“Requiem – Mozart’s Death in Words and Music” = Mozart Requiem; Masonic Funeral Music; “Laudate Dominum”; Ave verum corpus; Gregorian chants – F. Murray Abraham, narrator/ Jeanine De Bique, soprano/ Catriona Morison, mezzo-soprano/ Ben Bliss, tenor/ Tareq Nazmi, baritone/ Pittsburgh Sym. Orch./ Manfred Honeck – Reference Recordings multichannel SACD FR-761, (complete listing and credits below) 60:13 ***1/2:
To be honest—I am not sure that this program works in the way that conductor Manfred Honeck envisions it. He has been offering this program in concert for a long time (in fact, I believe you can find it on YouTube), and it is obviously an extremely personal, and pious meditation on both the death of one of the greatest geniuses of all time as well as a profoundly introspective attempt at consideration of human death and the hope that lies beyond this mortal coil. Honeck lays out a liturgical scheme of the Requiem by Mozart in the context of a Requiem for Mozart. Interspersed are a few other pieces by the composer, and short tropes of Gregorian chant and poetry and scripture readings.
Yet buyer beware! This is not a performance of the Mozart Requiem in toto that you may be seeking. Though Honeck makes use of the Süssmayr completions, everything beyond the “offertorium” – Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, Communio, Lux Aeterna, and Cum sanctis tuis – are absent.
So what to make of this? Seeing this in concert is probably a wonderful experience, because you know what you are in for, and the concept is a fascinating one. Listening to it on SACD (in splendiferous sound/mirror super audio sonics) is also an invigorating and very devotional exercise, the renderings of every piece done beautifully, with the orchestra and (thankfully) very large chorus trained to a fare-thee-well. But for repeated listening I am not sure; perhaps every once in a while I will pull this out, but I am far more likely to grab a favorite recording of the Requiem sans interpolations, as the piece itself is such a marvelously devotional and spiritual undertaking by itself.
To note—had it been a complete recording of the Requiem alone, it would have shot to the top five or six of the best versions available. Honeck, as usual, brilliantly defends everything he does in this music, looking at the notes and emotional context of the work to justify any dynamic changes and tempi that he chooses. You might not agree with all of it, but after reading his explanations one certainly cannot fault the logic of his arguments, and after so many sterile period instrument performances over the years, a little passion in interpretation is genuinely welcomed.
It was tough to review this, as a steady basis for evaluation is absent. Let me say this—If it is just the Requiem you seek, you might look elsewhere. If this sort of thing interests you, a combination liturgical reconstruction and philosophical meditation on life and death using Mozart’s own as a template, then you will not be disappointed as all performances are superlative.
—Steven Ritter
Requiem – Mozart’s Death in Words and Music
Requiem in D Minor, K. 626
Masonic Funeral Music in C Minor, K. 477
“Laudate Dominum” from Vesperae solennes de confessore, K. 339
Ave verum corpus, K. 618
various Gregorian chants
F. Murray Abraham, narrator
Jeanine De Bique, soprano
Catriona Morison, mezzo-soprano
Ben Bliss, tenor
Tareq Nazmi, baritone
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck, conductor
