Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 (A German Requiem) - CD

“Committed, heartfelt choral singing, impressive solos. But Masur's conducting too often skims the surface prosaically and the end effect isn't specially memorable.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2013 ***

“a performance of compassion and sensitivity. Natalie Dessay's soprano aria in the fifth movement adds lightness and spiritual aspiration between Ludovic Tézier's more sombre baritone solos, and rather than a big, declamatory climax, the serene conclusion finds the piece effectively evaporating into the ether.” The Independent, 8th April 2011 ****

“Paavo Järvi's spacious, serene reading of A German Requiem is beautifully recorded. Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra's strings balance silkiness of tone with clean articulation, while the delicate woodwind and noble brass glint through the textures. A similarly crisp translucence is heard from the Swedish Radio Choir.” The Independent on Sunday, 17th April 2011

“Järvi's beautifully judged tempos and pacing...find the natural breadth and pulse of Brahms's word setting. Whether sowing in tears of reaping in joy, whether withering as grass, or bearing the fruit of harvest's eternity, Järvi finds and recreates with compelling engagement.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 ***

“[Tézier] is impressively smooth and entirely comfortable with the tessitura in 'Herr, lehre doch mich'...This is splendidly done, and without milking the operatic tap...Paavo Järvi is clearly in firm control throughout...he forces both choir and orchestra to be firm in observing the countless indications of dynamics or accentuation with which Brahms has spattered this youthful score, and the orchestra is superbly balanced.” International Record Review, May 2011

“I'd call this a text-driven recording for the care Järvi takes to tie words and instruments in intimate union” Gramophone Magazine, July 2011

“The Frankfurt Radio Symphony sounds like German orchestras of old, deep of bass, warm of viola and flecked with ear-catching tone colours. Paavo Järvi's probing interpretation is reassuringly old-fashioned, too...The Swedish Radio Choir's professional forces supply well-tempered sounds and compelling choral energy...while Ludovic Tézier's gutsy baritone also impresses.” Classic FM Magazine, July 2011 ****

“Klemperer underlines the grand architectural proportions of the German Requiem while piercing close to its spiritual heart...the performance itself builds in monumental intensity from a fairly relaxed opening. The chorus is on its mettle and the orchestra produces wonderful playing...They don't come much better than this.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2011 *****

“Harnoncourt has it purring along from the start, plumping up a generous cushion of sound on which to float the equally impressive Arnold Schoenberg Choir, who luxuriate in Brahms's glorious vocal lines. Thomas Hampson and Genia Kuhmeier are in terrific form” The Observer, 7th November 2010

“it’s a generally slow-paced account (72 minutes), and the Vienna Philharmonic sound is unashamedly plush...The formidable Arnold Schoenberg Choir is a major asset, more than capable of sustaining drawn-out phrases with unflagging energy, its tone rich and radiant but also superbly clear.” Graham Rogers, bbc.co.uk, 2nd November 2010

“Tempos are slow, sometimes even stolid, yet Harnoncourt achieves effects of extraordinary intensity...the superb Arnold Schoenberg Choir respond willingly to his every demand...Genia Kühmeier achieves an exceptionally beautiful interpretation, both consolatory and finely-nuanced, of 'Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit'” BBC Music Magazine, January 2011 ****

“the performance is both beautifully shaped (especially from the woodwinds) and devotional in spirit. The closing "Selig sind die Toten" presents a warming richness of texture, the underlying rhythmic pulse admirably clear, while the sombre processional of "Denn alles Fleisch" builds well” Gramophone Magazine, February 2011

“The veteran Austrian's often irritating brand of fussiness works to revelatory advantage here, illuminating countless details while underpinning the overarching symmetry of the score...The Vienna Philharmonic's strings treat vibrato as their forebears would have done, as an ornament, not a permanent condition...it's deeply considered, exquisitely realised and genuinely consoling.” Classic FM Magazine, February 2011 ****

“Herreweghe's innate sense of Brahms's musical lines is evident everywhere as he sculpts this works. Herreweghe's combined choirs respond magnificently to his direction” Stereophile (USA)

“…this is a very impressive account of Brahms's German Requiem, deeply considered and most beautifully played and sung. The full, warm sound he draws from the Berlin Philharmonic has a sombre refulgence that becomes almost incandescent in the final movement's vision of the blessed dead. The vocal component is equally impressive, with beautiful choral singing. Thomas Quasthoff is an eloquent expounder of scripture in the baritone movements, Dorothea Röschmann ideally tender in 'Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit'.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2007 *****

“The manifold blessings of having probably the world's greatest symphony orchestra as one's hometown band include the recurring phenomenon of having almost excessively familiar works sound ever fresh and new. With our superlative Philharmonic that happened most recently October 26 with the German Requiem of Johannes Brahms conducted by Sir Simon Rattle … The prolonged hush from Berlin's sophisticated audience following the dying fall of the final notes in Berlin's Philharmonie spoke for itself.” Musical America, October 2006

“This is a lovely performance, sensitive to the work's consolatory mood, free-moving and sweetly sung. Rattle's reading does not obscure Brahms's debt to Schütz, Bach and the other great pre-classical German Protestant composers, but it stresses more the work's roots in the new German school: to the influence, above all, of Brahms's cherished and much mourned mentor, Robert Schumann.
This is not a period performance in the sense of attempting to conjure forth period sounds.
The opening colloquy for violas and divided cellos is pure Berlin (Nikisch would have recognised the sound, as would the young Karajan).
The singing is awed and reverential, with ravishing pianissimi from the superb Berlin Radio Chorus. What we have here is not authenticity of sound but authenticity of feeling and effect.
Has there ever been a swifter performance of the fourth movement, 'Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen', or a more calming one? A flowing tempo which creates a sense of deep repose suggests that most sought-after of all qualities in an interpreter, the art that disguises art.
Throughout, Rattle strikes a shrewd balance between the work's affective nature and its narrative power. Tempi are brisk in the two movements with baritone solo which carry much of the work's doctrine. The great choral codas to the second, third and sixth movements are also superbly judged. In the great choral peroration to the penultimate movement, space is provided for the words to tell, as Brahms clearly intends.
Thomas Quasthoff, who seems a little out of sorts, is no match for Fischer-Dieskau on Klemperer's unignorably splendid recording (reviewed above); and Dorothea Röschmann's reedy tone and tight vibrato in 'Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit' may not appeal either. Still, the movement is so persuasively shaped that, heard in context, it, too, 'speaks' to us through the sonic squall. Internal balances between choir, soloists, and orchestra are generally well judged: apt to a performance which treats this great memorial prose poem with a mixture of acumen and affection that is entirely special.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The music comforts, calms, suggests hope, whilst still acknowledging the tragedy of death, and under Simon Rattle's baton the choir and orchestra have got to the heart of it; they bring out all the nuances of emotion, and one feels they really understand it...Dorothea Roschmann's beautiful, rich soprano voice delivers the impassioned tenderness the listener craves.” Charlotte Gardner, bbc.co.uk, 13th December 2007