Verdi: Requiem; Quattro pezzi sacri (2006)

performed by Jo Ann Pickens (soprano), Joan Sutherland (soprano), Luciano Pavarotti (tenor), Marilyn Horne (mezzo-soprano), Martti Talvela (bass), Chicago Symphony Chorus (choir, chorus), Vienna State Opera Chorus (choir, chorus), Georg Solti (conductor)
composed by Giuseppe Verdi

Well, that was loud, dramatic, intense, and emotional, or was it deafening, histrionic, and sentimental? It all depends on how you like your Verdi Requiems. In this 1967 recording, Georg Solti leads the Wiener Philharmoniker and Staatsopernchor plus an all-star cast of soloists in a performance that takes the volume of the Reiner recording, the drama of the Giulini recording, the intensity of the Toscanini recording, and the emotionality of the Serafin recording and turns every dial all the way into the red. And although ... Read More

Well, that was loud, dramatic, intense, and emotional, or was it deafening, histrionic, and sentimental? It all depends on how you like your Verdi Requiems. In this 1967 recording, Georg Solti leads the Wiener Philharmoniker and Staatsopernchor plus an all-star cast of soloists in a performance that takes the volume of the Reiner recording, the drama of the Giulini recording, the intensity of the Toscanini recording, and the emotionality of the Serafin recording and turns every dial all the way into the red. And although there's no debating the quality of the individual performers -- how could one beat a team of soloists consisting of soprano Joan Sutherland, mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and bass Martti Talvela, much less an orchestra and chorus like Vienna's? -- there is room to debate the quantity of the performance. Should the Dies Irae really have an attack like a Panzer division? Should the Rex tremendae really have the spectacle of the Circus maximus? Should the Lacrimosa... Read Less