There are three recordings of Toscanini's take on Verdi's Requiem, each stunning in its own way. This one from 1938, despite the tubby, always problematic but certainly listenable sound, is remarkable for how much instrumental detail is audible and dramatically part of the whole: the descending cello notes during the "Kyrie"; the maniacal piccolos accompanying the "Dies irae" that give way in the soft, following passage to clear clarinets and oboes; the bassoon in the "Quid sum miser". The choral work is the best of the three performances. Through their impressive technical facility, expressive range (they're capable of singing from pppp to ffff), and impeccable diction, the BBC forces imbue the text with great meaning.

Zinka Milanov, heard here early in her career (she's also on the 1940 performance and she's better there), is in secure, lovely voice, particularly (as we might guess) in long, pianissimo passages. In 1940 she sounds more like the Milanov we know; here she can be a bit light and tentative (in middle and low passages), if bright-voiced. However, I'm nit-picking: she's actually pretty stunning. Kerstin Thorborg takes the mezzo role as if it were a part in an opera, delivering the text with the urgency of a story teller. And her tone is wonderfully dusky, a fine contrast to Milanov's sheen. Nicola Moscona sings all the notes with a firm, uninteresting quality. Helge Roswaenge sings handsomely but is amazingly non-Italianate--as are the two women, but Roswaenge even dares to pronounce his "u" as a "v" (how did that get past Toscanini?). In contrast, Björling in the 1940 performance is a knockout. In short, it's great to have this version of the Requiem, but the 1940, available from Music & Arts, is better if Toscanini is your man. And he should be.

--Robert Levine