Mozart: Requiem.(Opera Review)

MOZART: Requiem

Schafer, Fink; Streit, Finley; Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Concentus Musicus Wien, Harnoncourt. Text and translation. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 82876 58705-2

It's hard to believe that Nikolaus Harnoncourt has another trick up his sleeve. Long known for his iconoclastic, historically informed interpretations, he has now recorded a Mozart Requiem that could fairly be called a basic library recommendation. Harnoncourt offers all of the Sussmayr completions, big-name soloists and an adult choir with no boy sopranos. The tuning pitch is not especially low, and there is no tweaking of cadences. This conductor continues to surprise the ears.

Harnoncourt's tempo choices for the movements without indications from Mozart or Sussmayr are plausible. The Rex Tremendae is aristocratic and amiable, and the Lacrimosa glides along like a gondola ride. Elsewhere, the Benedictus is brisk but still graceful, with enough room to breathe. The only wild card is the Hostias, which dances along, one beat to the bar. But Harnoncourt is careful to maintain forward motion in slow tempos as well. The opening Introit is glacial for an andante, but it has an inner life like a giant heartbeat. The return of this material in the Lux Aeterna has a new, cleansed quality. The Dies Irae manages a controlled fury, resolutely Classical. Harnoncourt is notably successful at forging the six movements of the Sequence into a ...