Messe de Requiem

2009 Marks The 111th Anniversary Of Deutsche Grammophon. Over 11 Decades, The Label's Philosophy Has Always Been 'The Greatest Recordings By The Greatest Artists In The World' And Now They Showcase This With This Incredible 55 Cd Box Set. This Unique Collection Forms Dg's Major Release In Its 111th Anniversary Celebrations. The Limited Edition Box Set Gathers Together Many Landmark Recordings, From The Past To The Present. Most Of Them Appear Complete, As Originally Programmed, In Their Original Cover Art And Several Include Additional Material. It Is A True Library Of Music, Artists And Recordings Extending From Abbado To Zimerman, Monteverdi To P„rt, Furtw„ngler To Dudamel– There's Never Been Anything Quite Like It Before. The Opulent Deluxe Box With Hinged Lid Opens Up To Reveal The Neatly Stacked Contents Of 51 'Original Jacket' Albums And 150-Page Booklet.

The compact disc, as a sound carrier, was still on the horizon when Herbert von Karajan urged his record company to utilize the new digital technology in his recordings. Consequently Karajan's Magic Flute, recorded in 1980, became the first release of a Deutsche Grammophon digital production and was first released on LP. By the time the maestro died in 1989, the CD had finally replaced the LP as the primary sound carrier, yet he was realistic enough to know that the pioneering early stages of the digital era would be followed by further technical development. This is reflected in Karajan Gold. In this series the later development of the digital process that occurs after Karajan's death could be turned to the benefit of the Maestro's own recordings. Thirty releases from the early digital era were remastered for this series using DG's special Original-Image Bit-Processing technology. They were issued between 1993-1995.

Kaum ein Komponist zu Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts hat so viele ehrenvolle Kompositionsaufträge zu festlichen staatlichen oder gesellschaftlichen Anlässen erhalten wie der gebürtige Salzburger Sigismund Neukomm. Im zeitlichen Zusammenhang mit dem Wiener Kongress 1814/15 war er es (und nicht etwa Beethoven), der 1815 beauftragt wurde, das Requiem zum Gedenken des 1793 auf dem Schafott hingerichteten Königs Ludwig XVI. zu komponieren. Neukomm (und nicht etwa Cherubini) war ebenfalls der Verfasser des Te Deum, das 1814 in Notre Dame von Paris beim festlichen Einzug von König Ludwig XVIII. erklang.

"Music fit for kings - The Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles – set up by the French Gaovernment to research and perform French music from the years between 1600 and 1800 – have gathered together 20 CDs worth of alluring material, most of it from live recordings made last autumn by Radio France at concerts in various rooms of the Versailles palace…..for anyone who loves French Baroque and Classical music, this box is a cast-iron must have."

Gramophone Magazine, August 2008

"A monumental achievement, this is essential listening - not just for classical fans, but for anyone who cares remotely for French culture."

The Guardian, 8th August 2008

C'est à Rio, en 1817, que Neukomm composa cette messe monumentale, destinée à saluer l'accession au trône du Portugal et du Brésil, du roi Jean VI, lors de la grande cérémonie d'acclamations qui devait avoir lieu l'année suivante. Mais de sombres raisons la firent censurer et le manuscrit en dormait depuis, parmi les quelques deux mille œuvres léguées à la France par ce compositeur.
Après le "Libera me" ajouté à la version carioca du Requiem de Mozart et le Grand Office funèbre, Jean-Claude Malgoire poursuit ici son exploration raisonnée des chefs d'œuvre de ce compositeur trop injustement oublié, avec cet enregistrement "live".