Track Listing

1. No. 1, Introitus et Kyrie
2. No. 2, Offertorium
3. No. 3, Sanctus
4. No. 4, Pie Jesu
5. No. 5, Agnus Dei
6. No. 6, Libera me
7. No. 7, In Paradisum
8. Introit
9. Kyrie
10. Domine Jesu Christe
11. Sanctus
12. Pie Jesu
13. Agnus Dei
14. Lux Aeterna
15. Libera Me
16. In Paradisum

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196173 in Music
• Released on: 1999-05-11
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Once described as a "lullaby of death," Gabriel Fauré's Requiem is a work of supreme composure that seems to illustrate the gentlest of goings into that good night. This recording bucks the current trend favoring the composer's original version for reduced chamber orchestra, offering the fully orchestrated edition from 1899. The result gives a solid, spacious context for Fauré's modal lyricism, his interplay of light and shadow, to unfold. Conductor Myun-Whung Chung at times even suggests a dark undertow of despair, as in the funereal plunge and tread of the Introit, yet he is also keenly sensitive to the agnostic composer's essentially sensuous textures (listen to the dark amber interweaving of inner string lines in the Offertorium), thereby escaping the potential sentimentality that sometimes pits Fauré's vision unfavorably against the robust fire and fury of Verdi's Requiem. In this regard, Chung's choice of soloists is ideal. Cecilia Bartoli's rendition of the Pie Jesu will stop you in your tracks (simply one of the most achingly beautiful examples of her artistry), while Bryn Terfel uses the rich resonance of his baritone to powerful effect. Maurice Duruflé's Fauré-inspired Requiem, offered as the coupling, is likewise given in its fully orchestrated version. The patient serenity of its culminating In Paradisum seems to offer a harmony of the spheres for our age of anxiety. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews

Chung finally lives up to his billing
You can reasonably expect Bartoli and Terfel to be fine artists, especially if they are well-supervised. I cringed when I first saw this one in that I expected Chung to beat prissily away as he usually does, but the sneaking suspicion that he'd actually think a recording project through caused me to go for it.

And I'm glad I did. Bartoli's presence inspires him and Terfel to come way up to her considerable international standard. As for the Santa Cecilia Orchestra...well...it would play well even for YOU...or sometimes even WITHOUT you. To go along with this, the Santa Cecilia Chorus outdoes itself in ardor, mimicry, and close attention to the text, absolutely one of the finest choirs in the world.

The Faure has some darker corners than what we're used to and gives Chung an opportunity to think and produce an effect for once. His Durufle is on the same level, full of contrast without being jerked around, luminous and fulfilling.

All told, this turns out to be Chung's best recorded effort and is an excellent accomplishment for him...although I suspect the superior standard of his Rome forces contributes greatly to this (when he gets back to Paris are we back to routine?) The sound is also lovely, a warm, silky presentation of what's obviously an outstanding venue for recording projects such as this.

In going out the door, I'll express one caveat...these are French works and nothing is particularly Gallic about the performances...but in the divine scheme of things, this might be seen as going way beyond national idiom.

A Refreshingly Elegant Performing Stance on Two Important Requiems
While not everyone will give this magnificent recording the chance it deserves because it may seem irreverent to praise full-bodied performances of two delicate French masterpieces, those who truly love both the Fauré and Duruflé Requiems will find much to love here. Myung-Whun Chung has opted to record the full orchestra/full mixed chorus versions of these two works usually heard in the pared-down versions for church settings, and in doing so he unveils even more mysteries than one would think possible. Chung knows the French repertoire well, having been associated with French Opera in France for many seasons. And here he draws upon the Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia as well as the full-bodied, intelligent and sensitive voices of singers Bryn Terfel and Cecilia Bartoli as his soloists.

The result: dreamily romantic reading of these beautiful scores. Though Bartoli is a mezzo-soprano in name, her range is so vast that she offers the most genuinely spiritual 'Pie Jesu' in the Fauré in this listener's history. The same can be said for Terfel's involved singing. Often these solos are given to minor singers and it is a thrill to hear them from the gifted voices of two of today's finest recitalists. Chung draws gorgeous sounds from his gathered ensemble and produces the warmest, romantic performances these two Requiems are likely to enjoy.

Different interpretations, yes, but still very much in the core of both composers' concepts. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, October 05

piano e forte
This could be the greatest recording of the last century for all I know, but a consistent volume was impossible to achieve with the soft sections so recessed and the loud sections so prominent. I couldn't hear two-thirds of the damned thing. Difficult to appeciate these works' sublimity, annoyed as I was by having to turn the volume up and down.