Dvorák: Requiem/The Heirs Of The White Mountain

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
In his days as a music critic, George Bernard Shaw used to poke particular fun at composers of requiems. Why, he wondered, would a perfectly healthy person want to write a Mass for the dead? Dvorák was, of course, no stranger to personal sorrow, but unlike his Stabat Mater, which expresses a very personal grief, his Requiem is a big, public work in which he really made a huge effort to create a sophisticated, symphonically-unified concert experience. That he was largely successful is beyond question, even if the music hasn't achieved the same level of popularity as similar settings by Verdi or Mozart. This performance is easily the best around. I think you'll enjoy (yes, death can be fun) making the acquaintance of this impressive piece. --David Hurwitz

Tracks:

Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 1. Requiem aeternam
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 2. Graduale
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 3. Dies irae (att.)
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 4. Tuba mirum
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 5. Quod sum miser
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 6., Recordare, Jesu Pie
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 7. Confutatis maledictis
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 8. Lacrimosa

Tracks:

Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 9. Offertorium
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 10. Hostias
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 11. Sanctus
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 12. Pie Jesu
Requiem for Solo Voices, Chorus & Orch, Op. 89: 13. Agnus Dei
The Heirs of the White Mountain/Hymn from the Peom by Viteszslav Halek, Op. 30

Amazon.com

In his days as a music critic, George Bernard Shaw used to poke particular fun at composers of requiems. Why, he wondered, would a perfectly healthy person want to write a Mass for the dead? Dvorák was, of course, no stranger to personal sorrow, but unlike his Stabat Mater, which expresses a very personal grief, his Requiem is a big, public work in which he really made a huge effort to create a sophisticated, symphonically-unified concert experience. That he was largely successful is beyond question, even if the music hasn't achieved the same level of popularity as similar settings by Verdi or Mozart. This performance is easily the best around. I think you'll enjoy (yes, death can be fun) making the acquaintance of this impressive piece. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Average.......1998-01-31

Antonin Dvorak was made famous for his new approach to music, with famous styles present in everything from his New World Symphony to this Requiem. Though the Requiem is certainly a work well listening too, it's still more of the average quality and not suitable for those who expect to hear the genius of Verdi, Mozart, and Berlioz, or the simplicity of Durufle and Faure. The Requiem seems very impersonal. It's very distant, cold like Cherubini's Requiem in D and some of the plainchants. There is drama in here, but too little for the excitement that Mozart and Berlioz generated, and too much for the serenity that Faure and Durufle exuded. At some times, boredom can almost sound like a fitting description, but it's still a stretch. Sieglinde Wagner, whom I believe is a descendant of Richard Wagner, and Maria Stader seem to do well with their parts, as does the tenor Ernst Haefliger.

The movements Requiem et Kyrie, Tuba Mirum, and Confutatis maledictis are probably the most notable ones. The movements in between and after cannot be dismissed as chaff but they aren't very exceptional, either. The Biblical Songs (on the second disc) are adequate but they are wan and somewhat dull. Dvorak's instrumentation as always is exceptional.

The Requiem begins coldly, eerily. Descending notes announce quickly the roar of the opening words of "Te decet hymnus." Composers tend to set these words apart from the rest of the Requiem, and Dvorak is no exception. Even if much of the rest of the Requiem is somewhat lackluster, the opening makes up for it. It's a tidal wave of sound here, a sweeping downthrust that will definitely surprise the unwary listener (especially if you've turned up the volume to hear the opening, quiet words). The tenor sings a solo for parts of this section of the opening, and an interesting setting to the words "exaudi orationem meam" follows, as well as a diminutive reprise of the first outburst.

The Graduale is extremely rare in Requiems, like the In Paradisum movement (the only major repertoire ones being Cherubini, Faure, and Durufle). There are only four major Requiem settings of the Graduale (Ockeghem, Cherubini twice, and Dvorak), since its text resembles the Requiem opening's. Dies Irae is impressive but I have to say that it pales in comparison to Verdi's quickly paced cataclysmic outbursts, Mozart's proclamation of doomsday, and Berlioz's quiet, shifting burden (which in the beginning evokes the feeling of some large but unseen beast). The Dies Irae summons awe and majesty, but it feels too methodical and geometrical. There are high moments to the Dies Irae, and we must remember that it is this movement that usually calls for all the composer's got, but, like Bruckner's Dies Irae, it's not exceptional.

Tuba mirum is a striking, changing movement with a reprise of the Dies Irae. The penultimate movement in the Dies Irae Sequence is Confutatis maledictis. In smaller or just simpler requiems, the entire Dies Irae is set as one movement, often with similar melodies and sounds for the three "big" sections (the Dies Irae opening, the Rex Tremendae, and the Lacrimosa). However, in very large or monumental requiems, the composer sets each of the movements separately. The portions of the Dies Irae that are set as individual movements vary greatly, though always are the Dies Irae opening, Rex Tremendae, and Lacrimosa isolated by themselves. In this case, Confutatis maledictis, a text referring to the damnation of the evil, is set as an individual movement.