Berlioz’s ‘Requiem’ from Sir Antonio Pappano and Concertgebouworkest

Welcome to ‘Dodd’s DSD Discoveries’, a review series from NativeDSD Senior Music Reviewer Bill Dodd. This series focuses on Bill’s latest selections, with new reviews regularly.

A memory crossed my mind the other day. I was attending a 6 week Summer Session at UC Berkeley in 1963, and one of my classes was Chorus, with longtime conductor and professor, Dr. Edward Lawton. I was in the chorus for the Summer Concert, Berlioz’ Grande Messe des Morts. It was a wonderful experience!

The Berlioz Requiem, could not have been composed, or been accepted had Beethoven’s world-changing Ninth Symphony not been premiered just 13 years earlier. Without that precedent, Berlioz’ Requiem, with its 400 + performers, four antiphonal brass bands, explosive percussion, and monumental structure would have been unthinkable!

Berlioz discovered Beethoven in the 1820s, and was totally a changed man. He studied the Ninth intensely. He attended performances. He wrote about it. He internalized its scale, its daring, its sense of cosmic drama. And while the Requiem is in no way an imitation of the Ninth, it’s clear that Berlioz needed Beethoven, and the Requiem needed Beethoven’s Ninth.

NativeDSD has two recordings of the Berlioz Requiem available– one by Sir Colin Davis with the London Symphony Orchestra, and this one with Sir Antonio Pappano with the Royal Concertgebouw. I’ll tell you up front that both are quite satisfying, and each is a world class performance. Sir Colin Davis is recognized as a leader in the works of Berlioz, and his earlier 1968 account on Philips is thought to be the pinnacle of greatness by many. But Pappano and the Royal Concertgebouw, aided by a superb Italian Chorus, and sound engineering that is simply unbeatable can easily talked about in the same way.

Pappano favors somewhat swifter tempos, but it never sounds rushed. Critics say Pappano’s performance is urgent, dramatic, and structurally clear. They also praise the Chorus Of The Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, and tenor Javier Camarena.

This is monumental music, performed brilliantly, with great sound. Between Sir Colin’s later recording with the LSO and Sir Antonio’s with the Royal Concertgebouw, I give the edge to Pappano, and that’s why it’s my “Discovery” this time. As always, listen to the samples and decide for yourself! As I said, they are both world-class.