London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Brahms - German Requiem

Published Monday 7th July 2014
London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Brahms - German Requiem
London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Brahms - German Requiem

STYLE: Choral
RATING 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 151916-
LABEL: LSO Live LSO0748
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

In that part of the musical world where classical and choral intersect Johannes Brahms' 'Ein deutsches Requiem' is one of the key pieces. Intended for "all humanity", it is a powerful work with central themes that are universally applicable. Brahms knew his Bible and his texts are well chosen but he does exhibit the humanist's error of trying to appropriate the good news of the Gospel for all, whether they believe or not. A believer, whether as a listener or a performer, will understand this or indeed any Requiem differently to a non-believer. This notwithstanding the 'German Requiem' shows Brahms the composer at his Romantic best with some glorious melodies and expressive vocal parts and any collection of European choral music should contain a copy. But should it be this recording? The ethos of LSO Live is to capture and make available great performances at a reasonable price. This disc uses SACD technology but does play on any regular CD player as well and is of the highest audiophile standard which, perhaps, tells against it in a perverse way. The recording is almost too clear and on my system the choir and orchestra sound too far apart. It goes without saying that the London Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev gives a faultless performance. The London Symphony Chorus are good but, to my ears, not quite up to the standard of the orchestra although the soloists, Sally Matthews (soprano) and Christopher Maltman (bass-baritone), are both excellent. There are plenty of other recordings of Brahms' 'German Requiem' available. This one is good but perhaps not the very best but it is available to download if that is your preferred format and the hard copy SACD is competitively priced.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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