorus parts: the opening, one of Pappano’s favourite sections, is hushed and what Hugh Canning describes as “the great ‘horror’ moments [send] shivers down the spine.”
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Requiem - Requiem
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Requiem - Kyrie Eleison
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Sequenza - Dies Irae
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Sequenza - Tuba Mirum
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Sequenza - Mors Stupebit
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Sequenza - Liber Scriptus, Dies Irae
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Sequenza - Quid Sum Miser
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Sequenza - Rex Tremendae
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Sequenza - Recordare
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Sequenza - Ingemisco
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Sequenza - Confutatis, Dies Irae
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Sequenza - Lacrymosa
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem - Offertorio: Domine Jesu Christe
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem - Offertorio: Hostias
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem - Sanctus
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem - Agnus Dei
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem - Lux Aeterna
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem - Libera Me: Libera Me, Domine
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem - Libera Me: Dies Irae
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem - Libera Me: Requiem Aeternam
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem - Libera Me: Libera Me, Domine
October 2009
*****
“Pappano's conducting maintains a firm control of his forces, showing a sense of drama that includes an awareness of the importance of some crucial moments of silence. Pappano's soloists are evenly matched. Soprano Anja Harteros is beautifully controlled, while mezzo Sonia Ganassi supplies a properly Italianate lyric intensity. ...tenor Rolando Villazón displays... his regular fierce personal commitment to whatever he is singing... René Pape's bass is large and sonorous... The sound captures the work's enormously broad sound picture, as well as a sense of almost infinite receding depth in its overall perspective.”
October 2009
“A Requiem to relish, Pappano's recording is a modern classic. …an authentically Italianate feel is important to any performance of the Requiem. Second nature to Toscanini and Giulini, it is a quality that contributes hugely to the eloquence and allure of Pappano's performance. You hear this early in the sense of a live narrative unfolding which mezzo soprano Sonia Ganassi brings to the "Liber scriptus"...Harteros's lighter...singing, radiant and sympathetic, suits Pappano's reading to perfection... Rolando Villazón is similarly discreet in the self-abasing loveliness of his "Ingemisco"... the bass René Pape is as fine as any on record, strong yet discreet, with a mastery of the subtly inflected cantabile line that is profoundly satisfying.”
Charlotte Gardner
21st December 2009
“a gargantuan, extraordinary performance, given by an extraordinary musical cast...Pappano, with his Italian heritage and operatic career, quite obviously has this music coursing through his veins. Recorded in concert, it catapults the listener into the concert hall with its energetic force and surging rhythms. The dramatic contrasts are magnificently worked”
11th September 2009
****
“Pappano surprisingly treats the work primarily as ritual. This is a performance of measured treads and rhythms, advancing like some vast processional that flattens everything in its path. Its inexorability leaves you feeling jittery...The choral singing is formidable.”
Click here for alternative recordings of this work.
Verdi: Messa Da Requiem, Requiem - Requiem
