Brahms - German Requiem - Schwarzkopf, Dieskau, Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra

 

Release Date: January 13, 2008 Label: EMI Number of discs: 1  Composer: Johannes Brahms Performer: Otto Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra cd info/ buy

Review:

This CD is a re-issue on EMI of Klemper's German Requiem conducting the Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra with Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as the soloists. The release is part of EMI's "Great Recordings of the Century" and it replaces an earlier CD in the series in virtually the same format which is now out of print.  This is a classic recording which in one format or another will long be in the catalog and which will be important to any music lover. This beloved work received its first performances in 1868 and 1869. Its immediate inspiration was the death of Brahms's mother and, probably, the death of Robert Schumann as well. I can't think of a more fitting interpreter of the German Requiem than Otto Klemperer or of a better recording to bring this music to life than this historic, 1961 recording with the Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra, with soloists Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. The recording is available at modest price on the EMI Classics series of "Great Recordings of the Century." It is that, indeed.

 

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