Verdi - Requiem & Quattro pezzi sacri - Von Otter, Miles, Brown - Gardiner 1992Performer: Luba Orgonasova, Alastair Miles, Anne Sofie von Otter, Luca Canonici, Donna Brown
Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner
Orchestra/Ensemble: Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
Gardiner's reading of the requiem is the most viscerally thrilling on record. The dies irae through to the mors stupebit in particular will leave you drained, such is their intensity. As in most of his recordings, Gardiner clarifies the textures of the music so as to draw to your attention details of which you may have been completely unaware. Many other recordings of this piece sound "sludgy" by comparison and are surprisingly devoid of this performance's (or in fact any) intensity of feeling. The soloists are all excellent. Regardless of whether you are a period instrument fan, this is the best and most moving recording available. --Amazon customer
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