From New York to Berlin
With a diet of bread and water, I might one day scrape together enough to fly halfway across the world to watch an opera at The Met or catch a concert at the Berlin Philharmonie. Until then, one has to make do. Compromise and compensation, in the same package. I'm content. For now. I may one day finally take up a term subscription to the Met Player or the Digital Concert Hall but for the moment, an ad-hoc arrangement works where I pay for the stuff I want to watch.
Just purchased a "ticket" to the Berliner Philharmoniker's performance of the Verdi Requiem last Saturday and it has been nothing short of breathtaking and mindblowing. Admittedly, it may be not quite an astute move considering that the SSO's own take of it is coming up next month, but one simply could not resist.
The old queen in me succumbs to the over-the-top excesses of this opera house meets concert hall work, where the fine line between church and theatre is blurred and I don't really care, given the beautiful outpouring of music.
As performed by the legendary Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Mariss Jansons and with a more than capable quartet of soloists joined by the eminent Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, this is one reading of this seminal masterpiece that can hold its own against the competition. Pity that this will remain in the archives so to speak, and not commercially released.
Krassimira Stoyanova, Marina Prudenskaja, David Lomeli and Stephen Milling. Four unknown names that don't seem to give much reason to perk up at first hearing, but once the music gets underway, one is overwhelmed by the quality of the singing from the quartet. At once standing out with their individualistic timbres and yet coalescing as a whole, one is hard pressed to name a better recorded performance available.
The brimstone and fire Dies Irae was not overdone with histrionics and the moments for the soloists to shine were crafted with attention to detail. A more heartfelt Ingemisco one yearns to unearth and by the time the Libera Me comes around, one is worried for the voice of the soprano as she visibly tires yet ploughs through the treacherously demanding and intense music, yet never once losing control or finesse.
Would that I were a fly on the wall. I can't wait for next month at the SSO!