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"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Requiem: Reconstruction of First Performance." Dunedin Consort. John Butt, director. Joanne Lutt, soprano; Rowan Hellier, alto; Thomas Hubbs, tenor; Matthew Brook, bass. Mozart: Requiem; Misericordias domini, D Minor, K. 222; and "reconstruction of music performed at the requiem mass for Mozart 10 December 1791" (Requiem aeternam and Kyrie). Program notes in English: "Mozart's Requiem -Reconstruction of First Performances" (pp. 5-11) and "Performance Issues (pp. 12-13) by John Butt; "Key Sources" (pp. 14-15); Latin texts and English translations; performer biographies. Recorded at Greyfriar's Kirk, Edinburgh, U.K., September 15-19, 2013. Total timing 61. ©2014. Linn Records CDK 449. $23.98. Rating:
"Mozart Requiem." Concentus musicus Wien. Arnold Schoenberg Chor prepared by chorus master Erwin Ortner. Nikolaus Harnoncourt, director. Christine Schäfer, soprano; Bernarda Fink, alto; Kurt Streit, tenor; Gerald Finley, bass. Program notes in English, German, and French: "Mozart and His Requiem: A Musician's Reflections and Feelings" by Nikolaus Harnoncourt (pp. 4-7) and "Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 (Unfinished), completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayer; new, revised edition by Franz Beyer" by Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs (pp. 7-1 1). Latin texts and English translations. "The original manuscript is to be found as a CD-ROM track on this SACDIntroitus and Kyrie as written by Mozart; Sequence and Offerory in fragmentary form." Recorded live at the Großer Musikvereinsaal, Vienna, November 27-December 1, 2003. Total timing 50:15. ©2004. Deutsche harmonía mundi 82876 58705 2. $9.48 Rating: ????
Mozart's Requiem occupies a unique place in music history. As director John Butt writes in his liner notes, "While some of its popularity can be attributed to romantic notions of the dying genius doing his utmost to crown his life's work in the most sublime fashion, there is no doubt that the vast proportion of the surviving material is remarkable in its musical cohesion and emotional power" (p. 5). Indeed, that cohesion and power are displayed with brilliance on both these recordings, one performed from a new modern edition by Franz Beyer, the other based on David Black's new scholarly edition of the first completed version prepared in 1792 by Franz Xaver Süßmaycr (1766-1803). Butt points out that Süßmayer's version has been criticized for weaknesses in the Sanctus and Osanna, as well as its orchestration and part-writing. Those critiques, however,...