Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Performer: Barbara Frittoli, Olga Borodina, Mario Zeffiri, Ildar Abdrazakov, Chicago Symphony Chorus
Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Riccardo Muti
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: CSO Resound
Catalogue: CSOR9011006
Release: 2010
Size: 1.54 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
01. Requiem: Requiem aeternam
02. Dies irae: Dies irae, dies illa
03. Dies irae: Tuba mirum
04. Dies irae: Mors stupebit
05. Dies irae: Liber scriptus
06. Dies irae: Quid sum miser
07. Dies irae: Rex tremendae
08. Dies irae: Recordare
09. Dies irae: Ingemisco
10. Dies irae: Confutatis
11. Dies irae: Lacrymosa
CD 02
01. Offertorio
02. Sanctus
03. Agnus Dei
04. Lux aeterna
05. Libera me
Chicago inaugurates Riccardo Muti’s tenure as music director with their most anticipated release of the year. Recorded live in January 2009, from sold-out, electrifying concerts, this stunning performance brilliantly captures both the pathos and passion of Verdi’s masterpiece. Something of a marker in Muti’s career, who can forget his groundbreaking account for EMI? ‘Chicago’s new boss’ features on the cover of September BBC Music Magazine and in a six-page feature/interview inside the magazine.
“I’m sure many in the packed hall will long remember it as a life-changing experience… The thwacks of the bass drum ricocheted mightily… with the fiery blasts of the brass from the balcony really sounding as if Heaven were beckoning.” Chicago Tribune
This release by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is taken from a trio of live performances on successive days in January 2009. It has met with both critical and commercial success, and for good reason. Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, finished in 1873 and dedicated to the memory of writer Alessandro Manzoni, is one of the most difficult works in the entire classical repertory to perform. It’s not that any individual aspect is so challenging, but the work requires top-flight soloists, choir, and orchestra, as well as a conductor who can keep it all together. This recording delivers on nearly all counts, and at many points the effect is thrilling. Conductor Riccardo Muti likely cemented his position at the helm of the Chicago Symphony with his skillful handling of the orchestra’s fabled brass section, deployed in vivid contrast between loud and soft that never lose their precision. The mighty Dies Irae has very rarely had the blast-furnace intensity that it does here, with the superb Chicago Symphony Chorus delivering great power without any deviation from the pitch. If there’s a less compelling aspect here, it’s the set of soloists, who are fine but not in the Pavarotti or Sutherland class. Still, they’re all capable of carrying Muti’s long lines in the slower sections, and, when you factor in the fine, clear Super Audio sound from the symphony’s own CSO-Resound label, this becomes a very hard Verdi Requiem to beat.
great recording – many thx for the fast recently requested uploads – I am almost running out of ideas which next to ask for …