VERDI: Messa da Requiem.(Review)

VERDI: Messa da Requiem [] Fleming, Borodina; Bocelli, d'Arcangelo; Kirov Orchestra and Chorus, Gergiev. Text and translation. Philips 289 468 079-2

Giuseppe Verdi was not religious in the churchgoing sense; in letters written during the period of its composition, he seems surprised by his pleasure and involvement in creating his Messa da Requiem. Although the composer wrote to Camille du Locle (librettist for Don Carlos, a first cousin to the Requiem) that he found himself suddenly "a serious person, no longer the audience's down" who made the sign of the cross at the mention of operas, Verdi was, in essence, composing an opera in his Requiem -- albeit one that utilizes liturgical text in an openly dramatic way. Conductors have been taken to task for accenting the work's operatic feel; singers have been similarly chastised. Yet no successful performance of the work can ignore completely the Requiem's raw emotional bite, its Shakespearean scale and sweep, its unmistakable flavor of opera.

The new Philips Requiem, under Valery Gergiev's direction, is not for those who like their Requiems on the restrained side. There are a few other things about this recording that will raise eyebrows right away. First of all, how about the gold label slapped onto the cellophane, proclaiming this "The Ultimate Verdi Requiem?" Ultimate in relation to what, one asks? Do collectors now toss their prized recordings of the work, conducted by the likes of Toscanini, Reiner, Serafin, Solti, Giulini and Muti? Or is this meant to be the last recording of this piece ever, no more allowed? (Ah, the age of hype!)

Another eyebrow-raiser is, obviously, the presence of Andrea Bocelli as the tenor soloist. This performance is quite an accomplishment for a singer whose real metier is Italian canzone, and for whom the learning of an intricate ensemble piece such as this must present challenges far beyond the ones encountered by sighted opera singers. The effect of his participation is, nonetheless, weird. The first solo voice we hear is that of the tenor in his ascending Kyrie. Bocelli's wide-open, close-miked, straight-ish tone is a jarring sound -- particularly through the passaggio -- and one that dashes with the three A-team opera voices that ...