Mozart 'Requiem' Recording [2004]
Tenebrae’s Mozart Requiem with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, directed by Nigel Short, was recorded ‘Live’ at St. John’s Smith Square (although it neglects to say so in the inlay card) and was released on the Warner Classics label [catalogue no. 2564-60190-2-1] in May 2004. The disc includes Insanae et Vanae Curae by Haydn and Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus.
TENEBRAE with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Nigel Short
Mozart Requiem in D Minor, K626
Ave Verum Corpus, K618
Haydn Insanae et Vanae Curae
Carys Lane (soprano), Frances Bourne (alto), Paul Badley (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass), Tenebrae, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, cond Nigel Short
Warner 2564-60191-2
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Warner Classics 2564-60190-2-1
Release Date UK: 3rd May 2004 BUY NOW (from HMV.co.uk)
Release Date Europe: 5th July 2004 click here
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Reviews
CD Of The Week: Classic FM (27 April 2004)
‘Tenebrae, one of the world’s foremost vocal ensembles, dedicates a new album to three intensely spiritual works, including Mozart’s Requiem. They’re joined by the renowned Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the choir’s own conductor and composer Nigel Short. The album also includes a work, which Mozart wrote in 1791 for an unwell Leopold Hoffmann; the Motet, Ave Verum corpus. The Motet, Insanae et Vanae Curae from Joseph Haydn was composed between 1805 and the death of Haydn in 1809. Thus this CD presents three works, which stand together in a close relationship.
I have loved this work ever since I saw the film Amadeus and here it’s given the best performance I have ever heard. Unmissable!”
It’s heavenly stuff. The primary reason for choosing it as CD of the week was the quality of it and the fact that it is actually weepingly wonderful.’
Simon Bates.
‘A problem with a recording of the Mozart Requiem is that it will either produce a rather short CD or contain fillers that are hardly to an individual listener’s taste. It should prove an advantage to Nigel Short and Warner Classics that this new version contains two fine additional works: the ‘Ave verum corpus’ from the summer of Mozart’s last year and the thrilling chorus ‘Insanae et vanae curae’.
The CD gets off to a stirring start with the stormy chorus with which Haydn replaced a solo number from his oratorio. Short sees to it that the contrast between the D minor opening and the gentle second section is finely realized; both chorus and orchestra support him eagerly. As indeed they do in a fervent account of the Requiem, with lovely playing from the Chamber Orchestra of Europe winds. All the soloists do well – Carys Lane floats the soprano line blissfully in the Introitus, and the alto Frances Bourne blends well with her colleagues. The tenor Paul Badley makes up in musicianship for any lack of tonal beauty and Matthew Brook invests the Tuba mirum with a proper sense of awe. The Tenebrae Chamber Choir is admirable throughout.’
Sacred Works – International Record Review – June 2004
‘With more than 70 Mozart Requiems already in the catalogue, any newcomer needs to be very special indeed. The professional chorus sings with ringing, full-bodied tome; and the COE – using modern instruments except for steely valveless trumpets and gunfire timpani – plays splendidly. Conductor Nigel Short misses few tricks in the more dramatic numbers. The ‘Dies Irae’ sears and scorches; the opening of the ‘Rex Tremendae’ is grimly imposing’ and the ‘Domine Deus’ is unusually tense and urgent.
Of the two shorter items, Mozart’s popular Ave Verum Corpus receives a reverent, rather romanticized reading, while the marvelous Haydn motet follows the pattern of the Requiem performance: exciting in the ‘storm’ sections, slow and somnolent in the contrasting visions of calm.’
Daily Telegraph