Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K626

Leading a distinguished team of soloists and chorus, and recorded in magnificent settings in Bavaria, Leonard Bernstein conducts Mozart’s two greatest sacred works “with the conviction he brings to all his work” (Gramophone). In addition there is a moving account of the beautiful motet Ave verum corpus and an exuberant Exsultate, jubilate, with the great Arleen Auger as soloist.

Following the success of the Mozart Mass in C minor last year, CORO is delighted to announce the release of its second recording with Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society. Celebrated soloists Elizabeth Watts, Phyllis Pancella, Andrew Kennedy and Eric Owens joined Harry and the Society to record Mozart’s Requiem live at Boston’s Symphony Hall earlier this year.

Mozart’s final moments are reflected through this masterpiece of drama, intensity and depth. The mysterious circumstances surrounding the Requiem’s commission (delivered by a ‘messenger in black’ who refused to reveal the identity of the person who had sent him), and the fact it was left incomplete by a dying Mozart, have ensured a continued fascination with the work.

Completed by Mozart’s colleague Süssmayr in 1792, the Requiem is one of Mozart’s most popular and enduring works and one of the most enigmatic pieces of music ever composed.

The CD will also feature Mozart’s Ave verum corpus and the first recording on period instruments of his concert aria Per questa bella mano for bass voice and solo double bass obligato—a piece famous for its fiendishly difficult double bass part, performed superbly on this recording by Robert Nairn.

When Michel Corboz became a director of church music in Lausanne his knowledge and love of the voice led him to direct the works inspired by it – choruses, cantatas and oratorios. The series on Cascavelle is testament to his great work and brings these welcome releases into the choral catalogue.

These three recordings in the ‘Josef Krips edition’ were recorded between 1954 – 1965 and reveal Josef Krips’ art in his favourite repertoire. An exceptional and brilliant fragment of music history.

An absolute masterpiece in the history of music, intrinsically linked to the Mozart myth, Mozart’s Requiem is revisited under the energetic baton of director Teodor Currentzis with the excellent Siberian choir and orchestra MusicAeterna. A fascinating, striking interpretation, reinforced by a remarkable distribution of soloists: Simone Kermes, Stéphanie Houtzel, Markus Brutscher and Arnaud Richard. Thanks to optimal recording conditions (7 days of studio recording) led by Hugues Deschaux (responsible for recording Le Poème Harmonique, Café Zimmermann…), the interpretation is enriched by the particular care with which the sound was recorded.

After the success of his Dido & Aeneas (ALPHA140) and Shostakovich Symphony No. 14 (ALPHA159), Currentzis is back with a marvellous repertoire: Mozart’s Requiem.

‘If his narcissism doesn't get the better of him, Currentzis could be one of those rare artists capable of shifting the ground of his chosen art, and pulling off something extraordinary - perhaps even miraculous.’ The Telegraph

ABC presents a period-instrument performance with a stellar line-up of Australian soloists; Sara Macliver, Paul McMahon, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Sally-Anne Russell. The conductor Antony Walker is Pittsburgh Opera's Musical Director and Principal Conductor and makes his Metropolitan Opera debut this year.

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