Mozart: The Requiem!
Principal singers: Sylvia McNair, Soprano; Carolyn Watkinson, Contralto; Francisco Araiza, Tenor; and Robert Lloyd, Bass.
Conducted by Sir Neville Marriner
This CD was released 4/5/1991, so it is 19 years ago… and it is still a very satisfying performance! Yes… I also have another favorite, and it is the performance by Georg Solti, done at the Stephanskirche in Vienna. I think the occasion was the 230th anniversary of Mozart’s birth…
The performance by Sir Neville is a wonderfully dramatic recording. It is, of course, a dark sounding record, because it is a death mass. The soloists are first rate: Sylvia McNair’s voice is perfect in performing with her great calmness. The conducting and the tempi are perfect; The choir is also the most impressive choir I’ve heard in the Mozart’s Requiem.
In this a great Mozart masterpiece, the section that, for me, has the greatest beauty and is so moving is the “Lacrimosa”. I never get tired of it. It is music of ultimate sadness; sublime beauty; yet is has the power to bring healing and calmness into one’s soul.
Click below to discover 3 minutes of Sir Neville Marriner conducting the Lacrimosa: