Featuring the best reviews from our loyal ClassicsOnline members.
(10 May – 23 May)
Requiem revisited
It's hard to believe that Gardiner's previous recording of this work was released twenty years ago! This new version caps a concert cycle that has already given us all the symphonies (though Brahms actually wrote those afterwards). Gardiner's top-notch chorus is responsive to every variation in dynamics and tempo, which can change from bar to bar in this highly romantic performance.
The music never just sits around being pretty, although it certainly is; it is always going somewhere--perhaps most strikingly (and perhaps a shade too fast) in the opening pages of the last movement, often an anticlimax after the exuberant fugue that precedes it.
Preceding the main work on the disc are two motets by Heinrich Schutz, whose counterpoint influenced Brahms, and who set some of the same texts used in the Requiem. The live recording is very clear (if a tad close), the audience is remarkably quiet, and the young-sounding soloists handle their assignments well.
Deeply calming music
This album is such a wonderful discovery for me. The music is deeply soothing and serene - truly a balm for the world-weary soul.
In my experience, modern choral music can sometimes be a bit 'challenging' to listen to, and sometimes takes many listens before I can appreciate the nuances and gems hidden in the sometimes obscure and complex harmonies and structures of the works. But the works presented here are accessible and, quite simply, very lovely at first listen.
I have yet to choose a favourite (or favourites!), but I especially love Serenity O magnum mysterium, Northern Lights Pulchra es amica mea and Phoenix Agnus Dei.
A good recording of the Four Seasons
Takako Nishizaki is a very talented violinist. I first came across her work on recordings not through the standard violin repertoire, but through her wonderful recordings of Chinese music.
Her performances of Vivaldi are very good. While they're not necessarily "authentic", in the sense of being played on gut strings with an absence of vibrato, they're still engaging and fresh. There is vibrato here, but it is very discrete and very musical. Stephen Gunzenhauser and the Capella Istropolitana provide expert accompaniment throughout.
|
|
Best Customer Reviews Archive
|
