Verdi: Requiem (recorded in 2012) BLU-RAY

"The magnificent full-throated chorus project in a manner liable to rip off the La Scala roof. And the soloists too trail opera glory...Barenboim, meanwhile, does everything to encourage bold attack from players and singers; even his pauses tremble. All told, it's a thrilling account." The Times, 13th September 2013 ****

"It's a thoughtful, considered interpretation that places the emphasis not so much on the terrors of divine judgment as on mankind's suffering in the face of the unknown...the end result makes up in compassion for what it sometimes lacks in visceral excitement." The Guardian, 10th October 2013

"an optimum line-up of soloists for our time...Garanca's lush mezzo sounds like an Amneris in waiting in the Lux aeterna; Pape is a rock in the bass soloist's pronouncements...I wouldn't want to be without Kaufmann's searing Ingemisco and moving, introverted Hostias" Sunday Times, 22nd September 2013

"this performance, exciting and occasionally thrilling though it is, is not remotely Italian...It's a 'through-composed' linked-up performance, paced withy a dramatic curve that makes even the punchiest Italian-led ones...feel like number opera...The non-Italian soloists are in good fearless voice and aurally well integrated into this concept" Gramophone Magazine, November 2013

"Barenboim's interpretative view is grand in conception, with the La Scala performers offering him sufficient depth and richness of tone...the four soloists form a quartet finely balanced in vocal weight and proficiency...this is an impressive account." BBC Music Magazine, Christmas Issue 2013 ****