Verdi - Requiem / London Symphony Orchestra

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Product Description

Verdi – Requiem / Margaret Price, Jose Carreras, Jessye Norman, Ruggiero Raimondi, Claudio Abbado, London Symphony Orchestra
Recorded live from Usher Hall, Edinburgh, this memorable performance features the highly distinguished soloists Jessye Norman (soprano), Margaret Price (soprano), Jose Carreras (tenor) and Ruggiero Raimondi (bass). Claudio Abbado conducts the London Symphony Orchestra. 120 minutes.
MARGARET PRICE soprano
JESSYE NORMAN soprano
JOSE CARRERAS tenor
RUGGERO RAIMONDI bass
EDINBURGH FESTIVAL CHORUS
Chorus master JOHN CURRIE
LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Leader MICHAEL DAVIS
Conductor CLAUDIO ABBADO

Review

Claudio Abbado’s 1982 performance of the Verdi Requiem with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus is not, perhaps, a classic in the league of the 1963 Carlo Maria Guilini recording, but it has a steely, controlling intelligence that never stands in the way of the work’s passionate and ecstatic qualities. José Carreras’s tenor voice was at that point in its fullest bloom, and Ruggiero Raimondi’s bass has a spine-tingling dark lyricism that reminds us that the writing for bass here has much in common with possibly his greatest role, King Philip the Second in Don Carlos. The decision to use Margaret Price and Jessye Norman as the two female soloists is an interesting one–there is less distinction of range between them than is usual, but their particularly characterful voices offer quite enough contrast. The chorus gives the climaxes of the Dies Irae everything it has and is perfectly gentle and still in quieter passages –Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk