Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K626

Much is known about the special and particular circumstances surrounding the composition of Mozart’s Requiem. 1791 was a tumultuous year, and before Mozart’s life was cut short at the start of December he had composed, among other works, Die Zauberflöte, La Clemenza di Tito, the Clarinet Concerto and evidently this Requiem, although it was left in an unfinished state. Complete with a new design, Glossa reinstates to the catalogue a recording which typifies the label’s endeavours as well as being a memorable reflection of the artistry of the Orchestra of the 18th Century and of its director Frans Brüggen. An extended and beautiful introduction to the principal work is created by performances of the Maurerische Trauermusik and the Adagio for two clarinets and three basset horns, before Brüggen directs a startling and impressive reading of the Requiem – including the Introit, Tract and the Offertory sung in plainchant – which has become one of the reference versions of this work, captured by NHK Television microphones in March 1998 in Japan, and which now can be enjoyed once more.

By the time he recorded the Requiem in the glowing acoustic of All Saints’, Tooting, the 28-eight-year-old Barenboim was already a seasoned Mozart conductor. He had completed an acclaimed series of the later symphonies, and was midway through the complete piano concertos, which he directed from the keyboard. All these recordings were with the ECO.

As Richard Wigmore’s informative note goes on to observe, ‘in those days big-band Mozart, à la Karajan and Böhm, was still the norm. Barenboim’s recordings of the symphonies uniquely combined a chamber scale with a subjective flexibility, founded on a deep analytical understanding of harmonic structure, that reflects his oft-expressed reverence for Wilhelm Furtwängler.

This 1971 Mozart Requiem is essentially in the same vein: expansive, pliable, lovingly moulded, ferociously dramatic in movements like the Dies irae and Confutatis, concerned everywhere to stress the music’s proleptic tendencies over its Baroque roots.’

Above all, the professional incisiveness of the 50-strong John Alldis Choir came as a revelation to many. As Alan Blyth put it in Gramophone, the choir, ‘wholly responsive to the extremes of dynamics required of them, is also capable of finely disciplined attack’. He noted, too, the ‘unrepeatably distinguished team of soloists’.

This 1969 New Philharmonia recording of Anton Bruckner’s massive C major Te Deum (originally coupled with Bach’s Magnificat) was Barenboim’s first foray into the music of a composer he would often conduct with distinction, not least in his 1970s symphony series with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Again, both works are newly transferred and remastered to ART standard at Abbey Road Studios.

A highly dramatic recording of Mozart's Requiem returns to the catalogue coupled with selections from his Masonic Music. This further extends Kertesz's marvellous Mozart discography for Decca, much of which has appeared on Decca through the Australian 'Eloquence' series