Coro CO 6093
Mozart: Requiem; Ave verum corpus; Per questa bella mano – Elizabeth Watts, Phyllis Pancella, Andrew Kennedy, Eric Owens, Handel and Haydn Society, Harry Christophers
Following the success of Mozart’s Mass in C minor last year, CORO is delighted to announce the release of its second recording with Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society.
Mozart’s final moments are reflected in the Requiem’s of drama, intensity, and depth. The mysterious circumstances surrounding the commission of this masterpiece (delivered by a ‘messenger in black’ who refused to reveal the identity of the person who had sent him) and the fact that a dying Mozart left it incomplete have ensured a continued fascination with the work. Completed by Mozart’s colleague Süssmayr in 1792, the Requiem is one of Mozart’s most popular and enduring works and one of the most enigmatic pieces of music ever composed. The download features to further works by Mozart: Ave verum corpus and the first recording on period instruments of his concert aria Per questa bella mano for bass voice with obbligato solo double-bass – a piece famous for its fiendishly difficult double-bass part, performed superbly on this recording by Robert Nairn.
"...warrants a warm recomendation."
George Chein - Fanfare - January/February 2012
Disc of the Month
"...This new recording by Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society is punchy and dramatic, and never cloying or ponderous... It’s the most consistently engaging and propulsive recording of the Requie, I’ve heard ..." *****
James McCarthy - Classic FM Magazine - November 2011