Berlioz - Requiem / Davis, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

Description

One of the greatest musical figures of the French Romantic movement, Hector Berlioz wrote his Requiem, "Grande Messe des Morts," for soldiers killed in the Algerian campaign. The magnificent Regensburg Cathedral is a perfect setting for this recording, conducted by Colin Davis with the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Chorus and Orchestra in a moving performance of this monumental work, which climaxes with the ringing of the cathedral bells.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful.......2003-01-14

This is a splendid DVD, spiritual rather than dramatic, deep rather than spectacular, always musical, very moving. In concert halls, there's often a tendency to emphasise the drama in this work. Trumpets on all sides, and all that. Well, they are on all sides here too, but tempos tend to the gentle, the chorus sings with care and passion, and phrasing is always loyal to the text. The tenor Keith Lewis is excellent.

The sound engineeers have dealt with cathedral reverberation by softening the sound somewhat, so the experience is not quite as crisp as hearing the Requiem in the Festival Hall. But reverence does not soften the Dies irae and Tuba mirum, which are appropriately engulfing.

Not quite as good as being there, of course, but I cannot imagine a closer recorded approximation.

Great Promise But No Punch.......2003-01-11

This is a great work, but unlike Bach, Mozart or Brahms, it does not "sing itself". The musical forces here are ample, but there is no power in the performance. Perhaps it is lost in the acoustics. You want to love this DVD - visually it's wonderful! - but all the energy seems to have been absorbed into the architecture.

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