Jochum, Fricsay: Mozart – Requiem K.626, Mass in C minor K.427 (2 CD, FLAC)

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Audio CD
SPARS Code: A-D
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks+cue)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Size: 529 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

CD 01: Requiem d-moll, KV 626
01. I. Introitus: Requiem aeternam
02. II. Kyrie eleison
III. Sequentia
03. Dies irae
04. Tuba mirum
05. Rex tremendae
06. Recordare
07. Confutatis
08. Lacrimosa
IV. Offertorium
09. Domine Jesu
10. Hostias
11. V. Sanctus
12. VI. Benedictus
13. VII. Agnus Dei
14. VIII. Communio: Lux aeterna
Irmgard Seefried
Gertrude Pitzinger
Richard Holm
Kim Borg
Chor der Wiener Staatsoper
Wiener Symphoniker
Eugen Jochum

CD 02: Große Messe c-moll, KV 427
01. I. Kyrie eleison
II. Gloria
02. Gloria in excelsis
03. Laudamus te
04. Gratias agimus
05. Domine Deus
06. Qui tollis
07. Quoniam tu solus
08. Jesu Christe
09. Cum Sancto spiritu
III. Credo
10. Credo in unum Deum
11. Et incarnatus est
12. IV. Sanctus
13. V. Benedictus
Maria Stader
Hertha Töpper
Ernst Haefliger
Ivan Sardi
Chor der Sankt-Hedwigs-Kathedrale Berlin
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Ferenc Fricsay

Worthwhile with a few exceptions

Both performances are deeply felt/devotionally potent. Fricsay employs more tempi shifts and more
legato phrasing than Jochum. He is softer than Jochum but not less intense-Jochum exhibits
more tensile strength/toughness but is also deeply poetic analytically. I prefer Fricsay’s
sound and chorus to Jochum’s. Fricsay’s Berlin Radio Chorus sound lighter, more agile
than Jochum’s Vienna chorus. Both solo quartets contain excellence and unpleasantness, I think. Both Ivan Sardi (Fricsay) and Kim Borg (Jochum) are higher basses or bass/baritones than Gottlob Frick for Kempe in k626. Both tenors and sopranos are effective: For Jochum, Richard Holm
is light but penetrating // the great Helmut Krebs for Kempe. For Fricsay Ernst Haefliger
is a great artist as usual but his timbre is slightly less appealing. In the Requiem, Irmgard
Seefried is much better for Jochum here than in their Cosi seven years later. Her timbre is thicker than Stader’s in k427 but also gleaming and dramatically potent. I still prefer Stader
in Richter’s Requiem and Richter’s Requiem to Jochum’s (see my review), and Stader is exemplary for Fricsay in k427 as well. Both altos are unsatisfactory. For Jochum, Gertrude Pitzinger
is relatively weak and wobbly. For Fricsay Hertha Topper is stronger in her lower range-the higher she must sing, the worse. She is better in ensembles ( e.g Domine Deus and Benedictus)
than solos and fortunately there are more ensembles in k427. She still does not fare well
competitively. On the whole the conducting is more valuable than the singing, but some
of the singing is remarkable (Stader, Haefiger, Holm, Seefried often). Most valuable in both works is the conducting, I think.