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Brahms - Ein deutsches Requiem

CD - Perfectly proportioned strings, smooth as silk, yet capable of a devastating loudness. Rarely a choir and an orchestra merge as well and rarely this Requiem is performed as beautifully as on this recording.
RCO Live: Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem conducted by Mariss Jansons - cover 15003 - image: Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest
RCO Live: Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem conducted by Mariss Jansons - cover 15003 - image: Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest

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Performers

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, chief conductor

Genia Kühmeier, soprano
Gerald Finley, bass

Netherlands Radio Choir - Michael Gläser, choirmaster

This performance of Brahms's German Requiem was dedicated to Kurt Sanderling, one of the orchestra's most beloved guest conductors. He passed away the year before and would have turned 100, in September 2012, the month of this recording. It proved to be a very moving performance, a fitting salute to a great conductor.

Recorded Live at Concertgebouw Amsterdam on 20-21 September 2012

Hybrid Multichannel SACD (5.0)
Cataloguenumber : RCO 15003
Barcode: 814337019150

Press quotes

'Gerald Finley is a baritone that combines gritty presence and clarity of diction ... Soprano Genia Kühmeier moved the audience with the purity of her timbre'
- Mischa Spel, NRC

'Perfectly proportioned strings, smooth as silk, yet capable of a devastating loudness, world famous wind soloists that together sound like an organ, crisp and warm at the same time. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Brahms leaves one speechless.'
- Hildegart Maertens, Kwadratuur

'Kühmeier achieved an almost magical effect with her subdued timbre. And Finley ... enraptured the listener with his impressive voice'
- Frederike Berntsen, Trouw

'The Concertgebouw Orchestra sounded incredibly beautiful. Jansons managed not only to have the violins whisper mysteriously about death, but also coloured all the separate wind parts in Brahms's masterful orchestral texture. Rarely a choir and an orchestra merge as well and rarely this Requiem is performed as beautifully as yesterday evening at the Concertgebouw.'
- Roeland Hazendonk, Het Parool