Cherubini’s major sacred works are generally quite marvelous. The two Requiems have a distinguished history on disc. Toscanini recorded the C minor, Markevitch the D minor, and my colleague David Vernier praised the recent release of the C minor piece on Carus. They are both truly excellent: grave and austere, but also dynamic, moving, and well worth hearing. The same is certainly true of the large-scale Masses: the Missa solemnis in D minor and E major and the Mass in F are especially memorable. Their grandeur never strains for effect and is always leavened with the composer’s Italian lyricism. Cherubini may not have been well-treated by history, but he knew what he was doing.
Riccardo Muti’s Cherubini series obviously was a labor of love; certainly it never was a marketing success, but he conducts all of these works with total commitment and passion. He makes them sound like great music, and silences argument as to whether or not they really are. Neville Marriner’s performances of the overtures are–as expected–lively and intelligent, but without that extra energy and discipline that Muti brings to the choral music. Still, these very enjoyable short pieces fill out the set’s seven discs very generously. The engineering is uniformly good, though naturally a bit variable. This is a true collector’s edition. Get it while you can. [10/6/2010]
