Composer: Józef Kozłowski
Performer: Olga Peretyatko, Olesya Petrova, Boris Stepanov, Christoph Seidl
Orchestra: Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Hans Graf
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Pentatone
Catalogue: PTC5187125
Release: 2024
Size: 932 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Requiem in E-Flat Minor
01. I. Requiem et Kyrie
02. II. Dies irae
03. III. Tuba mirum
04. IV. Judex ergo
05. V. Confutatis
06. VI. Lacrymosa
07. VII. Domine Jesu Christe
08. VIII. Sanctus
09. IX. Benedictus
10. X. Agnus Dei
11. XI. Quia pius es – XII. Requiem aeternam
The Singapore Symphony and its music director Hans Graf present a recording of Jozef Kozlowski’s Requiem, together with the Singapore Symphony Chorus & Youth Choir, as well as a quartet of outstanding soloists: Olga Peretyatko (soprano), Olesya Petrova (mezzo-soprano), Boris Stepanov (tenor) and Christoph Seidl (bass). The Requiem (1798) was commissioned to Kozlowski by the abdicated King Stanislaw of Poland, and can be perceived as a requiem not just for the monarch, but for the entire Polish nation, absorbed by the Russian state during the 1780s. Interestingly, the work was also heard during the funeral of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, in a different version with heavier orchestration and choruses for more drama. The current recording uses a new edition created by conductor Graf himself, realizing the intimate character of the original 1798 version. Composed just 7 years after Mozart’s famous Requiem, the work is rooted in Viennese Classicism, yet also adumbrates nineteenth-century developments, with a subtle Slavonic tinge. This revival is a gem to anyone interested in music from the early Romantic era.
Józef Kozłowski (1757 or 1759-1831) was a Polish-born composer who moved to St. Petersburg and began working there after Poland came under Russian rule at the end of the 18th century. This Requiem was commissioned in advance of his own death in 1798 by the last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Stanisław II August. It was performed again in 1825 in a revised version by Kozłowski himself after the death of the Russian Czar Alexander I, who was also the titular ruler of Poland. The 1825 version was recorded in 1988 by a Soviet choir and orchestra, but this recording of the 1798 version, unearthed and led by Singapore Symphony conductor Hans Graf, is apparently a world premiere. Parts of the work are exceptionally beautiful, and, in the words of annotators Edward C. Yong and Leon Chia, “It is hard not to see in the music an image of the Polish nation (which was not to see independence again for over 120 years) submitting itself to Fate.” Sample the Tuba mirum, which seems just a step away from Berlioz and receives a wonderful performance from bass soloist Christoph Seidl (all the soloists are very strong). The final parts of the mass, darkening from E flat major to E flat minor in the last movement, are hauntingly beautiful and do live up to Yong and Chia’s contention. Some of the orchestration in this earlier version seems thin, and it might be instructive to have a new recording of the later version. However, any reading is most welcome, for the piece qualifies as a neglected masterwork. The Singapore Symphony Chorus is kept curiously back in the mix by PentaTone’s engineers working at the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore, but the singing, in general, is very strong. A must for lovers of Polish and early Russian music, this is a moving score for anyone.