Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 (A German Requiem) - download (MP3 & FLAC)

Otto Klemperer was one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century along with Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter and Arturo Toscanini. His period in Cologne from 1954 to 1959 was considered to be one of the most fruitful and exciting of his career, and it was during this time that EMI’s classical producer Walter Legge tracked and signed him to the company following the departure of Herbert von Karajan.

His critically acclaimed recordings with the Philharmonia followed. This live studio recording from the WDR in Cologne has never been issued before. Klemperer’s conducting of Brahms’s Requiem, one of the cornerstones of the choral repertoire, achieves true greatness.

Gramophone Magazine said of his 1961 recording, ‘a conductor whose rugged feeling for the music pays colossal dividends’ sums up this 1956 account.

Both Elisabeth Grümmer (soprano) and Hermann Prey (baritone) were internationally renowned and highly respected.

The CD contains two interesting ‘extras’ – Mozart’s delightful Serenata notturna from 1954 and a rare rehearsal sequence of the Requiem, both issued for the first time.

WDR’s remastering is of very high quality aided by the excellent preservation of the original tapes.

On this recording the acclaimed piano duo of Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl perform Johannes Brahms’ own arrangement of his great choral masterpiece “Eines Deutches Requiem” (A German Requiem).

Brahms wrote his German Requiem between 1865 and 1868, and completed the piano duet version early in 1869. It is a rearrangement of the complete work that includes all of its vocal lines. In the present recording, which features the pianists Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl, the well-known Austrian actor Stefan Fleming recites the text between each of the seven movements.

Seraphic Fire presents Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, a revelatory and fresh rendering of Brahms' masterwork. Brahms' four hand piano score, used in this recording, reveals a ravishing tour de force for keyboard and voices, enhancing the genius of Brahms' counterpoint and highlighting the virtuosity of the combined singers and keyboardists.

This recording was conducted by Seraphic Fire founder and artistic director Patrick Dupré Quigley and produced by GRAMMY winning producer Peter Rutenberg. The album is the first to feature musicians from the Professional Choral Institute (PCI), a public-private partnership between Seraphic Fire and the University of South Florida designed to recognize and foster the next generation of professional ensemble singers.

Recorded in 1959

SDG is happy to present last recording issued from the 2008 Brahms: Roots and Memories tour, in which John Eliot Gardiner and his ensembles explored the music of Johannes Brahms.

Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem is presented along with pieces by Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) which might have inspired its composition, giving the listener a new insight into the composer’s mind and music making.

Deeply moving, profound, and powerful, the Requiem is central to our understanding of Brahms’ compositional personality and inner spiritual life. Behind its dramatic gestures and 19th century grandeur, it reveals Brahms’ obsessions with folk-songs and the music of the past. The libretto, assembled by Brahms himself based on the Lutheran Bible, makes it a definitive personal statement of his position in matters of religion.

The booklet includes a note by composer Hugh Wood, explaining how the pieces relate to each other and giving a moving account of Brahms as a composer and as a man.

During the sixties Sergiu Celibidache recorded a series of live events conducting RAI orchestra.

One of his first major productions was Brahms’ Ein Deustches Requiem op. 45 recorded in 1960 in Milan, performed by two extraordinary soloists such as Hermann Prey and Agnes Giebel.

This performance has a particular intensity, as it was given in September 2010 as a memorial concert for Dominik Brunner who died defending four children from attackers on a Munich commuter train. The first-class soloists are Ruth Ziesak soprano and Konrad Jarnot baritone.

Brahms broke the bounds of tradition with his German-language Requiem. On this recording, Germany’s oldest radio chorus, made up of 64 full time professional singers, under its conductor Simon Halsey, demonstrates clearly why it received a Grammy for its recording of the Brahms Requiem with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The unfamiliar sound of two pianos in place of an orchestra makes this recording very special.