Mozart: Requiem; Paisiello: Messe pour le sacre de Napoléon

by Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Julien Chauvin, Le Concert de la Loge

Overview

This recording by the Choeur de Chambre de Namur and the historical performance group Le Concert de la Loge doesn't present Mozart's Requiem, K. 626, as Mozart wrote it. However, the unfinished work has been in textual flux from the beginning, with multiple completions and Constanze Mozart telling several different stories of Mozart's last days. So the lack of faithfulness to the text is not a big problem. What is heard here is a version made for the work's premiere in Paris, which did not occur until 1804. Circumstances dictated what would now be considered outrageous alterations to Mozart's music. A popular Introitus by Niccolo Jommelli was added to the beginning. The Offertory was omitted, as were all the sections completed by others, and the Amen from the Sequence, which is replaced by the final "Cum sancto spiritu" fugue. There were no basset horns in Paris, so those were replaced by English horns. Most strikingly, the trombone solo in the "Tuba mirum" was apparently thought too rough and was replaced with a wind choir passage. It is all an interesting part of the reception history of one of Mozart's most popular works, but what makes it listenable is that this is a strong performance that respects the work's large dimensions even as some of it is being cut. The Choeur de Chambre de Namur offers power that makes its membership of 23 singers sound like a larger group, and conductor Julien Chauvin brings focus to the historical winds. Also intriguing is the Messe pour le sacre de Napoleon, the mass for the coronation of Napoleon, an unexpectedly perky and seldom heard work by Giovanni Paisiello. (Napoleon's funeral featured the Mozart Requiem.) Those simply wanting a recording of the Mozart Requiem should note the asterisk on the cover and beware, but this is an interesting musical slice of Napoleon's age. The sound from the Arsenal de Metz fits the music well. This album made classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2023. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	03/24/2023
Label:	Alpha
UPC:	3760014199196
Rank:	128704

Tracks

1. Requiem~Introït
2. Requiem, K.626~Requiem
3. Requiem, K.626~Dies irae
4. Requiem, K.626~Tuba mirum
5. Requiem, K.626~Rex tremendae
6. Requiem, K.626~Recordare
7. Requiem, K.626~Confutatis
8. Requiem, K.626~Lacrimosa
9. Requiem, K.626~Agnus Dei
10. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Kyrie
11. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Gloria
12. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Laudamus te
13. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Gratias agimus tibi
14. Messe pour le sacre de Napoléon~Domine Deus
15. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris
16. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Quoniam
17. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Cum sanctus spiritu
18. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Credo
19. Pr¿¿lude pour harpe
20. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Et incarnatus est
21. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Et in spiritum sanctum
22. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Sanctus
23. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Agnus Dei
24. Messe pour le sacre de Napol¿¿on~Domine salvum fac imperatorem

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Choeur de Chambre de Namur   Primary Artist,Choir/Chorus
Julien Chauvin   Primary Artist,Conductor
Le Concert de la Loge   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Thomas Dolie   Baritone (Vocal)
Mathias Vidal   Tenor (Vocal)
Sandrine Piau   Soprano (Vocal)
Didier Martin   Director
Chantal Santon Jeffery   Soprano (Vocal)
Eleonore Pancrazi   Mezzo-Soprano (Vocal)

Technical Credits

Marco Borggreve   Photography
Giovanni Paisiello   Composer
Charles Johnston   Liner Note Translation
Nicholas Charles Bochsa   Composer
Niccolo Jommelli   Composer
Alexandre Dratwicki   Liner Notes
Daniel Zalay   Recording Producer
Christian Legay   Photography
Susanne Lowien   Liner Note Translation
Olivier Rosset   Editing,Mastering
Gabrielle Duplantier   Cover Photo
Amelie Boccon-Gibod   Editorial Coordinator
Louise Burel   Producer
Raoul Gilibert   Photography
Valerie Lagarde   Artwork,Design
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart   Composer