About the time I started collecting LPs, everyone was agog over Toscanini’s Verdi Requiem and Te Deum. The transfers were so bad you couldn’t prove it by me, and as soon as the magnificent Fritz Reiner stereo recording was released, with its stellar quartet of soloists and voice-of-doom bass drum, I forgot about those NBC Symphony readings. We still listened to the Cherubini because it was the only recorded version, but whined that it sounded so bad. Now, thanks to RCA new’s 20-bit processing and careful re-mastering, we can all re-experience this dynamic music making and discover what the original excitement was all about. High and low frequencies have all been restored; even the bass drum in the Dies Irae, though not the monster Telarc has accustomed us to, is impressive. Toscanini’s Requiem is fast–it’s the only one I know of that fits on one CD–but it never seems unduly hurried. Those fast tempos are also fleet and help make the maestro’s dramatic points. High drama seems to be the goal; this is religious opera with a vengeance. The excellent quartet of soloists–great vocalists at their peak–as well as chorus and orchestra all sing and play with precision and abandon. The Te Deum elicits more of the same excellence from everyone concerned.
The Cherubini was all but unknown when Toscanini performed it in 1950. In fact, it still gets talked about more than played or recorded. Toscanini’s taut performance makes quite a good case for it, and its sound has been refurbished just as successfully as that for the Verdi. Thanks to RCA for making it possible to finally hear these masterful, sensitive performances in real high fidelity.
