Verdi: Quattro Pezzi Sacri: Laudi alla Vergine Maria

“Reiner's opening of the Requiem is very slow and atmospheric...Yet as the work proceeds the performance soon sparks into life, and there is some superb and memorable singing from a distinguished team of soloists. THe recording has a spectacularly wide dynamic range” Penguin Guide, 2010 **/*

“Gardiner's Verdi Requiem is in a class of its own.
His are readings that combine a positive view and interpretative integrity from start to finish, something possible only in the context of the superb professionalism of the (augmented) Monteverdi Choir, which sings with a burnished and steady tone throughout and suggests, rightly, a corporate act of worship. Its contribution is beyond praise.
He might also have been surprised and delighted to ear the soloists' contribution sung with such precision by such a finely integrated quartet, who perform the important unaccompanied passages with special grace and sensitivity.
Instead of the usual jostle of vibratos, here the four voices are firm and true. Individually they're also distinguished. Pride of place must go to Orgonášová who gives the performance of her life. The exactly placed high B in the 'Quid sum miser' section of the 'Dies irae', the perfect blending with von Otter at 'Dominum', the whole of the Andante section of the 'Libera me', sung with ethereal tone and a long breath, make the heart stop in amazement.
In 'Oro supplex' Gardiner follows Verdi's tempo marking. More often he follows tradition, with slower speeds than those suggested, and he allows more licence than the score, or conductors like Toscanini. But as his liberties all seem so convincing in the context of the whole, who should complain? In the Pezzi sacri, Gardiner gives the most thrilling account yet to appear.
The recording, made in Westminster Cathedral, has a huge range which may cause problems in confined spaces. You're liable to be overwhelmed, for instance, by the 'Dies irae'.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Gardiner, using period forces, is searingly dramatic and superbly recorded, with fine detail, combining transparent textures, weight and atmospheric bloom...The soloists make a characterful quartet, with the vibrant Orgonasova set against the rock-steady Von Otter” Penguin Guide, 2010 ****

“The Hymn of the Nations was the Italian musical contribution to the London International Exhibition of 1862...Under Gianandrea Noseda's alert baton, it registers well here...[Barbara Frittoli] provides an ethereal close to the Te Deum, last of the Four Sacred Pieces - visionary, distilled examples of Verdi's late style whose mystery Noseda presents with considerable sensitivity.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 ****

“the Teatro Regio forces (under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda) deliver them with a bold sense of drama. The soloists are top-drawer Verdians too: tenor Francesco Meli has an impressively ringing top register, and Barbara Frittoli bring weight, richness and sensitive phrasing to the soprano solos.” Classic FM Magazine, May 2011 ****

“it comes as a shock (albeit a pleasantly fascinating one) to hear Verdi's rather disjointed initial thoughts for the piece...though [his] contrapuntal acrobatics in the "Libera me" fugue continue to delight and amaze, and his orchestration fizzes with its characterful vigour and colourfulness...this performance lacks nothing in terms of forward momentum or choral declamation.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2011

“It is temperament rather than smoothness in her singing that Frittoli brings, and it is interesting to hear the differences between this version and Verdi's later one...Gianandrea Noseda and Turin Opera's chorus master Robert Gabbiani do well to bring out the contrasts from their respective charges.” International Record Review, April 2011

“Francesco Meli and Barbara Frittoli, with her wide and warm vibrato, give performances of great energy and directness. Look out for a fascinating filler, Inno delle nazioni, which is a strangely wonderful “mash-up” of English, French and Italian national anthems.” The Telegraph, 8th April 2011 ****