Brahms: Deutsches Requiem [German Requiem] (1871 London version) (Sung in English)

Brahms: Deutsches Requiem [German Requiem] (1871 London version) (Sung in English) cover $22.00 Out of Stock
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Deutsches Requiem [German Requiem] (1871 London version) (Sung in English)
Michelle Areyzaga (soprano) Russell Hugh (baritone) Madeline Slettedahl (piano) Terry Craig (piano) / Bella Voce, Andrew Lewis

[ Naxos / CD ]

Release Date: Friday 9 August 2019

This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.

Brahms' fascination with music of the 16th to the 18th centuries was nurtured during his appointment in Vienna as conductor of the Singakademie. His own choral compositions had gradually moved from an almost pastiche Renaissance style towards a fully mature, Romantic approach, culminating in his large-scale choral masterpiece Ein deutsches Requiem. This performance is sung in a new English translation prepared by Lara Hoggard that fits the original German declamation and with the piano four-hands accompaniment written by Brahms himself.

"The radiant singing of the chamber chorus Bella Voce retains all the precision and clarity of its London counterparts, but with more tonal heft and dramatic punch when needed. Bella Voce's Artistic Director, Andrew Lewis, leads a performance that never dawdles, but also doesn't rush matters, sustaining a compelling flexibility of phrasing and ebb and flow throughout. It is all beautifully executed by Bella Voce, and by pianists Madeline Slettedahl and Craig Terry, who play with wonderful incisiveness and rich tonal quality. The two vocal soloists are fine as well. Soprano Michelle Areyzaga offers a beautiful account of the fifth movement, translated here as "You now are sorrowful."

The recording, made in St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Evanston, IL, is superb, with an acoustic that combines marvelous definition, rich and beautiful reproduction of both voices and pianos, and an ideal balance among the performing forces." Fanfare