Otto Klemperer recorded Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45, with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra & Chorus on February 20, 1956, at a live concert. This CD from Archipel Records presents that performance in decent sound and relatively clean ambience, despite a few of the audience's noises and some remaining tape hiss. However, experienced collectors of historical recordings may find this reissue a little too good to be true: the sound seems artificially boosted through the label's "hi-end restoration technology," and some tonal quality seems to have been lost in the remastering. Still, this is a powerful performance that transcends its minor audio deficiencies, and the musicians communicate genuine emotion and exceptional musicality under Klemperer's firm direction. The affecting solos by baritone Hermann Prey in "Herr, lehre doch mich" and soprano Elisabeth Grümmer in "Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit" are rich in tone, natural in presence, and sincere in feeling; the Cologne Chorus produces a vast, expansive sound that many will find magnificent. Regrettably, the orchestra is rather opaquely recorded, with the brass tending to stand out much better than the strings and woodwinds, but considering the solid conducting and the high quality of the singing, the loss of some orchestral color is tolerable. This version of Ein deutsches Requiem will not replace Klemperer's classic 1961 recording on EMI with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, but it deserves some recognition for its distinctive performance and significant place among the conductor's live recordings.
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