Peter Schreier - Mozart: Requiem, Coronation Mass (2001)

Peter Schreier brought a lifetime's experience as a singer to the conductor's rostrum in his accounts of Mozart's Requiem, Coronation Mass, and motet Ave verum Corpus. The performances were recorded in Dresden between 1982 and 1992. A major plus is highly disciplined singing by the Leipzig Radio Chorus, whose clarity of diction and finely balanced ensemble adds much to your enjoyment of these performances; they're heard on their own account in the motet that concludes this reissue. The Requiem (in Süssmayr's completion) is powerfully and urgently driven. In the Dies irae perhaps the trumpets and timpani could have sounded more threatening, but Schreier takes it very fast, and his chorus doesn't miss a breath or syllable. The Confutatis section admirably shows off the tonal depth of the chorus tenors and basses, and the Sanctus and Benedictus are again excellently done. It's also good to hear the basset horns in the Introitus as nicely balanced as this, so their solemn interjections, like those of the trombones throughout, have majestic weight and gravitas. Of the quartet of soloists, soprano Margaret Price and bass Theo Adam acquit themselves magnificently.

Different singers are heard in the Mass; Edith Mathis is a delight, and Hans Peter Blochwitz is an accomplished tenor, but neither Jadwiga Rappé (contralto) or Thomas Quasthoff is in the same league. Still, for anyone seeking an outstanding account of the Requiem, this is an obvious choice, and Schreier's version has few ideal rivals. Philips' remastering sounds very impressive indeed. -- Michael Jameson