Mozart - Requiem (Gardiner 1991) DVD9

W.A.Mozart - Requiem (K626) and Mass in C Minor (K427)

Performers:

Conductor John Eliot Gardiner
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists

Barbara Bonney, soprano
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor
Alastair Miles, bass

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"It is a well known story: the mysterious stranger in grey (the servant of a Count Walsegg) offering Mozart a generous fee for a Requiem Mass to be written in secrecy; the Count intending to claim it as his own at a memorial service for his wife. Mozart was already in his final illness; he perished shortly after composing the scant outlines of the Requiem up to the Hostias, orchestrating very little himself. Perhaps he left scraps of paper containing ideas for the outer movements, perhaps not. In the event, his wife Constanze in need of money, offered the Requiem to the publishers Breitkopf & Hartel claiming that Mozart had given his (hapless) assistant Franz Xavier Sussmayr instructions for the work's completion. This was probably an exaggeration designed to lend an air of authenticity to the completed work; Constanze was probably shrewder in business than her divinely gifted husband. There has been grousing about Sussmayr's effort since it's completion but no other attempt has surpassed it since 1792 and Gardiner uses this version, potently defended in the excellent notes by Erik Smith that accompany this DVD. Also included on this DVD is Mozart's Mass in C Minor, meant as a wedding gift for Constanze (and possibly a peace offering to Leopold Mozart, his angry father). It too was left incomplete by Mozart; had he finished it, the Mass would have rivaled Bach's great B Minor Mass in scale. This performing edition was completed by Alois Schmitt (in 1901) and John Eliot Gardiner.

This DVD presents a concert filmed at the Palau de la Musica Catalana, Barcelona in December 1991, commemorating the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death to the month. It features Gardiner's regular soloists: soprano Barbara Bonney, mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter, tenor Anthony Rolfe Johnson and bass Alastair Miles. The Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists serve as Mr. Gardiner's authentic instruments orchestra and chorus. Can it be 25 years that I have been listening to this superb group of musicians perform music from the Renaissance to the advent of the modern era? It can and it is. They are perfection on this disc; their use of original instruments long past the early days of scratchy strings and squawking horns. The reduced instrumental forces allow one to hear the inner voices of each piece, lending them a chamber music intimacy. Especially impressive are the horns and woodwinds with their clarity of tone and perfect intonation. Period horns and winds are notoriously difficult to play. The period percussionists, who use smaller wooden mallets that provide a sharp crack to the tuttis, must also be praised for their precision. The entire orchestra sounds as fine as I've ever heard them.

Extras:
. Mozart Picture Gallery
. Mozart Chronology

Year………….: 1991
Runtime……….: 101 Minutes
Audio…………: LPCM, DTS Surround
Subtitles……..: N/A
Video Format…..: NTSC
Aspect Ratio…..: 4:3
DVD Format…….: Anamorphic
DVD Source…….: DVD9
DVD Distributor..: Universal Classics

DVD9 untouched