The best things about this Verdi Requiem are the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Daniel Barenboim’s exciting interpretation, and the male soloists, in that order. In fact, were it not for the women, this would be one of the best modern versions around. Alessandra Marc has an intrinsically lovely voice, but either her technique is defective or she’s simply too lazy to articulate a phrase without scooping between the notes. Waltraud Meier, on the other hand, has an intrinsically strange voice, and she spits out one note at a time without ever connecting them into a continuous line of melody. The result, when the two ladies sing their famous unison opening of the Agnus Dei, sounds like some weird crooning accompanied by a toneless, robotic facsimile of itself an octave lower.
Still, there’s a wonderfully atmospheric opening, smashing Dies irae, sparklingly fast Sanctus, and Marc all by herself is pretty good in the Libera me (a little scooping is arguably appropriate here). Placido Domingo and Ferrucio Furlanetto uphold their end of the bargain nicely. It may not be Reiner, Solti I, Giulini, or Gardiner, but it’s pretty fine nonetheless, very well recorded, and certainly worth the modest asking price in this reissue.
