Brahms Harnoncourt, Wiener Philharmoniker Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 (2010) [repost]

Johannes Brahms’ consolatory Ein deutsches Requiem receives a fresh and considered interpretation from Daniel Reuss and the Orchestra Of The Eighteenth Century. This renowned orchestra took the decision - following the death, some years back, of Frans Brüggen - to retain its founder’s dynamic process of alternating concert tours with recordings. Dispensing with the need for having a principal conductor, the orchestra now works with a range of musicians according to the repertoire being performed.

Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir in a luminous, expansive performance of Brahms' German Requiem recorded live in 2009, during Nézet-Séguin's first season as the orchestra's principal guest conductor. The conductor's conception is notable for creating a sense of breadth and serenity while maintaining a purposefulness and momentum that never allow the long lines to sag; it's a beautifully executed balancing act that allows the work to unfold with the spaciousness and grandeur it needs to make its maximum impact.

Celebrating 80 years of vigorous artistic life with Brahms’ expansive and consoling mass for the dead, Ein deutsches Requiem, the hr-Sinfonieorchester (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra) under its Chief Conductor Paavo Järvi, is joined by soprano Natalie Dessay, baritone Ludovic Tézier and the Swedish Radio Choir in an interpretation described as “exemplary” by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Musical settings of the Requiem understandably encompass a vast expressive gamut, from Mozart's fear and trembling to the seraphic gentleness of Fauré. But the focus in Brahms's German Requiem–his first large-scale work–is not so much on the departed as on those left behind and the work of memory. In lieu of the traditional Latin liturgy, Brahms uses texts culled from the Lutheran Bible that range from despair at our mortal condition to the solace offered by faith. John Elliott Gardiner and his forces here attempt to replicate the orchestral sound and style of Brahms's own time, using period bowing practices for the strings and mellow Viennese horns, to cite a few examples. The result is a magnificent and deeply moving performance that features excellent integration of the orchestra and chorus.

This is a rather brisk reading of Brahms' masterpiece, the most ambitious work in his output and one of the greatest compositions of its type. Though Herreweghe's tempos often pushed the music to its limits here (except for the first section), the performance never actually sounded fast, or at least not offensively fast. In fact, it challenges the Levine/RCA effort.

TDK presents a truly new way of looking at La clemenza di Tito with this famous and star-studded production from the Salzburg Festival 2003. Here Nikolaus Harnoncourt, renowned for his analytical approach to the search for the core of the music, interprets Mozart’s last opera. Martin Kušej, who is acclaimed for his theatre productions directs the production. Nikolaus Harnoncourt identifies with Mozart’s score as both an extremely knowledgeable musician and a conductor who invariably plays an active part in helping to shape the drama. Together with the Vienna Philharmonic, he savours the miracles of Mozart’s late work, bringing out its instrumental colours and effects and at the same time stimulating his singers while proving a solicitous accompanist.

Schubert's 'Tragic' Symphony and Mozart's 'Paris' Symphony are performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Wiener Musikvereinsaal in 1984. Harnoncourt goes back to Schubert's original manuscripts to perform the music in its purest form. Harnoncourt joined forces with The Chamber Orchestra of Europe for Mozart's last symphonies (Nos. 39-41), performed at the Wiener Musikvereinssaal in 1991. Known throughout the world for his highly original approach to classical music, conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt reveres Mozart as 'the most romantic composer of all'.