CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => Music and Recordings => Topic started by: Marvey on September 16, 2014, 01:49:42 AM
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I need a few. Last time I bought one was right after college. That was almost 25 years ago. Looking for good recording quality and non-fluffy interpretation. I prefer the use of period instruments and arrangements, but not necessarily how they are recorded or mastered. They don't sound that thin in real life.
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I thought this one was beautiful and wonderfully recorded. Just know what version it is (read a bit of the notes).
http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-mozart-requiem.aspx
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I thought this one was beautiful and wonderfully recorded. Just know what version it is (read a bit of the notes).
http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-mozart-requiem.aspx (http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-mozart-requiem.aspx)
That is, indeed, a great interpretation with some fascinating history. The only downfall is that the retail versions are mastered way too loud. This version would fit under the "Sussmayr" versions.
There is also this, which I wrote a long time ago....
http://www.head-fi.org/t/162398/lffs-music-pick-of-the-week-02-19-2006 (http://www.head-fi.org/t/162398/lffs-music-pick-of-the-week-02-19-2006)
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Interesting list. I've always enjoyed the Mackerras, Marriner, Hogwood interpretations of the Mozart stuff. Going to have to hit that Linn edition.
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I thought this one was beautiful and wonderfully recorded. Just know what version it is (read a bit of the notes).
http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-mozart-requiem.aspx
You can probably ask Burnsie about Dunedin Consort. He like them alot.
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Karl Böhm version:
(http://static.qobuz.com/images/covers/32/55/0002894135532_600.jpg)
John Eliott Gardiner :
(http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/54787009/Mozart+Requiem+Kyrie+in+D+minor+mozart_requiem_gardiner.jpg)
Hogwood :
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xXK0pKfIZOg/UFn9rl-5wHI/AAAAAAAA2wU/K3qs6Um3BiU/s1600/mozart+requiem+portada.PNG)
All these worth a listen. Bohm's version is the historical one. very low tempi , great sense of majesty and emotionnal tension. I was sceptical because I'm not so fan of old historical versions ( bad recording and too old style for my taste. I much prefer contemporary musicians ) but it's definitely beautiful and well recorded ( it's a 1971 recording ) The Hogwood version is the first I discovered and I love it. Very different, faster, less grandiose. The Gardiner is usually well considered by some friends but I didn"t listened enough myself to have a constructive opinion. I've a William Christie's requiem but didn't listen it so far.
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I have the Hogwood one; after going through a half dozen, it remains my favorite. Will need to try the other suggestions.
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I have the Hogwood but with a different album cover (and Decca on the label) from the one above. Love it too, will check out the other recommended versions. Nice summary and outline, LFF! Ah- your link is to the Hogwood release that I have.
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Peter Schreier conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle (Philips, 1990).
Very sweetly sung, if a bit thick in the orchestral parts.
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I have one by Dunedin Consort, 24 bit version that is quite nice. The densest parts in Dies Irae sound a bit closed in, but tonaly very good.
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Bohm
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Listening to this on Spotify at the moment.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart-requiem-realisations-mw0002506715
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Philippe Herreweghe and La Chapelle Royale Collegium Vocale is my favorite interpretation. It's a period performance and has a lot of raw energy and passion behind it. If you enjoy vocals, Herreweghe does an amazing job with his performers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-yLvzw6HWE
http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Requiem-K-626-Kyrie-K-341/dp/B0000007BI
FWIW, one of the reviewers also suggests:
- von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker (impressive, but very slow, and the audio quality is lacking)
- von Karajan, Wiener Philharmoniker
- Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
- Sir Colin Davis, BBC symphony orchestra
- Karl Bohm, Wiener Philharmoniker
I've had good experiences with St. Martin in the Fields recordings.
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Yup same here with the SMIF recordings. The Hogwood one I like the arrangements and interpretation, but the recording is messed up. I know they are going for a period style, but the concerts I went to using period instruments didn't sound that thin. and scratchy.
Definitely needs a Luis remaster job.
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Yeah, I've had that same issue with both Hogwood and Gardiner period recordings. They sometimes use a really fast tempo to fit the period, too, which further aggravates the issue.
Edited my post above to include a YT link to the recording. Doesn't sound as nice as the CD, of course, but is a good indication of the style.
The Herreweghe recording of Bach's Mass in b minor is breathtaking. It's Collegium Vocale, and most Harmonia Mundi releases are really good.
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Is the period known for faster tempos?
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Mozart specified faster tempos than what how his stuff is typically played today. Because of the romantic movement, a lot of Mozart tends to be slowed down. The Brits tend to do this artfully. The Germans awfully. There are exceptions of course.
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Mozart specified faster tempos than what how his stuff is typically played today. Because of the romantic movement, a lot of Mozart tends to be slowed down. The Brits tend to do this artfully. The Germans awfully. There are exceptions of course.
My god, I never heard these romantic period Mozart concerts. Sounds awful. A lot of my early exposure came from Time Life recordings which seemed proper to me especially the sonatas and concertos.
So the British and Germans = Austrian Kaiser. That's just great...
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Is the period known for faster tempos?
The fast movements were slightly slower, but the slow movements were much faster. Actually, all periods were overall faster. Harold Schonberg called post-Golden-Age performance "The Ice Age" because of the glacial tempi. He contended that young performers think slower = profounder. Have a listen to Hofmann's Chopin concerti and you'll see what he means. I've read that Brahms' 2d Piano Concerto should be 35 minutes and is currently 50. That said, I'm all for taking liberties with the score provided that they're beautiful.
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Okay, please tell me my perception of Handel's Water Musik being lazed across the Thames isn't revisionism otherwise I'm going to freak the eff out. :-DD
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Mozart specified faster tempos than what how his stuff is typically played today. Because of the romantic movement, a lot of Mozart tends to be slowed down. The Brits tend to do this artfully. The Germans awfully. There are exceptions of course.
Yeah! This is something not many people know. It's the same with Beethoven. Both Mozart and Beethoven specifically wanted their pieces played at fast tempos. The romantic movement, along with the inability of early recording techniques to capture such fast tempos, really screwed up the modern perception of these pieces. The more and more research goes into classical music, the more we are finding out that many of these pieces were meant to be played faster than what we are accustomed to. From Bach to Beethoven - tempo matters.
And yeah...the Hogwood/Kirby Mozart is VERY thin and bright. Not my version though. ;)
As for Bach's Mass - This is my all-time favorite version:
(http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0001/157/MI0001157355.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
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I will be seeing the Academy of Ancient Music in a month or two and am genuinely excited. I love their work. It will be fun to hear period instruments in a great space and compare to recordings.
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Try the Sigiswald Kuijken / La Petite Bande version
Review : http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/mozart-requiem-in-d (http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/mozart-requiem-in-d)
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart-requiem-mw0001826510/similar (http://www.allmusic.com/album/mozart-requiem-mw0001826510/similar)
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Is this the same Hogwood version stated on the first page? http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Requiem-Watkinson-Johnson-Hogwood/dp/B000004CX8
It seems like the cover art was changed but I just want to be sure. I've been meaning to listen to Requiem for a long time, never have.
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I have the Harnoncourt recording.
Not getting much love here, I see. walk the plank2
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I do not know so many recordings of the Mozart Requiem, but I got curious and went to listen a little to Herreweghe (on Spotify). Very beautiful music-making, and they really manage to turn ones attention to wealth of interesting things going on deep into the weave of the music.
What I had slightly against it was the relatively large amount of reverberation, some of it prolly added digitally (maybe worsened by Spotify): Well, nothing extreme, and where do you find completely un-processed commercial recordings these days?
Also there was rather little sense of drama for a work like this, IMO: Not much wrath in the Dies Irae, so to speak. Compare for example with this famous 1953 Scherchen recording, between 9 and 10 minutes into the piece ( ideally one should listen from the beginning for the sake of contrast etc). What? Yes it is mono.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_MR8OF68O8
The ideal stereo sound for a work like this? I may be a tad perverted but I like sonics of the live version that is viewed 11,5 million times on youtube. (performers not credited). The relative dryness of sound and the big stereo spread is very entertaining. Of course this is not what you hear in the concert hall (unless perhaps if you are the conductor at a free-air performance). All in all rather resemblant of the typical early stereo lp sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPlhKP0nZII
More OT: Back to the mentioned 1953 mono version! Everybody who has a turntable I recommend to find an original copy of this (Westminster WL5233)* to include in ones collection (in addition to modern versions, of course). Not only because of the unique interpretation, but also because of its sound. Amazing what they managed to squeeze into one single mono track, and it is nice to have as a documentation for several reasons. (The LP sounds better than what you hear on youtube, and remember: everything was made using tubes). True, the bass is exaggerated on the LP, prolly (mostly) because the record is not mastered after the RIAA standard, which only a few years later became universally accepted, I think A horror to the audiophile? It should not be IMO, after all tonal balance in any recording situation can be all over the place dependent mic or instrument placement (or in concert: where your seat is located etc). But in the long run it is/was great to have a standard for pre-emphasing, obviously. (On youtube too much of the bass is removed, along with some of the charm).
Potentially of interest to some of the pirates: This WL5233 recording was made by the legendary French sound engineer André Charlin, according to this discography
http://www.svalander.se/charlin/rec11aeng.htm
(Charlin did not typically work for Westminster). Well, to be honest, some other Westminster monos from the same time may sound even better (less congested, without the bass overweight), but they are OTOH typically pure orchestral recordings, the addition of choir and soloist singers made things more difficult, of course.(Some of the best Westminster recordings from this period were issued in their Laboratory Series: Audiophile records from before the stereo age! They are well worth investigating.
*avoid the same conductor’s stereo version on the same label.
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This Linn recording is highly recommended, very well recorded too.
(http://www.linnrecords.com/img/album/larger/ckd-449.jpg)
Mozart's Requiem - Reconstruction of First Performances
As a scholar once quipped in relation to Mozart's final work: 'Requiem, but no Piece'. Mozart's Requiem has been a site for controversy since almost the time of the composer's untimely death, and it is clear that it is never going to be complete, at least as a piece by Mozart. On the other hand, it is perhaps testimony to the quality of what does survive that musicians and scholars have given it such persistent attention. While some of its popularity can be attributed to romantic notions of the dying genius doing his utmost to crown his life's work in the most sublime fashion, there is no doubt that the vast proportion of the surviving material is remarkable in its musical cohesion and emotional power.
In the early nineteenth century, the controversy was over how much of the Requiem was really the work of Mozart and how much of it was completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr. By the turn of our current century, the extent of Süssmayr's involvement had been clearly established - so far as is likely to be possible - and the discussion moved towards the question of whether modern scholars could provide a completion superior to Süssmayr's. Now that there are a number of 'new' versions of the Requiem, perhaps performing the 'original' completion is almost as controversial as performing a modern version
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When Mozart was a teenager he heard Michael Haydn's Requiem. Very interesting, if you do not already know it: The many similarities!
Michael (younger brother of Joseph) was a family friend and colleague, who like the Mozarts was also in the service of the archbishop of Salzburg.
By an occasion like this - the premiere of the work- it would be strange if they did not use all their resources and best musicians, so probably both Leopold and Wolfgang participated in the performance, would you not think?
A great performance, brilliantly "staged":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBV0oIrbMx0
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I recommend Karl Böhm's version. http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Requiem-Wolfgang-Amadeus/dp/B000001G5A also
Downloaded Linn's and it is awful, worst Linn recording ever done walk the plank
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Is the Linn recording really that bad? Haven't DL'd it? Sound quality or performance bad?
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I recommend Karl Böhm's version. http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Requiem-Wolfgang-Amadeus/dp/B000001G5A also
Downloaded Linn's and it is awful, worst Linn recording ever done walk the plank
Unless you can explain that in detail, it's going to be difficult to take anything else you say seriously.
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Is the Linn recording really that bad? Haven't DL'd it? Sound quality or performance bad?
as a recording it is done nicely but I don't like interpretation I recommend Karl Böhm's version. http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Requiem-Wolfgang-Amadeus/dp/B000001G5A also
Downloaded Linn's and it is awful, worst Linn recording ever done walk the plank
Unless you can explain that in detail, it's going to be difficult to take anything else you say seriously.
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Is the Linn recording really that bad? Haven't DL'd it? Sound quality or performance bad?
as a recording it is done nicely, but I don't like interpretation/performance. Sounds way to forward, thin for me. I recommend Karl Böhm's version. http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Requiem-Wolfgang-Amadeus/dp/B000001G5A also
Downloaded Linn's and it is awful, worst Linn recording ever done walk the plank
Unless you can explain that in detail, it's going to be difficult to take anything else you say seriously.
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This Linn recording is highly recommended, very well recorded too.
(http://www.linnrecords.com/img/album/larger/ckd-449.jpg)
Well, so I finally pulled a trigger on this... Oh well.
The presentation is... a bit off. Very hard to get used to this since it is so different from 3 other ones I have. Vocals and positions of instruments are very weird compared to others.
Maybe it is refreshing to others who seek different interpretation.
It is fast. I dislike slower ones (older ones such as Karajan) so it is a plus.
Still, I think the one done by Sir Charles Mackerras is hard to top IMHO (it is also done by Linn Record. So the SQ is very clean as well.)
http://www.linnrecords.com/recording-sco-mozart-requiem.aspx
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Finally tried the Dunedin Consort one above. It is kinda "off" or different. An interesting interpretation nevertheless. Pretty much everything vnmnkh said above. tuba mirum spargens sonum, wow, that guy sounded like an ex-heroin addict about to choke. Not my favorite rendition, but a solid recording.
The Mackerras is fucking unbelievably good. Really happy he keeps the tempo up. Probably the best one.
Thanks for the recommendations guys. :)p1
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Finally tried the Dunedin Consort one above. It is kinda "off" or different. An interesting interpretation nevertheless. Pretty much everything vnmnkh said above. tuba mirum spargens sonum, wow, that guy sounded like an ex-heroin addict about to choke. Not my favorite rendition, but a solid recording.
The Mackerras is fucking unbelievably good. Really happy he keeps the tempo up. Probably the best one.
Thanks for the recommendations guys. :)p1
The Mackerras is by far my favorite. Takes well to a remaster job due to the high dynamic range. The Dunedin is a much more compressed mastering.
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Speaking of Mackerras/Mozart, this is a random fav:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBjDdKdq_tQ
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Mackerras certainly had a special touch with Mozart's music.
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What's you guys' take on the Colin Davis version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Ur-FosFvo
10/10 recording quality at least