Antonín Dvořák - Requiem; Symphony No. 8 (Mariss Jansons)

Information

Composer: Antonín Dvořák

CD1:

• Requiem, Op. 89

CD2:

• Requiem, Op. 89 (continued)
• Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88

Krassimira Stoyanova, soprano
Mihoko Fujimura, mezzo-soprano
Klaus Florian Vogt, tenor
Thomas Quasthoff, bass

Vienna Singverein
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, conductor

Date: 2012
Label: RCO Live

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Review

Superb performances and magnificent recordings of sacred work and symphony

Dvorák’s wonderful Requiem differs from the major Masses of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi and Brahms in at least one significant respect: in entering the high-flung halls of prayer, Dvorák places his familiar musical personality on hold and for the duration submits absolutely to a devotional mood. Gone for the most part is the Slavonic Dvorák, Dvorák the dancer and nature lover, the great pantheist with an eye for meadowlands and rolling hills. Instead, the Requiem’s musical poetry turns inward and there’s a sense of awe that at times approximates the larger choral works of Bruckner.

The “Dies irae” is grimly insistent and the Parsifal-like use of brass and tam-tam at the start of the “Tuba mirum” is supremely effective, though the lyrical “Recordare” is very characteristic. The work’s second part, which starts with the Offertorium, offers the greater comfort and generally lighter shades, the thundering central climax of the closing “Agnus Dei” (disc 2, tr 3, from 5'49") quite overwhelming on this magnificent recording, a credible rival to Ancerl (DG), Kertész (Decca) and most particularly Armin Jordan (Warner). The singing is consistently fine, both solo and in ensemble, and the sheer range of colour achieved by the Vienna Singverein, whether in rapt pianissimo or when singing their hearts out in the “Agnus Dei”, at times defies belief.

The most recent rival to Jansons – with Neeme Järvi conducting the London Philharmonic’s forces in full cry, and recorded at almost exactly the same time – was much praised in these pages, and with good reason (1/10). It’s a fair bit swifter than this Jansons version, though that exultant last climax makes less of an impact, principally because an important counter-idea at its crown is partially obscured. Also, there’s some less-than-tight string ensemble early on in the “Dies irae”. The fill-up on the present double-pack (Järvi’s set doesn’t have one) is a “very Mariss Jansons” performance of the Eighth Symphony that toys with dynamics in pursuit of maximum expressive effect, especially in the first movement, and after the Allegretto grazioso’s Trio, the hushed return on the strings of the principal theme.

I like Jansons’s capricious handling of those chirpy woodwind figurations in the Adagio and although at times “character” stoops to mannerism, it’s a real performance and a worthy makeweight for a magnificent reading of the Requiem, which is a real feather in Jansons’s cap, CD-wise. Both recordings are superb.

-- Rob Cowan, Gramophone

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: *****
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/r/rco10001a.php
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalcdreviews/7726130/Dvorak-Requiem-Symphony-No-8.html
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dvorak-Requiem-Symphony-No-8/dp/B003AOG4PI

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Antonín Dvořák (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer. He was the second Czech composer to achieve worldwide recognition, after Bedřich Smetana. Following Smetana's nationalist example, many of Dvořák's works show the influence of Czech folk music, such as his  two sets of Slavonic Dances, the Symphonic Variations, and the overwhelming majority of his songs. Dvořák wrote in a variety of forms: nine symphonies, ten operas, three concertos, several symphonic poems, serenades for string orchestra and wind ensemble, more than 40 works of chamber music, and piano music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k

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Mariss Jansons (born 14 January 1943 in Riga, Latvia) is a Latvian conductor. His father Arvīds Jansons was assistant to Evgeny Mravinsky at the Leningrad Philharmonic. Jansons studied piano and conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory, and continued his training in Vienna with Hans Swarowsky and in Salzburg with Herbert von Karajan. He was music director of Oslo Philharmonic (1979-2000), Pittsburgh Symphony (1997-2004) and Royal Concertgebouw (2002-2015). Since 2003, Jansons has been serving as music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony (his contract was extended through 2021).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariss_Jansons

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