Verdi, Giuseppe - Messa da Requiem (2CD) - Muti, Riccardo

Performances of Verdi's Messa da Requiem in Munich in October 1981 with Jessye Norman, Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, and Yevgeny Nesterenko, the Bavarian Radio Choir, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti were concert events that have hardly been seen since, The choir and orchestra were so powerful, the maestro kept such a tight rein on the interpretation, and the renowned soloists – internationally acclaimed singers who gave their all to achieve the best possible result – were so outstanding. And they all succeeded brilliantly. Finally – four decades later – BR-KLASSIK can now present the absolute pinnacle of this Verdi MESSA DA REQUIEM's performance history on album. The audience was spellbound and completely enchanted, and the critics raved about it: according to them, such a powerful work had hardly ever been heard on this side of the Alps; Riccardo Muti had shown what Verdi's Requiem should sound like; This performance of Verdi's requiem mass was authentic, frightening, sensitive, and terrifying, offering a fragile but hopeful glimpse of transcendence; all in all, a truly resounding success. Wolf-Dieter Peter, a critic for the Mittelbayrische Zeitung newspaper in Regensburg (see booklet), was there at the time and reported how the extra trumpets placed in the gallery of the Herkulessaal "blew a sparkling metallic stream of sound over the auditorium, almost as if from the beyond." It was something, he said, that "had never been seen, heard, or experienced before... simply unforgettable."