Mozart: Requiem

National Review, Feb 11, 1991 by Ralph de Toledano

* But we have Mozart forever and now, with new recordings of the Requiem and the Mass in C Minor, known as the Great. Both were left unfinished by Mozart and were brought to score by study of his notebooks and suggestions he had imparted to close colleagues. A whole mythology of cloaked figures has grown up around the Requiem, but this does not lead Carlo Maria Giulini down any Lewis Carroll rabbit-hole (Sony SK 45577).

Guilini also conducts the Great Mass, immortal mainly for its arioso, "Et incarnatus est," perhaps the greatest piece of vocal writing we have. But it must be sung with almost no vibrato-purely, purely-and this is something I have not found in any recent recordings, including this one. Jard van Nes's voice is again very good, but not right for this work (EMI/Angel SK 45577).