Sergiu Celibidache's live performances with the Munich Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem, Op. 48, and
Igor Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms are idiosyncratic readings that may appeal to fans of the conductor, yet otherwise are not recommended as reliable recordings of these works. Considering how
Celibidache alters dynamics with too many swells, distorts phrases with excessive rubato, and makes the choir sing in an overly enunciated, clipped style, his rendition of the Requiem is far from the evenly paced, serene music most listeners have come to expect. In his nearly theatrical interpretation, the grimmer aspects of death tend to be emphasized more than the beatific, and Fauré's understated, benign missa pro defunctis sounds at times like scenes from a tragic opera, most egregiously in the gushing Pie Jesu and the tediously drawn-out Libera Me.
Stravinsky's dry, enigmatic Symphony of Psalms is quite outside
Celibidache's comfort zone -- namely, the German Romantics -- and the composer's neo-Classical objectivity seems lost on this conductor, who infuses this performance with subjective moods that are inappropriate. This is really one of the most darkly brooding takes on the Symphony of Psalms on record, and one of the slowest, too, clocking in at over 23 minutes. However, an argument may be made that
Celibidache has outlined the counterpoint quite well in this performance, and by reducing the pace, he made certain vocal parts more clearly audible. Yet with the exception of the Laudate Dominum, which is almost at the correct tempo,
Celibidache's performance as a whole is too languid to accept as true to
Stravinsky's intentions. EMI's recorded sound is very good for the live concert settings, though not without occasional coughs and other background noises.