Notes and Editorial Reviews
Salieri might reasonably have been surprised to discover that
he would be remembered not for what he did do, but for what
he continued to say that he did not do. His name is well known
even in non-musical circles as a result of his being a main
character in Pushkin’s Mozart and Salieri (later
turned into an opera by Rimsky-Korsakov) and in Peter Shaffer’s
play (and later film) Amadeus. There he is depicted as
a murderous rival to Mozart at the time that the latter is writing
his own setting of the Requiem. Both Salieri’s own testimony
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and later evidence suggests that this is simply fiction. The
truth which is more relevant to this disc is that Salieri was
a very well known and respected composer who wrote many very
successful operas, followed by much church music in his role
as Hofkapellmeister in Vienna. His pupils included Beethoven,
Liszt and Schubert . The Requiem heard on this disc was written
for a very specific purpose - Salieri’s own funeral. This
did not take place for some time after he had completed it,
although his instructions were followed and it was performed
before most of the great and good of Viennese music.
The Requiem is certainly an impressive work. I do not know enough
of Salieri’s other church music to know if it is typical,
but unsurprisingly it reminds this listener of Gluck, Haydn
and early Beethoven and Schubert. The soloists are used infrequently
although their part in the Benedictus is particularly
lovely. The scoring is always effective with many beautifully
written woodwind solos and with fierce brass in the Tuba
mirum. Whereas the better known Requiems of Mozart and Verdi
depict in the Lacrymosa the weeping that is described
there, Salieri instead uses this part of the text to give an
awful warning of what it is that will lead to the tears. This
is effective and is typical of his care and imagination over
word-setting. The work ends with final words sung by the chorus
with their lines doubled by the winds but otherwise unaccompanied.
Whilst I am not yet convinced that the Requiem can be described
unreservedly as a masterpiece it certainly does not deserve
the oblivion into which it has dropped, and should surely appeal
to any choir wanting a work of this period which makes a full
use of the choir rather than predominantly of the soloists.
The briefer works by two of Salieri’s pupils are also
rarely performed in public but they too very much deserve to
be. Although the performances are said to be live there are
no obvious audience noises or lapses from the performers here
or in the main work. The contrasting character of the two sections
of the Beethoven is well caught although for me the highlight
of the disc is the miraculous late Schubert work. Its textures
and harmonies are both original and memorable - so much packed
into a work of under ten minutes in length.
The performances and recording are admirable but what is not
so good is the absence of texts or translations. This is not
a problem in the Requiem whose words are familiar and easily
found in any event, but for full enjoyment the listener needs
to be able to understand in detail what is being sung in the
shorter works. This is regrettable in a full price disc which
is nonetheless well worth exploring for those with any interest
in the composers represented.
-- John Sheppard, MusicWeb International
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Works on This Recording
1.
Requiem in C minor by Antonio Salieri
Conductor:
Lawrence Foster
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Gulbenkian Foundation Symphony Orchestra Lisbon,
Gulbenkian Foundation Chorus Lisbon
Period: Classical
Written: 1804
2.
Meerestille und glückliche Fahrt, Op. 112 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Conductor:
Lawrence Foster
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Gulbenkian Foundation Symphony Orchestra Lisbon,
Gulbenkian Foundation Chorus Lisbon
Period: Classical
Written: 1814-1815; Vienna, Austria
3.
Offertory in B flat major, D 963 "Intende voci" by Franz Schubert
Conductor:
Lawrence Foster
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Gulbenkian Foundation Symphony Orchestra Lisbon,
Gulbenkian Foundation Chorus Lisbon
Period: Romantic
Written: 1828; Vienna, Austria
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