Mozart’s Requiem Up Close: An Intimate Performance by Jos van Veldhoven

My latest “Discovery” is this lovely performance of the Mozart Requiem (Süssmayr Edition) featuring The Netherlands Bach Society Choir and Orchestra, conducted by Jos van Veldhoven. Oddly enough, it made me think about the difference between acting for the camera and acting on the theater stage. I’ve seen information on how actors as diverse as Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine talked about their experiences in changing their approaches from theater to film.

The camera sees all. You don’t have to project to the back row.

I spent some time thinking about this. It’s easy to think of Mozart’s Requiem beautifully performed in big, theatrical ways as conducted by luminaries such as Karajan, Giulini, Solti, and more recently, Honeck. But this one uses original instruments with much smaller forces, as you might find in a church rather than a concert hall. You might call it theatrical versus liturgical. So which one is better?

Neither! They’re simply different!

Large forces and broad gestures can communicate magnificently, and reduced forces with intimate recording can reveal details and emotions that might otherwise be overlooked.

If Karajan and Giulini occasionally approach the work as a grand theatrical production, van Veldhoven treats it more like a cinematic close-up. And that’s not saying that as a criticism. Mozart was, after all, one of history's greatest opera composers. But performances like this one from The Netherlands Bach Society don’t need to underline every emotional moment, because the listener is already sitting close enough for the subtleties to communicate the emotion directly. Van Veldhoven does not reduce the emotional content of Mozart's Requiem. He reduces the distance between the listener and the human faces of the people making the music.

The wonderful thing is that you can choose!

There are many world-class performances, big or small. If you prefer the smaller forces and original instruments, or you’d simply like to investigate, I have never heard one I like more than this one. The recording quality is one of Jared Sacks’ best, the soloists are excellent, and van Veldhoven brings out the best in the choir and the orchestra. And he presents Mozart’s Requiem in a way you might not have ever heard before!

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