Average Customer Review: ( 31 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 found the following review helpful:
 A Requiem in and of itself Nov 05, 2005
By Brett A. Kniess
The trouble with reviewing Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem is trying to compare it to other Requiem's we are all familiar with without doing either work any unjustice. Sure, I hear a definite influence of Benjaimin Britten, perhaps even a little Bernstein Mass, but this is no War Requiem, and comparing it to other settings by Verdi, Berlioz, Faure, Durufle, or Mozart would be useless. Instead, realize this is a work unto itself.
Andrew Lloyd Webber sets the Requiem and Kyrie, Dies Irae, Rex Tremendae, Recordare, Ingemisco, Lacrymosa, Offertorium, Sanctus (Hosanna), Pie Jesu, Lux Aeterna, and the Libera Me sequences of the mass of the dead. Scored for full orchestra (including saxophones), a huge array of percussion (including drum kit), harp, piano, celeste, synthesizer, and organ, this is an orchestration of monumental proportions. The chorus on the recording includes boy sopranos and altos and male tenors and basses along with solos for boy soprano, tenor (Placido Domingo), and soprano (Sarah Brightman). The voices, soloists especially, have extreme ranges (high and low) making this a work requiring virtuosity in the entire ensemble.
As for the music, everyone's perception of death is a different and personal experience, thus, ones idea of "Requiem" music will be completely different from others. You can find some snatches of chant-like material, pure melodiousness, great dissonance, revelry, bombasticity, and prayerfulness in this setting. Andrew Lloyd Webber exploits his talent of creating memorable melodies and uses thematic economy to tie the entire work together. The purity of the boy soprano is announced at the beginning with simple octave and fifth leaps, and frames the work by ending on a similar note. The soloists and their extreme ranges portray great angst and tension, but later turns into jubilation. I truly believe this is a serious work; each section gives a personal visualization of the Requiem text and creates a roller-coaster of ideas. The inclusion of more ethnic/modern drums in some places give the music its own Andrew Lloyd Webber personal spin.
The entire Requiem is rarely performed in its entirety, nonetheless recorded. This CD will probably remain the preferred performance to have until the end of time, and for good reason. It captures the excitement of a premier recording by consummate artists and performers. If you are looking for an interesting, and perhaps revolutionary, choral work, look no further.
15 of 15 found the following review helpful:
Webber's Requiem Jun 04, 2001
By Kelsie Jackson
This Requiem is one of the best I have ever heard. I would put it on the same level as Verdi's Requiem and Mozart's Requiem. Webber approaches this sacred work with a style all his own, a style which breaks significantly from that of Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, and Faure. The rushing Dies Irae - Tuba Mirum is certainly unique among the other four major Requiems, as is the "Hosanna". I am no expert in music, but I do own recordings of the Mozart and Verdi Requiems in addition to this one, and in my opinion, Webber's Requiem stands out as a unique work from a unique voice.
27 of 31 found the following review helpful:
This is a really good CD! Mar 13, 1999
By phantom_mask12@hotmail.com
Well, the 1 thing that made me put 4 stars instead of 5, was, Placido Domingo seems TOO overpowering... I'm not the person that likes tenors all that much (I'm okay with Andrea Bocelli, though! hehehehe)Sarah Brightman does a great job in Requiem & Kyrie, and I love her little 45 second duet with Placido. That's wonderful! I'd just buy the CD for that.. Recordae, she does fabulous, as in Hosanna, Offertorium, and Pie Jesu, and it all! Paul Miles-Kingston does great in Pie Jesu, and especially Rex Tremendae! This whole CD is great though! I'm glad that they didn't have a song just for Placido, though, as they did for Sarah and Paul. But, buy this CD if you have the chance!
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S MOST SOLEMN PIECE OF MUSIC Sep 16, 2006
By Marijan Bosnar
"(the historian)"
When Andrew Lloyd Webber's father William, a classical composer in his own right, died in 1982, his by that time famous son decided to commemorate his death with a piece of newly composed music. But it was not the musical that ALW had in mind for this intimate occasion; he rather returned to his own classical roots he acquired while frequenting the Westminster music school, where his father was an organist.
The result of this effort is captured on this CD in form of a requiem mass. This precise form, immortalized by the likes of Verdi and Mozart in the past, seems an awkward and a rather risky choice for a composer who became famous by revitalizing the concept and the perception of the modern musical theatre. And yet, the whole piece managed not only to be embraced by the public, but also it established itself as an important contribution to the genre.
All of the mass parts as recorded on this CD manage to invoke the much needed feeling this type of work requires. The opening `Requiem and Kyrie' number, with its gentle tune, a moving chorus accompaniment and the mixture of the capital voices leaves a deep and haunting feeling with the listener. We can oppose such quiet and dark moments with the fiery strength of `Dies irae', whose music captures the dramatic pace of the written word. `Hosanna', on the other hand, is something you would expect out of this composer-a big, lush melody, with strong choral back up and crescendos. One must also make reference to `Pie Jesu', probably the most touching passage in this score, which became the best known part from this whole piece. Its gentle melody works better as a part of the whole score. Nowadays it reached a new generation of listeners when it was recorded by a young soprano Charlotte Church.
One of the sources this requiem draws its power from is its cast. It was conceived for a high soprano, a treble and a tenor. The soloists who sing these voices are of top class. We have Sarah Brightman (who was then married to Lloyd Webber), Placido Domingo (who reached international stardom a couple of years later as one of the three tenors) and a young boy Paul Miles-Kinsgston. Their voices are perfect for the score and make an excellent bland. Lorin Maazel, a world famous maestro, conducted both this recording and the subsequent world premiere performance in February 1985 at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in New York.
Both the album and the single `Pie Jesu' reached the UK top 10 and the critics honored this piece by awarding Andrew Lloyd Webber a Grammy Award for the best contemporary classical piece.
The other important point this score makes is the fact how gifted a composer ALW really is, easily moving between the world of the classical and the musical theatre music, something his detractors have never seem to grasp or appreciate. This CD is therefore both the proof of a talent as it is a successful representative of the genre.
The fans of this style should have no trouble in liking it and it should also make a nice addition to the collection of ALW's work. Also, it may just serve as a much needed comfort during the time of mourning. When my 93-year old great grandmother Monika died this January, this music was a perfect choice to listen to while thinking about the loss of a loved person and commemorating the event in a most personal way. I would like to dedicate this review to the memory of her.
30 of 37 found the following review helpful:
Unlike anything I have heard! Apr 07, 2004
By Campbell Roark
"tri-zeta"
I have no idea what Verdi would make of this. I don't even know what I make of it most of the time- I don't listen to this CD for any religious reason, in fact I'm as reactionary an atheist as you will ever meet. So I'm immune to whatever religious pull this may have. I just don't hear it that way and I honestly don't care how it was intended. Having said that, this music is unlike anything else you will ever hear. It is grandiose, triumphant, sanguine, and full of anguish. It is one of the most luxuriously evocative pieces I have ever heard. This is the sound of a forgotten world trying to make sense of its looming oblivion. It conjures strange and desolate landscapes in my mind... Hordes of libertines crashing through a city in masks, burning themselves alive and shrieking as they throw themselves from smoking spires... A lonely stooped prophet crossing a desert in some post-apocalyptic world, blindly beseeching the terrible sun for penance... An infernal machine, once abandoned, uses a woman as a musical instrument, invades her mind, body and soul and tries to make sense of the world through her plaintive sighs and disjointed memories... Orphans rummage through the shards of what was once a grand floating-city made of crystal... A ship of fools travels the open seas ceaselessly- in their eyes the ocean is a desert... A small child with bright eyes and a rucksack meanders through these scenes, immune to the chaos, narrating the events with solemn pity, watching over the doomed souls who pass through the story. I first heard this in a college philosophy class (thanks Dr. Haist!), and was simply awestruck. Again, I've never heard anything like it. Listen briefly to the samples and see if it has a similar effect on you (especially if you care for religious music of this kind). This is something rare.
See all 31 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
